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Our subsidies we prize, our spiffs we will maintain

January 29, 2009

Governor Culver came out with his "austerity" budget yesterday. In these tough economic times, he surely decided that education and health is more important than pork and corporate welfare?

Well, not exactly. The Grow Iowa Values Fund, which finances corporate welfare and white elephants statewide, would spend $50 million in 2009 and $47.5 million in 2010. He would eliminate corporate welfare tax credits - well, $15 million out of $215 million, anyway.

It would be nice if state leadership took advantage of tough times to do some real reform - eliminating the corporate income tax and the dozens of corporate welfare subsidies (especially the insane film subsidy), while reducing the individual income tax rate and broadening the base. Neither party seems to have any intentions along these lines.

Tags: corporate welfare.economic development.iowa tax policy.