Iowa’s insurance industry gets a big tax break.Governor Tom Vilsack has signed into law a cut in the premium tax insurance companies based in Iowa pay the state. The insurance industry employs about 40-thousand Iowans, and Governor Vilsack says another six thousand jobs will be created as a result of the new, lower premium tax.Vilsack says it’s important to have a “healthy and secure” industry that feels it can grow and expand in Iowa. Vilsack says that’s why, in a time of budget constraints, state officials went ahead on granted the tax break.As a way of persuading policymakers to grant the tax break, a handful of the state’s largest insurance companies pledge to invest 60-million dollars in Iowa-based, homegrown businesses that need start-up venture capital. The insurance industry also agreed to make an advance, 10-million dollar premium tax payment to the state that’ll be used for teacher pay and preparation.
