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Business worried about research & development tax credit

March 30, 2009 By

Business groups are hoping to convince legislators not to go along with Governor Culver’s call for ending a tax break for companies that make big expansions in the state. If companies make multi-million dollar investments, the state currently grants the company an enhanced research and development tax credit.

Iowa Taxpayers Association president Ed Wallace says his group and others are worried legislators may go even farther and get rid of another research activities tax credit at the state level for every Iowa company that qualifies for the federal research and development tax break.

"Missouri and Nebraska are starting to expand their credit offerings as far as R-and-D is concerned," Wallace says. "We’re the only state in the country right now that is looking at taking away incentives for research and development."

During the Farm Crisis of the 1980s, former Governor Terry Branstad and the Democratically-led legislature tried to stimulate the economy through a state-level research and development tax credit. More than a decade later, state leaders created an enhanced package of tax incentives that helped lure IPSCO to build a huge steel plant in eastern Iowa. Wallace says now is not the time to take that credit away from companies like IPSCO — or from the small companies that qualify for the smaller state research and development credit that mirrors the federal credit.

"If the research activities credit were to be modified, it would be one opportunity for a company not to look at coming to Iowa and certainly be one opportunity for a company to say ‘We could go somewhere else and do this in a different state,’" Wallace says.

Labor leaders and consumer advocates complain that over the last 24 years Iowa businesses qualified for $265 million in tax breaks because of that research and activities credit. Wallace says that credit is "absolutely pivotal" to companies doing business in Iowa, especially at this point in the recession.

"Historically we’ve seen where an economic downfall occurs, you seen an increase in research and development for streamlining processes," Wallace says. "That’s why so many other states are beginning to expand their offerings for research and development to provide economic development opportunities."

On another, tax-related matter: early this afternoon a House subcommittee will start its review of a bill Democrats say will provide a "middle class" tax cut and get rid of a tax break that allows Iowans to deduct their federal tax bill from their income before calculating their state income taxes. Backers of the tax break say Iowans shouldn’t be "doubled taxed" while critics say it’s an antiquated tax break that just Iowa and three other states maintain.

 

Filed Under: Business, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Congressman push for Amtrack service from Des Moines to Chicago

March 28, 2009 By

Congressional backers of Amtrak service from Des Moines to Chicago are pressing the federal government to support the project. Congressmen Phil Hare of Illinois and Bruce Braley of Iowa announced Friday that two legs of the proposed project are shovel ready, from Chicago to the Quad Cities and on to Iowa City.

Braley says it may take several years to complete, but he claims Amtrak service to the Quad Cities alone would create as many as 800 jobs. "If we can get the initial funding to make this a reality between Chicago and the Quad Cities, the likelihood of going further to Iowa City, Des Moines, and Omaha is greatly expanded," Braley said.

Braley estimates annual ridership on a Chicago to Iowa City line at nearly 200,000. Paul Rumler is with the Quad Cities Passenger Rail Coalition. "With the combined population of 2.2 million people between Quad Cities and Omaha, this is the most highly populated corridor without passenger rail service to Chicago," Rumler said.

Hare and Braley say the proposed rail line should be a top national priority. The economic stimulus package includes about eight billion dollars for passenger rail service projects nationwide.  

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

DOT may lose battle over heavy trucks on roadways

March 28, 2009 By

The Iowa Department of Transportation may lose its battle keep some heavier farm trucks off Iowa roadways. This past week the Iowa House voted to let farmers carry heavier loads when they’re hauling ethanol byproducts out of an ethanol plant, bound for a farm where they’re feeding the stuff to cattle.

Truckers face higher registration fees when they haul heavier loads, but the bill that cleared the House waives those higher fees for farmers. Representative Gary Worthan, a Republican from Storm Lake, says while the D-O-T opposes the move, many others endorse it.

"The ethanol people, cattlemen, corngrowers," according to Worthan. Worthan says if the bill becomes law, farmers can haul in a full load of corn to the ethanol plant and return home with a full load of ethanol byproduct. "Farmers were getting ticketed when they were loading trucks with distiller’s grains and hauling back home for their own use to their feedyards," Worthan says.

The D.O.T. argues heavier trucks should pay higher fees to account for the additional wear and tear on roads. The bill is now under consideration in the Iowa Senate.

Filed Under: Agriculture Tagged With: , , ,

U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids could get a facelift

March 28, 2009 By

The U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Cedar Rapids is one step closer to receiving a major facelift. The idea for renovating the center is not new but the prospect of receiving significant amounts of federal money for the project is. The chair of the commission in charge of the center, Patrick DePalma, says that key to the project is adding on a convention center to the current building.

DePalma says, We’ve estimated that the addition of a convention center would have an economic impact in the neighborhood of 15-million-dollars per year to the city." DePalma says the total cost of the project is about fifty million dollars. He says the payback period on this is only 3 to 5 years before they recognize benefits in excess of the costs of doing it.

DePalma says the plan could really help bring back the area. "I think it’s something that will definitely revitalize downtown and be a catalyst for other business and other economic development in the area," DePalma says. For just the convention center, DePalma estimates it would bring in about fifteen million dollars a year. Proposed improvements to the U.S. Cellular Center include better seating, concessions, and lighting.

DePalma says the commission will apply for funds from the U.S. Department of Commerce. He says the federal agency has expressed an interest in funding projects in Cedar Rapids and he says the money could come as soon as this summer. DePalma says the commission is also exploring the idea of a new hotel next to the proposed convention center. While money for a hotel is not included in the project, DePalma says he thinks it would generate more money for the city.

 

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment

Part of stimulus money will go to Amtrack stations

March 28, 2009 By

A portion of Iowa’s federal stimulus money will be used to increase accessibility for disabled persons at Amtrak stations. Governor Culver’s office announced Friday that Iowa’s six railroad stations that serve Amtrak passenger trains will receive just over $402,000 to bring them in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The improvements will include new sidewalks and curb cuts, markings and signs for handicap accessible parking and new wheelchair lifts. Iowa’s Amtrak stations are located in Burlington, Creston, Fort Madison, Mount Pleasant, Osceola and Ottumwa.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Humane Society seeing impact of tough economy

March 28, 2009 By

Economic times are tough for many Iowans, but some families are seeing such hardship, they’re being forced to take their dogs, cats or other pets to a shelter as they can no longer afford to feed them. Lori Hagey, with the Humane Society of North Central Iowa, says their shelter is seeing only a modest impact from the recession.

"It’s a really amazing thing — the last thing people want to give up are their pets," Hagey says. "We’ve seen some of that, people who are moving and can’t keep their animals." She says the shelter in Fort Dodge serves communities in a 60-mile radius and is able to place dozens of pets per month in new, loving homes.

February was a record month for adoptions at the shelter, with 69 animals finding new homes during the month. Hagey says, "Maybe people are thinking about being closer to home and having entertainment from their new dog or cat." The agency is a non-profit that gets no city or state funding — only donations.

She says the shelter is sometimes the last stop and the only stop for people who have to surrender their pets so they can find new homes instead of risking being put to sleep. The Fort Dodge facility does no euthanization, she says, "We find new homes for everybody." The Humane Society of North Central Iowa is hosting a fundraiser in Fort Dodge tonight (Saturday) called, The Fur Ball — Bets For Pets. It features a host of casino-type games, food, a D-J, and silent and live auctions. For information, visit the website: www.fdhumane.com .

 

Filed Under: Human Interest

King supports move of agents to Southern borders

March 27, 2009 By

Republican Congressman Steve King says he supports the Obama Administration’s move to shift more agents to the nation’s southern border to respond to a drug war that’s raging just across the border in Mexico. King, though, worries the administration may divert resources from other areas of immigration enforcement.

"Is our focus going to be going away from worksite enforcement and towards enforcing toward guns and money going into Mexico as opposed to illegal people and illegal drugs coming north from Mexico?" King asks. "I think that’s where we need to pay our attention."

If the Obama Administration proposes an assault weapons ban, arguing it will stem the tide of weapons winding up in the armies of Mexican drug lords, King will oppose it. "I think we have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms. You can’t define an assault weapon without defining what it looks like rather than how it functions," King says.

"It’s been clear the American people have decided they believe this attack on so-called assault weapons was something that also was an assault on the second amendment rights of the American people." Earlier this week, the director of the Homeland Security Department announced the U.S. is committing $700-million to enhanced border activities. Beefed up surveillance is part of the plan as well as the additional border patrol agents being deployed.

King says he always supports the use of federal resources to "enforce the rule of law." On Thursday, King sat in on a "classified" security briefing from Homeland Security and other federal agencies involved in the effort. King cannot disclose details of that classified briefing, but King suggests the situation in Mexico is critical.

"There clearly is a risk that the government forces could break down in this war against the Mexican drug cartels. That’s legitimate," King says. "But I to think also that it provides cover for the administration to seek to pass an assault weapons ban." King is the top-ranking Republican on a House subcommittee which focuses on immigration issued. He met privately with Homeland Security director Janet Napolitano last week.

In other news this week, officials in the District of Columbia say a bookkeeping error gave Congressman King a tax credit on the condo he owns in Washington, D.C. that is reserved for D.C. residents. King plans to pay the additional property taxes that were deducted from his bill because records showed he was to receive a homestead tax credit. 

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,
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