Labor leader calls for a tax increase to meet budget shortfall

The president of the Iowa Federation of Labor says legislators need to raise state income taxes to ensure vital state services continue. Iowa Federation of Labor president Mark Smith says legislators were wrong to cut the income tax, across-the-board, by 10 percent back in 1997. Smith says the working families he represents would be willing to pay a little extra to keep government programs up and running. Smith says there’s a myth about what happens when you raise taxes in a recession. Smith says he’s not sure the politicians of both parties are willing to raise taxes. He says, “If you want to have something, you gotta pay for it.”Other Iowa union leaders are steering clear of joining Smith’s call for raising taxes.