State general fund revenue higher than last year’s

Editor’s note: this is an abridged version of Rep. Collins’ weekly newsletter.

To the People of House District 95

The pace of debate has slowed down a bit this week as many House files have already been messaged over the Senate. With the Senate now messaging over Senate files, subcommittee and committee meetings are now picking up again as these senate files must be out of a House committee before next Friday (the second funnel deadline).

General Fund Revenue Higher Through First Eight Months of Fiscal Year

With less than two weeks to the next meeting of the state’s Revenue Estimating Conference, additional information is arriving to help the three-member panel adjust their official December forecast.

February revenue collections for the state of Iowa were lower than last year’s take, but tax payments for the year are still running ahead of the latest REC forecast. Overall revenue in February was down $116 million when compared to last year’s figures. Even with February’s decline, state General Fund receipts are 1.3% higher through the first eight months of the fiscal year. This figure is ahead of the latest forecast from the Revenue Estimating Conference. Last December, the three-member panel projected state revenue would decline by 1.3% for the fiscal year.

Personal income tax collections continue to be below the previous year’s receipts, but that would be expected with last year’s phase of the 2022 income tax reform bill fully implemented. For the year, personal income tax payments are down 13.2%, which is more of a decline than what the REC has projected.

Sales and use tax collections fell slightly in February. Sales tax collections came in $1.1 million lower than what the state collected in February 2023. Sales tax collections are still outpacing the REC projection. Over eight months, sales and use tax payments have risen by 6.9% over FY 2023. This is higher than the 5.1% growth forecast by the REC.

Corporate income tax revenue was higher in February than the previous year’s level. Payments came in $13.8 million higher than February 2023 collections. But February is traditionally one of the smallest months of the year for corporate income tax payments, and that was the case again this year as total payments amounted to $23.8 million. For the year, corporate tax collections are 4.1% higher than in FY 2023. This is ahead of the December forecast of 1.5% growth.

Election Security Measure Passes House

This week the House passed House File 2610, a bill to make several minor changes to increase security in Iowa’s elections. The bill completes the full cycle of security for absentee ballots, ensuring accurate reporting of receipt of ballots, and assist in the timely delivery of absentee ballots to voters who request them.

In 2017, Iowa enacted voter identification requirements to register to vote and to cast votes. Iowa Code extends this requirement to voters requesting an absentee ballot to provide the same information as a person registering to voter must provide. This can be a voter’s driver’s license number or the voter’s voter identification number. Currently, there is no required identifying information required to return a completed ballot. To ensure that the ballot has been completed and returned by the voter who requested the ballot, HF 2610 requires the voter sign an affidavit envelope and affix their driver’s license number or voter identification number before placing it in a secrecy envelope to return it. Each envelope is affixed with the same serial number to confirm that the absentee ballot was completed and returned by the requester. These requirements are the same information a voter who votes in person must provide in order to cast a ballot.

Another change the bill makes regarding absentee ballots is the requirement that they arrive at the county auditor’s office before 5 p.m. the Monday before an election and requires the county auditor to report the ballot as received. This change is to provide more accurate information for absentee voters to know if their ballot has arrived in time or not. If enacted, this change allows the voter to know for certain that they have successfully voted absentee or that they will need to go to their polling location the next day. To ensure that this change does not limit the window an absentee voter has to complete and return their ballots the bill authorizes county auditors to mail absentee ballots two days earlier than current law.

These changes to the election code are not drastic but are necessary to complete the work of maintaining Iowa’s election integrity. It is clear that Iowans have faith in our elections and trust the outcomes. While the work to ensure election integrity is never over, House Republicans have led the way in enacting legislation to protect the election process while enabling Iowans the fundamental right to vote.

House Republicans Advance Religious Freedom Throughout the State

The original Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) was passed in 1993 and signed into federal law by then President Bill Clinton. Democrats championed the bill as one that protects the religious beliefs of Americans and keeps the federal government from substantially burdening a person’s free exercise of religion. In 1996, the United States Supreme Court determined that federal RFRA did not apply to states and if states want to implement RFRA they must pass their own state law. Senate File 2095 is Iowa’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act and after a contentious debate, it is headed to the Governor for her signature.

Senate File 2095 prohibits the state, counties, or cities from taking action that substantially burdens a person’s religious liberty unless there is a compelling governmental interest. If there is a compelling interest, the limits placed must be met in the least restrictive manner possible. This language is similar to laws in 25 other states, and 10 states that have RFRA like protections in their Constitution.

What should have been a celebration of the first amendment and the right to religious freedom, turned in to a combative debate where Democrats accused Republicans of weaponizing religious beliefs, accused many Christians of being racist, sexist, homophobic and worse. The debate was not about the merits of the bill but instead one of made-up stories and fictious fear mongering. Democrats tried to cite court cases claiming RFRA allows discrimination but the manager of Senate File 2095, Rep. Holt, quickly pointed out that the cases cited weren’t RFRA based cases. RFRA is over 30 years old and none of the outrageous claims made by Democrats have happened in any state.

Automated Traffic Enforcement Systems in Iowa Legislature

As discussions pick up again over the role of automated traffic enforcement systems in Iowa, it is important for Iowans to understand what these systems are, what they do, and how much money they generate. Thanks to the work of the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency, many of these questions can now be answered.

Under Iowa law, automated traffic enforcement systems are officially known as “automated or remote system for traffic law enforcement.” In much of the discussion at the Capitol, they are referred to as ATE’s. State law defines these as a camera or other optical device designed to work in conjunction with an official traffic control signal or speed-measuring device to identify motor vehicles operating in violation of traffic laws, the use of which results in the issuance of citations sent through the mail or by electronic means. To the average person, these are speed cameras used to reduce the incidence of speeding in a specific location or a red-light camera who catch people running red lights.

Some of these ATE are mobile, moving around a community to certain streets and roads to deter speeding in the area. Most ATE systems deployed in the state are in a permanent location. In most situations, the systems are operated by an outside vendor which retains a portion of the paid fines as payment for equipping and operating the system.

The Legislative Services Agency identified 25 communities at the start of 2024 were using an ATE system for traffic control of some manner. These are Bellevue, Buffalo, Cedar Rapids, Chester, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Fayette, Fort Dodge, Hazleton, Hudson, Independence, LeClaire, Marion, Marshalltown, Miles, Muscatine, Oelwein, Postville, Prairie City, Sioux City, Strawberry Point, Waterloo, Webster City, and West Union. There are other communities who are reported to be considering placing an ATE system on a roadway in or around their city.

Child Care Center Property Tax Cut Will Spur Availability

House Study Bill 726 passed unanimously out of House Ways and Means Committee this week. The bill cuts property taxes for commercial child care centers to spur growth in the availability and affordability of child care in Iowa.

Current law provides that a child care center or child care facility are commercial properties and as such are assigned a 90% rollback. This means they pay property tax on 90% of their assessed value. HSB 726 provides that for assessments years beginning Jan. 1, 2024 and after — property that is primarily used as a child care center or facility — although a commercial property — will be given the same rollback as residential property (this year 46%). This will result in a property tax cut for these businesses.

A person who wishes to qualify for this rollback must file an application with the assessor by July 1 of the assessment year for which the person is first requesting the limitation on forms provided by the Department of Revenue. The license to operate as a child care center or facility must be included with the application. The person will not have to apply in subsequent years as long as the property is still used for this purpose.

Each county’s Board of Supervisors shall determine eligibility of applicants by Sept. 1 of each year. There is a process for appealing a decision. Additionally, if a property is receiving the residential rollback, but no longer is being used as a child care center or facility — the taxes that would have been owed will have to be paid back. The bill now moves to the floor as a Ways and Means Committee bill for further consideration.

Remaining Forums

Henry County: Mount Pleasant Area Chamber of Commerce Legislative Breakfast: Saturday, March 16 from 8-9 a.m. at the Mount Pleasant Masonic Lodge #8

Staying in Touch

As always, you also can shoot me an email with any questions or concerns at taylor.collins@legis.iowa.gov or you can call the Capitol Switchboard and leave me a

Sincerely, Rep. Taylor Collins