February 21, 2008

Tax Code Update: No Bonus Depreciation

SILO Scoop Worries Taxpayers

Senate Transportation Tour Continues

New Bills of Interest

Why I invest in IIPAC

Mike Ralston
President
515/235-0562

Public Policy Team:

John R. Gilliland
Senior Vice President, 
Government Relations
515/235-0566

Nicole Molt
Director, 
Government Relations
515/235-0567

Jackie Paul
Administrative Assistant
515/235-0561

For questions regarding ABI Membership please contact:  

Leisa Fox
Vice President, Membership
515/235-0575

ABI ADVISORY COUNCIL

Resources & Links

Iowa Prosperity Project 
for
-Issue Alerts
-Write Your Legislator
-Legislator Voting Records
-Register to Vote

ABI Member Benefit -

For questions regarding the Iowa Prosperity Project (IP2) or your own FREE Prosperity Project Website send an email to:

IP2@iowaabi.org

Upcoming ABI Events - Mark Your Calendar!  For a full calendar of ABI events or to register click here.

March:

Tuesday, March 11^th

 “ABI Day on the Hill”

9 - 4:30:  ABI Policy Committee Meetings & Capitol Visits

June:

June 10^th- 12^th

2008 ABI Convention

Coralville, Iowa:  Marriott Hotel & Conference Center

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Tax Code Update: No Bonus Depreciation

On Monday, the House Ways and Means Committee approved SF 2123, commonly called the Internal Revenue Code Update.  The bill couples Iowa ’s tax laws with the federal Internal Revenue Code.  This provides state taxpayers with the same state credits found on their federal tax returns.  Coupling makes tax compliance easier for both taxpayers and tax administrators.  As presented, however, the bill does not include the special “bonus depreciation” for business assets that was a key component of the Recovery Rebates and Economic Stimulus for the American People Act of 2008, passed by Congress and signed by the President on February 13, 2008.

The Economic Stimulus package approved by Congress and signed by the President accelerates Section 179 depreciation to $250,000 for tax year 2008 going forward.  This “bonus depreciation” encourages greater economic activity and company investment in new equipment in the face of a slowing economy.

The General Assembly also did this (didn’t couple) in 2001.  Compliance was so expensive for both the state and taxpayers, that the legislature corrected itself the very next year.  If Iowa de-couples, businesses will be forced to spend time and money maintaining extra depreciation schedules and face much more difficult compliance in future years.

Some legislators in both parties have discussed coupling now and avoiding having to address this problem in the future.

For information and to encourage your legislator to adopt bonus depreciation in coupling Iowa ’s tax laws with the federal stimulus package, CLICK HERE.

SILO Scoop Worries Taxpayers

The House Ways and Means Committee has now taken authority over the proposed SILO Swap legislation, HF 2066.  As approved by the House Education Committee, the School Infrastructure Local Option (SILO) tax bill will eliminate the current SILO system in favor of a statewide one-cent sales tax.  The current system allows counties to vote every ten years on a local option sales tax to support school infrastructure projects.  The new proposal would swap the current system for a permanent tax across the state, allowing schools access to the revenue for local projects and capturing “use” taxes not currently collected via the current SILO.

In addition to the use tax increase created by this bill, one of the main concerns of ABI members is how the new revenues will be used.  That question was posed to Governor Chet Culver on Wednesday and he said he's open to the idea of letting schools use local sales tax revenue to pay for teacher salaries. 

"If we can work on this in a bipartisan way and get some consensus I'm confident we can use this as a vehicle to address a lot of different needs and that might be one of them," Culver told reporters.  That is of interest, because the legislation was originally proposed as a funding source for some majority party legislators say that this change dooms chances for the bills passage “infrastructure” only.

Senate Transportation Tour Continues

Senators Tom Rielly (D-Oskaloosa) and Larry Noble (R-Ankeny), Senate Transportation Committee Chair and Ranking Member, respectively, will continue their tour of Iowa communities this session to gather input on the state’s transportation needs. 

These listening posts are of particular interest with the legislature working on broad transportation infrastructure legislation, a top priority of ABI this session.

Week 1: February 21, 22

Thursday, February 21:

3:00-4:15

King Memorial Library

708 7^th Street

Grundy Center , IA

Phone: 319.825.3607

6:00-7:30

Country Hills Golf Course

10280 Echo Valley Road

West Union , IA

563-422-3482

Attn: Tina

8:00-9:30

Dubuque River Museum

350 East 3rd Street
Port of Dubuque

Dubuque , IA

563-557-9545

Attn: John Sutter

11:00-12:30

John O’ Donnell Stadium

209 S. Gaines St.
Davenport , Iowa 52801
Phone: 563.333.2726

2:30-4:00 pm

Manatt’s Co.

1775 Old 6 Road

Brooklyn , IA 52211

Attn: Adam Manatt 641-522-9206

Week 2: February 28, 29

Thursday, February 28:

3:00-4:30

Jefferson Community Building

204 W. Harrison

Jefferson IA

515-386-3412

4-way stop of highway 4 and Lincolnway.

6:00-7:30 pm

Sunrise Point Golf Course

1528 E. Lake Shore Drive

Storm Lake , IA

Contact: Diane Peters 712-732-8025

Friday, February 29:

9:00 am- 10:00 am

Sioux City Public Library

Gleeson Room

529 Pierce St .

Sioux City , IA

712-255-2933

Noon-1:00

Visitor’s Center

Glenwood Resource Center Campus

110 Main Street

Glenwood , IA

Phone: 712-527-3298

Attn: Linda Washburn

3:00-4:30

Terrible’s Lakeside Casino

777 Casino Drive

Osceola , IA

641-342-9511

Attn: Carrie

New Bills of Interest

HSB 672 - would require work comp benefits to include, not exclude, and employee's earnings for overtime, shift differential, and premium pay.  House Labor Subcommittee of Rick Olson, Hunter, and Horbach.

HSB 673 - would require annual cost of living increase for workers' comp benefits.  House Labor Subcommittee Palmer, Abdul-Samad, and Horbach.

HSB 669/SSB 3149 - would require pharmacy benefits managers to reimburse pharmacies with 15 days of receipt of a clean claim rather than current standard business practice of 30 days payment.  The legislation would have significant impact on the billing structures of PBMs, inhibiting their ability to batch claims every two weeks.  The legislation places additional costs on prescription drug providers which will inevitably be passed on to employers who pay for heather coverage for their employees.

HSB 691/SSB 3179 - would update the fee structure for water use permits in Iowa.  The legislation proposed to have all fees in the fund revert back to the Department of Natural Resources for administration of the program.  ABI environment committee members have been working diligently on this legislation and other Department proposals.

Why I invest in IIPAC…..

“I think that every year we get more than our money’s worth as the work we do with the Iowa legislators and lobbyists helps promote growth in Iowa and cultivates a pro-business approach for the state”.

Toby Shine, Shine Bros. Corp.

Gold IIPAC Contributor

CLICK HERE to make your secure IIPAC Investment!

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