At the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in Denver, Iowa Speaker Pro Tempore John Wills — a member of the ALEC Board of Directors — took a few minutes to sit down with ALEC TV to share the latest about his state’s groundbreaking reforms in recent years. The conversation underscored Iowa’s ambitious efforts to provide families with Universal Education Freedom and to simplify the tax code while lowering rates in order to spur economic growth.
One of Iowa’s recent landmark achievements was the Students First Act. An Education Savings Account (ESA), the program was expected to attract around 14,000 students in its first year. Interest, however, exceeded expectations as more than 29,000 applications rolled in.
“Right now, we have about 30,000 kids using education savings accounts, allowing their parents to choose the school that best fits their children’s needs,” Wills noted.
The ESA program was long champion by Governor Kim Reynolds, who co-chairs the Education Freedom Alliance. Allowing parents to direct state funds toward private, charter, home, micro, or any other type of schooling options, the response has been overwhelming. While some critics claim ESAs divert money from public schools, Wills explained that schools retain most federal and local funds for students who leave. That means when a student exits the public school system, the schools will have a more to spend on a per capita basis.
“Every student in Iowa has a price tag of about $17,000 and $10,000 of that is federal and local money,” Wills explained. “The school’s going to keep most of that $10,000 when that student goes to another school.”
Tax Cuts Increasing Revenues
In addition to education, Wills has also kept a focus on tax reform. When entering the legislature back in 2014, Iowa’s tax code was highly complex, with personal income tax rates as high as 8.9%. Starting next year, all Iowans will pay a flat income tax rate of 3.8%. Wills pointed out that tax revenues have continued to grow, even with the cuts.
“Every time we [cut taxes], our revenues continue to increase,” he said, highlighting Iowa’s thriving economy. “We’re just trying to find out how low can we go, and we may do another tax bill next year.”
Food Freedom
Wills has also championed “food freedom” and the rights of small businesses to operate from home. Drawing from ALEC’s model policies, Iowa preempted local ordinances that prohibited home-based businesses.
“It’s about allowing people to have the freedom to operate and do things in their home,” Wills said. “We should never be inhibiting entrepreneurs. Especially in small towns. Can’t we as citizens make the decision if we want to go to that business?”
With leaders like Wills, Iowa is setting an example for other states, demonstrating how policies based on free markets and limited government can promote both personal freedom and economic growth.