Vander Linden – Capitol Update: January 18th, 2018
by Guy Vander Linden
January 18th, 2018
The first two weeks of the 2018 legislative session are complete, and House Republicans are focusing on a few key issues this session. Tax reform, water quality, and education will be at the forefront of Republican legislation this year. We aim to put more money in the pockets of Iowans, improve the quality of water in the state, and provide adequate, sensible funding for schools. Below you will find some helpful information concerning issues the legislature is addressing this session. Please contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. Additionally, feel free to “like” my Facebook page (Guy Vander Linden) to receive further updates from Des Moines.
Broadening the Conversation on K-12
Education for Iowa’s children has always been one of our top priorities. Last session, House Republicans broadened the conversation on education to topics other than the annual discussion over funding. We increased investment in K-12, provided more flexibility, and put more decision making in the hands of locally elected school boards and administrators. House Republicans will continue efforts to provide a world-class education for Iowa’s students and modernize our K-12 system for the 21st century.
Funding
Iowa is a leader in K-12 education funding, investing an additional $735 million since 2011. These investments have brought total annual spending on K-12 to nearly $3.2 billion, accounting for 45% of the state’s entire budget. Iowa is fourth in the nation in K-12 funding increases.
House Republicans have continually made K-12 education funding a top priority for the state. While other areas of the state budget have seen reductions in recent years, House Republicans have protected schools from any cuts during this time.
House Republicans will continue to make investments in K-12 education and will set school funding for the 2018-19 school year within the first 30 days of session.
More Flexibility and Local Control
Last session, House Republicans passed legislation that gave schools unprecedented flexibility over their resources and home rule authority.
We will continue to look for opportunities to provide schools with even more funding flexibility so districts can better meet the specific needs of their students and teachers. We also believe that local control is crucial in education and will continue to empower locally-elected school boards so they can innovate and govern their schools in a way that is best for them.
SAVE Fund
House Republicans will also have a discussion this session about reauthorizing the SAVE penny that schools use for infrastructure. SAVE was passed by the Legislature in 2008 which provided schools with much needed funding for infrastructure improvements. We will be working with local school boards and administrators to determine appropriate uses of the fund.
Don’t Believe the Hype on IPERS
Don’t listen to Democrats’ fear mongering scare tactics. There will be no changes to IPERS this session.
Because Democrats have offered no solutions to move Iowa forward, they are desperately trying to manufacture a campaign issue to run on this year.
This week, the House State Government Committee met and received an update from IPERS officials. With over 355,000 IPERS members and an 81.4% funded ratio, IPERS is well-managed and remains one of the most sound pension systems in the entire country.
House Republicans would never do anything that jeopardizes the retirement security of Iowans.
IPERS beneficiaries should also be thankful with the boom in the stock market that has occurred since President Trump took office. Between June 30, 2016-June 30, 2017, IPERS assets grew by $2.44 billion, about $203.3 million in growth per month. During the previous two years, they only grew by $290 million, $12.1 million per month.
Supreme Court to Finally Tackle Online Sales Tax Issue
The Supreme Court will rule on the online sales tax issues that cost states $13 billion in lost sales tax revenue in 2017 alone. This April, the high court will hear arguments on a 26-year old ruling that has relegated the online market place a duty-free zone.
The existing precedent is from the 1992 Quill case. That case held that retailers can only be forced to collect taxes in states where they have a physical presence. The case challenging that premise, and that the Supreme Court will hear, is South Dakota v. Wayfair. That case contends that the Quill case is obsolete in the current e-commerce marketplace, and that states should be able to collect sales tax on online purchases with no regard to whether the vendor has a physical presence in their state.
The ruling with affect online giant Amazon—although they are not directly involved or named in the case. Amazon charges sales tax in every state (that has a sales tax) when the purchase is of their own inventory. However—nearly half of Amazon’s sales involve inventory owned by third-party vendors using the Amazon platform. In those cases, Amazon leaves it up to the vendors to collect and remit sales taxes (which most of them do not do).
The court will hear oral arguments on the Wayfair case in April, and should issue a ruling by the end of the term in June.
