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The Iowa Capitol dome is illuminated by the sunset Feb. 16, 2017, in Des Moines. (The Gazette)

Raising individual and corporate income tax rates in the state would require a two-thirds majority vote of lawmakers under a proposal advanced by Senate lawmakers Monday.

A three-member subcommittee of the Senates Ways & Means tax-policy committee advanced Senate Study Bill 1207. The joint resolution calls for an amendment to the Iowa Constitution to require a two-thirds rather than a simple majority vote of each the House and Senate to increase individual and corporate income tax rates.

The proposed amendment also would create the Taxpayer Relief Fund under the Iowa Constitution and specify it is to be exclusively used to reduce income tax rates, sales and use tax rates, or property tax rates.

The Taxpayer Relief Fund is currently established under Iowa Code, making it subject to amendment or repeal by lawmakers. Under the proposal, the fund would be protected under the state constitution, requiring voter approval for any changes.

Amending the Iowa Constitution requires the proposal pass both the House and Senate, be signed by the governor and pass again during the next General Assembly, either during the legislative session in 2025 or 2026, before then being put to voters for approval.

What we are trying to accomplish here is create an article in the Iowa Constitution protecting the taxpayer from runaway government, said committee chairman and bill sponsor Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs. What we are trying to do here is at least rein government in on its worst times.

Dawson added: It should be harder in Iowa to raise taxes than it is to cut it.

I find it perplexing that in the Iowa Constitution we protect money for highway funds, fish habitats and for trails, he said. But, what we dont do is protect the Iowa taxpayers, and thats what this is here about today putting something in the Iowa Constitution that actually protects the Iowa taxpayers.

Opponents, including the Common Good Iowa, the Iowa Catholic Conference and the Iowa Chapter of Sierra Club, called the proposal fiscally irresponsible.

Our economy is cyclical, and we need policies that adjust to that when it is expanding and when it is contracting, said committee member Sen. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport. To put something like this in the constitution doesnt gives us the flexibility we would potentially need, particularly when previously approved income tax cuts fully kick in, resulting in an expected reduction of $1.9 billion from the state budget.

Dawson and Sen. Carrie Koelker, R-Dyersville, advanced the bill to the full Senate Ways & Means Committee for consideration, with Winckler opposed.

An Iowa Senate committee advanced a bill dealing with county compensation boards on Monday, but said they intend to remove a provision allowing county boards of supervisors to dissolve a compensation board.

As written, House File 314 would give county supervisors the option to dissolve and create a county compensation board, which annually sets the salaries of the county supervisors, attorney, treasurer, sheriff, auditor and recorder. Under current law, compensation boards are required. It passed the House 62-33 in February.

While the bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Local Government Committee meeting on Monday, Sen. Mike Klimesh, R-Spillville said the Senate intends to amend the bill on the floor to keep compensation boards as a requirement in each county.

The amendment, which has not been filed, would keep a requirement in the bill that compensation boards provide the data they used to reach the proposed salaries, Klimesh said. It also would dictate that the salary of new elected officials could not be lower than the previous officeholders salary and require members of a county compensation board to receive training on the position.

Klimesh said the decision to keep county compensation boards as a requirement came out of conversations with elected officials and supervisors, most of which wanted to keep compensation boards.

Erika Eckley, a lawyer with experience in health care, agricultural law and statehouse lobbying, has been named the new executive director of the Iowa Public Information Board, the state board that resolves disputes over Iowas public records and meetings laws.

Eckley becomes the fourth executive director in the boards 10-year history. She succeeds Margaret Johnson, who is retiring.

We are excited to have Erika join the staff of the board, IPIB chairwoman Julie Pottorff said in a news release. Erika brings a number of skills that will make her a tremendous asset.

The executive director advises and provides counsel to the nine-member board, and oversees the agencys administration.

Eckley has worked as an attorney for the Iowa Hospital Association and Iowa State University Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation. She also has worked as a lobbyist for the Iowa Hospital Association, the Hospice and Palliative Care Association, and Intoxalock, an ignition interlock device company.

Eckley has a law degree from Drake University, a masters in public administration from Iowa State University, and an undergraduate degree from Grand View University in Des Moines.

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Iowa Senate Republicans propose adding taxpayer protections to ... - The Gazette