The top Republican in the Iowa Senate says there’ll be no significant tax reform considered in the 2004 Iowa Legislature. Senate Republican Leader Stewart Iverson of Dows says some lawmakers tried to make changes last year and failed, and he doesn’t see ’em revisiting that issue “at all.” Yesterday, the Iowa Chamber Alliance — representing the largest cities in Iowa — called for a two-tier, simplified state income tax, but Iverson says that’s not in the cards. The group also called for either an increase in the cigarette tax or some “stable” tax source to finance the new state economic development fund. Iverson says they shouldn’t count on getting that wish, either. Iverson says folks can justify raising taxes to support some project, but he says everytime taxes are raised, it makes Iowa less competitive with other states. Iverson says the state “goes backwards” when it raises taxes.
