On April 21, 2011, the Governor signed Senate File 209 into law. The most important element of that bill was the creation of the Taxpayers Trust Fund (TTF).
When House Republicans unveiled House File 45, the Taxpayers First Act, it contained a new Tax Relief Fund. The fund captured the entire ending balance from the previous year and required it be used for tax relief measures. Unfortunately this language was stripped out of HF 45 before it made its way to the Governor. Because of that, the language was added to SF 209, the tax coupling and supplemental bill.
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Congress on Friday approved a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut, averting a tax hike with a no-drama vote following a week of partisan deadlock.
Read more: Click here
President Obama, House Democrats and majorities of both parties in the Senate want to immediately renew the tax cut and jobless benefits for the next two months, and find a way later to extend them through 2012. House Republicans want to do it for a full year right away.
That doesn’t sound like an unbridgeable gap. Yet the fight has evolved into a year-end partisan grudge match with no clear resolution in sight and with huge political and economic stakes.
Without action, the payroll tax paid by 160 million workers will rise by 2 percentage points to 6.2 percent on Jan. 1. That would mean $1,000 a year less in the pockets of people making $50,000, or about $19 weekly. In addition, 3 million people currently receiving long-term jobless benefits will begin to lose weekly payments that average under $300 — for many, their only support.-WASHINGTON-AP
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Payroll Tax Spat
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Sands Guest Column – Final
Endow Iowa Tax Credit Bill Moves to the House Floor
Senate File 302 – increases from $2.7 million to $3.5 million the maximum aggregate amount of tax credits available under the endow Iowa program.
Endow Iowa encourages all Iowans to invest in their communities through endowment funds. Endow Iowa relies on existing infrastructure and community foundations to incubate funds and mentor communities on growing and managing funds. These endowment funds may be unrestricted for broad community needs or may be designated for nonprofits, economic development or the environment.
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Last week it appeared that the conference committee on Senate File 209 was close to reaching consensus. SF 209 is the federal tax code coupling and FY 2011 supplemental appropriations bill.
House Republicans offered a compromise that would include all of the original provisions of SF 209 including coupling and bonus depreciation as of January 1, 2011, increasing the EITC from 7 to 10 percent, $46 million in supplemental appropriations. The compromise also included $20 million for mental health funding and the language creating the Tax Relief Fund (TRF).
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Wednesday the Iowa House approved House File 194, a 20 percent income tax cut for all Iowans. It is the first reduction in income taxes since 1997. The bill, which passed with bipartisan support, will provide a much needed boost to the Iowa economy, including Iowa’s small business owners.
“Small businesses are the backbone of Iowa’s economy,” said Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer. “This bill will allow employers to put Iowans back to work, inject millions of dollars into Iowa’s economy and get our state moving forward again.”
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House Republicans unveiled their plan for budget savings, the Taxpayers First Act.
To view full bill and staff analysis view links below:
Taxpayers First Act
Staff Analysis
“House Republicans campaigned on giving Iowans a seat at the table. This bill does just that,” said House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer (R-Garner).
The Taxpayers First Act will create a Taxpayer Relief Fund which will capture any budget surplus and direct it back to the taxpayer.
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Speaker-Elect Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) today announced a second round of committee chairs for the 84th General Assembly. This group of committees will be tasked with putting the nearly 114,000 Iowans who are out of a job back to work.
Continue reading for the list of appointments…
Budget, Taxes | JillJ | January 19, 2012 | 
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