Promised tax reform still hasn’t materialized from Legislature

The tax reform Iowa lawmakers promised four months ago is slow in developing, but key G-O-P leaders say it’s still a priority. Senate Republican Leader Stewart Iverson of Dows says everything’s “fluid.” Iverson says things never more as fast as everyone would like, but it’s the best form of government around. Iverson plans on having the legislature adjourn for the year within three weeks. Iverson says “when folks realize that we are going to leave town, all of a sudden then I think more compromises start to happen simply because people say ‘Well, gee, do I get half a bite of the apple or no bite? and that’s not all bad.” But House Democrat Leader Dick Myers of Iowa City says it’s time to form a special commission to come up with tax reform that could pass the 2004 Legislature.Myers says he doesn’t know why people sit around expecting “light switch solutions” to complicated issues, because they don’t exist. Myers says it took “lord knows how many years” to set up the state’s complicated tax system, and the world won’t end if the Legislature adjourns at month’s end without taking action. Myers says the issue requires more study.