(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says the updated prediction that state tax revenues will fall nine percent during the current state budget year is to be expected — due to the flat income tax that went into effect in January.   “When I took office, the (top) individual income tax rate was nearly 9%,” Reynolds says. “Today, it’s 3.8% and that’s how we’ve been able to help families address some of the factors from the Biden Administration: inflation, higher cost of living. We’re starting to bring those numbers down.”

The current year’s state budget now calls for spending one-point-three BILLION dollars more than the state is predicted to get in revenue. Reynolds says she and G-O-P lawmakers intentionally kept spending low over the past few years and stored up more than enough cash to cover that gap.