Governor Kim Reynolds tried to blame Iowa farmers for the budget shortfall caused by her corporate tax breaks.
Today, Governor Reynolds will address the Iowa Agricultural Summit, but in recent months, she has placed blame for the budget shortfall caused by her corporate tax breaks squarely on the shoulders of Iowa farmers.
This fall, it is widely expected that Reynolds will be forced to call a special session of the legislature to address a budget shortfall to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
When it became evident at the beginning of this year that the state was in a budget crisis, the AP looked in to the causes and found “One reason Iowa is struggling to pay its bills despite a relatively strong economy is the major tax cut that was enacted several years ago for commercial buildings and other properties that sliced hundreds of millions of dollars from the state budget.”
Yet, Reynolds is bent on passing the buck to hardworking Iowans.
In June, Reynolds told reporters “The farm economy is partly to blame [for falling tax revenues]. Many of our factory jobs are tied to a strong agricultural economy, and when we see corn prices over the last two years go from $8 a bushel to $3 a bushel, purchasing behaviors change. Farmers are not upgrading their equipment, and that’s not only affecting our manufacturers, but also sellers.”
“I don’t see how Reynolds can get up in front of Iowa’s agriculture industry today without addressing the fact that she thinks Iowa farmers are to blame for her own mess,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price. “Our state is facing a massive budget crisis, and she needs to take responsibility for the damage her corporate tax giveaways did to our fiscal stability. Blaming our farmers is not the answer.”