House Republicans will release budget this week

Republicans in the Iowa House intend to reveal details of their plan for tax reform this week. Senate Republicans are backing a plan that’d create a single, flat rate tax on income, erase taxes on Social Security and pension benefits, and raise the state sales and cigarettes taxes.House Republican Leader Chuck Gipp of Decorah says tax hikes aren’t likely to be part of the House Republican plan. Gipp says the Governor has said he’s not interested in raising taxes, and there’s nothing in the works in the House that would raise taxes. But Gipp isn’t completely ruling out the Senate tax plan advanced last week by Larry McKibben, the chairman of the Senate’s Ways and Means tax-writing Committee — a plan that’d hike the sales tax half a percent and the cigarette tax by 36 cents per pack.Gipp says anytime there’s tax reform, it’s likely a tax shift will occur and some folks will pay more and others will pay less in taxes. Gipp made his comments on Iowa Public Television.