News : Branstad discusses tax reform, hears concerns from Vinton residents

At the podium: Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds.

VSHS Principal Kirk Johnson asks Governor Branstad what advice he would have for the students there.

Gov. Brandstad and Lt. Gov Reynolds spoke to nearly 100 people in Vinton Wednesday.

Dr. Mark Dearden speaks to Gov. Branstad about the recent Virginia Gay Hospital renovation.

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad made his second "first" visit to Vinton on Wednesday. Coming to Vinton for the first time since returning to Terrace Hill, Branstad spoke to an audience of 100 people, including 50 students from Vinton-Shellsburg High School.

Branstand and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds came to speak about the governor's job plan, which begins by lowering corporate income tax rates as well as reducing the commercial property tax burden.

Brandstad asked the audience to join him in making these changes so that Iowa can see more growth in its business and industry.

The governor's plan includes rolling back the commercial property tax rates to 60 percent of assessed value in five years. Currently commercial property tax rates are based on 100 percent of value. The state would provide funding to local governments -- cities, counties and school districts -- to offset 50 percent of the estimated lost revenue. Branstad said he believed this revenue loss would only be temporary.

Branstad also wants to cut the state corporate income tax rate in half, lowering the top commercial rate from 12 to 6 percent.

After sharing his plan, Branstad opened the floor for questions. The audience members raised a variety of other issues for the next 30 minutes.

Vinton-Shellsburg Superintendent Mary Jo Hainstock told the governor that a state economic development organization recently issued a statement that early childhood education was an important factor in economic development. She asked Branstad to reconsider his stance on preschool funding. Branstad said that while he agreed about the importance of early education, he said he believed his plan to require families to pay for preschool would cause parents to be more concerned and involved because they would have "skin in the game."

While Hainstock agreed with that statement, she said she was concerned about the working poor families who are currently struggling to pay their bills as well as the higher fuel prices.

"The poor poor will have vouchers, It's the working poor that I am concerned about," the superintendent said after the meeting. She also told the governor that the private preschools are already full for next year, and that reducing funding for public preschool may limit the opportunities for some families to send their children to preschool.

Dave Coots told the governor that as the owner of an agregate business, he is impacted by regulations. The governor said he has issued an executive order requiring that the economic impact of regulations be considered. He also plans to require that future regulation laws have an automatic sunset clause, so the legislature would have to review them every few years to make sure the regulations are protecting Iowans without unduly burdening businesses.

A truck driver in the audience asked about raising the state gasoline tax to provide more funding for highway repair. He particularly complained about Highway 150 north of Vinton. Branstad replied that this is a bad time to increase the gasoline tax. He said he has set up a committee that includes government and business leaders to study the road needs of the state through 2020. That group, he said, will soon begin holding meetings around the state.

Vinton-Shellsburg High School Principal Kirk Johnson asked Gov. Branstad what advice he would have for the students there. Branstad urged the students to study hard in schhool, and to pay particular attention to math and science courses. He said many Iowa jobs in the future will be in the biomedical field.

Reynolds also answered that question, telling the students to go beyond their "comfort zone."

"Try some new things. I think you will be surprised at how well you do them," she said.