• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / News / Experts say Iowa economy ‘lackluster’, but still growing

Experts say Iowa economy ‘lackluster’, but still growing

March 16, 2016 By O. Kay Henderson

State capitol building.

State capitol building.

A three-member panel of experts says the state’s economy is holding steady and the group has stuck with its previous estimate of state tax collections for the current fiscal year. Legislative Services Agency director Holly Lyons today said while the economy is “lackluster”, the state is experiencing “slow growth.”

“It’s like when you’re walking against a stiff Iowa wind in the springtime,” Lyons said. “The wind may blow you back and it may be a little off course, but you still move forward and reach your destination.”

Lyons and the other two members of the Revenue Estimating Conference project state tax revenues will grow 4.4 percent in the next state fiscal year which begins July 1. David Roederer, the governor’s budget director, expressed concern about farm commodity prices.

“When you have the price of corn down 57 percent from our high in 2012, it’s going to have an impact,” Roederer said.

But Lyons said the financial service industry is now one-fifth of the Iowa economy and that is helping Iowa “ride the negative impacts” of the slumping ag economy.

“The Iowa economy is growing, just at a slower pace,” Lyons said. “There is no immediate indication of a significant downturn or a looming recession.”

David Underwood, a retired business executive from Mason City, is the other member of the Revenue Estimating Conference. He provided a similar assessment of Iowa’s economy.

“In Iowa we’re very lucky in that we’re not on the list of those states that are in recession or teetering on the brink,” Underwood said.

The predictions on state tax collections Underwood and the other two experts made this morning mean legislators won’t have to pare down the current state budget, plus legislators now can finalize their budget writing for the following year.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: News, Politics / Govt Tagged With: Legislature, Taxes

Featured Stories

Governor signs child care expansion into law

Iowa seniors have until July 1 to apply for new property tax break

Smoke from distant fires creates colorful sunrise in Iowa

DOT’s Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division to merge into State Patrol

Iowa’s governor approves liability limits for trucking industry

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Iowa AD Gary Barta announces retirement

Iowa to visit Creighton in Gavitt Tipoff Games

Iowa and Indiana collide Thursday at B1G baseball tournament

Former Hawkeye joins Lisa Bluder’s staff at Iowa

Iowa rolls in B1G Tournament opener

More Sports

Archives

Copyright © 2023 · Learfield News & Ag, LLC