Iowa Sierra Club Chapter Executive Committee voted to oppose these tax
amendments at our May 22nd meeting.

Jane Clark
Iowa Chapter Chair, Sierra Club

**Other opponents (there are over 45 groups opposing these amendments)
include Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, Iowa
Catholic Conference Board, Des Moines City Council, Iowa State Education
Association, Iowa State Association of Counties, American Association of
Retired People, League of Women Voters, AFSCME, Sierra Club of Iowa,
Governor Tom Vilsack (opposes the amendment to require 60 % approval).

**Those organizations who are "in favor of" these amendments include Iowa
Farm Bureau, Christian Coalition, Iowa Association of Business and
Industry, Former Governor Terry Branstad, Muscatine lawyer David Stanley.
=======================================================
Constitutional Amendment Vote June 29

**The following is background on the tax amendments that was provided by
the Iowa State Association of Counties.

One amendment places into the constitution existing state law which limits
the state to spending not more than 99% of the money that it is projected
to collect in that year. The second amendment requires a vote of 60% or
more in the Iowa House and Senate to raise the state income or sales tax,
or to enact a new tax.

Kenneth Haynie, a Des Moines attorney, objected to the 60% approval
proposal because it doesn't apply to a "dozen" other taxes, including
property, estate, fuel, franchise gambling and alcohol beverage taxes. He
stated, "The pressure is going to be to
raise those taxes because you can do it with a simple majority.

The first would place the essence of what is currently in the Iowa Code
into our constitution: A restriction that the state may spend or obligate
99% of state revenue, the other 1% going into an emergency reserve or
"rainy day" fund. This may not be a bad idea, but
does it belong in our constitution? The statute went into the Code in 1992
as part of the legislation which raised the state sales tax one cent at a
time when we were attempting to get the state treasury out of red ink.

The proposed constitutional amendment would make access to the rainy day
fund even harder than it is now. While it is a good idea to put the piggy
bank out of reach during good economic times, access to the emergency
reserve should not have to be treated as safe cracking during an economic
downturn.  Putting such restrictions into the Iowa Constitution would make
such a move
very difficult to change.

The second amendment which will appear on the June 29 ballot would mandate
that any legislation which would increase state income or sales taxes will
require a 60 percent vote in both chambers of the Iowa General Assembly.
What's wrong with majority rule? When the time comes that the economy slows
down, revenues will also slow down and the demand for public services will
go up. At some point, this situation may well call for a tax increase. This
is what helped pull the treasury out of that sea of red ink in 1992 when
the state sales tax was increased.

But this will prove a tall order if only 41 state representatives or 21
state
senators refuse to vote for such a measure. Two-fifths of either house
could stop the legislature from making tax policy. In that event, local
governments will be left holding the bag…and having to increase property
taxes. In fact, it is likely that these two proposals are only stage one in
an attempt to re-apply the property tax freeze.

If these amendments pass in June, the other shoe may drop next year. ISAC
has long opposed these attempts to "constitutionalize" budget decisions.
ISAC has joined with 45 other groups in the Coalition to Protect Iowa's
Constitution to urge Iowans to vote "No" on June 29th .

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