A key republican legislator is offering to spend some of the extra tax money that’s coming into the state if democrat Governor Tom Vilsack will accept the tax cuts republicans want.The offer comes a day after an Supreme Court ruling did away with the bill that created the new, half-a-billion dollar state economic development fund. Representative Bill Dix, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, says republicans will link tax cuts and business reforms with a plan to relay the legal groundwork for the Iowa Values Fund, even though the governor has resisted those proposals for the past year.Dix says it is an option that should be considered to “put Iowa at the center stage of the national economy.” But Governor Vilsack says he’s not willing to accept the spending deal Dix is offering because Vilsack says the extra taxes that’re being paid to the state should be used to pay off debts.Vilsack says policymakers have to be very conservative, and Vilsack says “Representative Dix is out there a bit.” Vilsack and legislative leaders met privately this afternoon to talk about their options in the wake of yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that essentially put the “Iowa Values Fund” in limbo.
