Governor Kim Reynolds. (file photo)
History will be made in the Iowa Capitol today when Kim Reynolds becomes the first female governor to deliver the annual “Condition of the State” address.
Reynolds told reporters yesterday she’ll emphasize that when you “challenge yourself, big things can happen.”
“It’s more about acknowledging that, you know, as a small town girl from rural Iowa, if you dream big and work hard, anything can happen,” Reynolds said during a statehouse news conference, “and I think that applies to anybody.”
This will be the third major speech Reynolds has delivered since she took over as governor in late May. Over the past several weeks, Reynolds has said she’ll use today’s address to unveil the “broad ideas” she has for tax cuts.
“Delivering my vision for not only tax reform, but for Iowa moving forward,” Reynolds said Monday.
Reynolds has been arguing cutting the state’s income tax rate will make Iowa more competitive. She’s also been promising to focus the tax relief on “working class families.”
“We ought to do everything we can to make sure they can keep more of their hard-earned money,” Reynolds told reporters on Monday. “People are working hard and what I still here is they’re struggling to make ends meet.”
Reynolds has hinted water quality and developing a more skilled Iowa workforce are among the other “pressing issues” she’ll discuss today. The annual “Condition of the State” address also requires a look back at 2017 and Reynolds has been telling crowds these are “exciting and critical times for Iowa.”
“We have a great story to tell,” Reynolds said yesterday. “Iowa has so much capacity and opportunity within our borders.”
Republican legislative leaders have been talking about reducing Iowa’s income taxes and an analysis obtained by a blogger indicated the GOP would like to phase out the state inheritance tax as well. Senate Republican Leader Bill Dix said yesterday that voters sent Republicans to Des Moines to cut taxes.
“Tax relief is about emboldening our middle class and encouraging our citizens to invest in themselves, their local businesses and in our state,” Dix said yesterday during a speech on the legislature’s opening day.
Democrats in the legislative warn against mimicing the 2012 tax cut package in Kansas that’s left a current 900 million dollar state budget deficiet there.
“It would be irresponsible for Iowa to go down that road. Iowans want us to make wise decisions to improve our state. We can’t afford to repeat the mistakes of others,” Senate Minority Leader Janet Petersen, a Democrat from Des Moines, said during her opening day speech in the Iowa Senate.
Find all six speeches from legislative leaders here.