It appears legislators have had break-through that will resolve key taxing and spending disputes.
The top leaders for both political parties issued statements this morning outlining details of an agreement on two tax breaks. While not mentioned in either statement, there is also a rumored deal on how much general state aid will be forwarded to schools.
The deal on taxes will extend a state tax break to small businesses and farmers. That’s an estimated $95 million benefit to those taxpayers. The other part of the deal will scale back a tax break to manufacturers. Governor Terry Branstad’s administration acted on its own last year to erase state sales taxes on all consumable supplies, like drill bits and hydraulic fluid, that are used in the manufacturing process.