Today, Cato Institute, a nonpartisan association, named Governor Kim Reynolds the top governor in the nation for fiscal responsibility in the 2022 Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors.
“Iowa prides itself on stewarding taxpayer dollars with care and an eye towards growth,” said Gov. Reynolds. “That means exercising restraint in our spending and taking every opportunity to return tax dollars to the hard-working Iowans who generated them in the first place. This is their money – not the government’s – and they have a right to expect their own representatives to act like it. I’m grateful to the Cato Institute for recognizing that Iowa does so.”
The biennial report card analyzes governors’ actions on state budgets, taxes and spending. Governor Reynolds leads the pack, with a high score of 78 over five other Republican governors who also received an A grade on the report card.
"Governor Kim Reynolds has been a dedicated tax cutter and lean budgeter since taking office in 2017. She has restrained spending growth, which has generated large surpluses and budget reserves, while allowing for major individual and business tax reforms. Iowa residents will enjoy simpler and lower income taxes and businesses will be more competitive. This, combined with her abolition of the state's inheritance tax has earned her the #1 spot on this year's report card,” the non-partisan Cato Institute.
When Governor Reynolds took office, Iowa had the 6th highest income-tax rate in the nation at almost 9 percent. Now, after three historic tax reform packages, the most recent in March of this year, Iowa is set to be fourth lowest at 3.9 percent. Governor Reynolds’ tax reform law eliminates taxes on retirement income, starting in 2023 and reforms Iowa’s corporate tax rate.
Governor Reynolds signed the tax bill on March 1 which will save Iowa taxpayers $1.9 billion a year, and couple that with all the tax cuts she’s signed into law as Governor, a total savings of nearly $3 billion per year.
Throughout her administration, Governor Reynolds has continually increased funding year-after-year for public education, which makes up the largest portion of the state’s general fund budget at 56 percent. The Governor continues to also fund other key priority areas like public safety and mental health—creating Iowa’s first-ever statewide Children’s Mental Health System.
You can view the full report from the Cato Institute here. Governor Reynolds will join the Cato Insitute for a virtual seminar to discuss her fiscally responsible policies and tax cuts in the near future.