The 90th Iowa General Assembly convenes at the start of next week to kick off the 2023 legislative session. District 11 Representative Brian Best, a Republican, will be sworn in for his fifth term at the statehouse. The GOP maintained its trifecta with majorities in the Iowa House and Iowa Senate with a Republican governor. Best says it shows Iowans support how Republicans have been running the state.
Best says 2022 was a big win for Iowa taxpayers, as lawmakers passed a bill to reduce the state’s income tax to a flat 3.9 percent over the next several years and eliminate state taxes on retirement income. There is interest from Republicans to develop a way to eliminate state income taxes, but Best says he will be cautious of further cuts.
A separate type of tax reform Republicans are interested in is property taxes. Currently, the state uses a percentage of commercial or residential properties’ assessed valuation to determine how much will be taxed, but that varies yearly based on multiple factors.
He adds it is unclear what form that simplification may take, but the legislature will dive into it this session. Best anticipates the hot-button topic of 2023 will almost certainly be proposed reforms to school funding. Last year, a bill allowing state funding to follow students to private institutions passed the Iowa Senate but did not have enough support in the Iowa House. Best did not support that change due to concerns about how it would impact rural school districts.
Speaker of the House Pat Grassley will chair a newly created Education Reform committee to hash out the new proposal’s details. The five-person committee consists of three Republicans and two Democrats, including Housing Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst. The Iowa Legislative Session opens on Monday, Jan. 9. Best will serve as chair of the House Transportation Committee and on the Health and Human Services, Ways and Means, Commerce, and Workforce Committees. Best made his comments this (Friday) morning on KCIM, and the full interview is included below.
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