Letter to the Editor: Submitted by Steve Paul

To the Editor:

Iowa voters will decide on Iowa Amendment #1 during the November 3, 2026 election to determine whether a two-thirds supermajority vote in both the Iowa House and Senate should be required to raise new income taxes.

The current requirement in Iowa to increase or establish a new income tax is a simple majority in both legislative chambers. Majority rules, not supermajority.

We in the Allamakee School District took eleven votes to pass a bond for a new high school and that was a 60% voter approval. They are talking 66% voter approval.

This proposed amendment would require personal or corporate income tax increases to be approved by two-thirds of the majority in each chamber - virtually locking in extreme tax cuts skewed to the wealthy that majority lawmakers put in place between 2019 and 2025.

If this amendment passes it would encourage lawmakers to solve our budget problems by raising the sales tax or other tax fees.

Steve Paul
Waukon