Northwest Iowa — A northwest Iowa Republican legislator is accusing the Democrat candidate for governor of being a hypocrite for taking state tax credits he’s criticized.
Senator Randy Feenstra of Hull held a press conference at Iowa GOP headquarters in Des Moines.
The Hubbell campaign’s communications director says it was “nice Republicans took the time to talk about how Fred advocates against his best interest” by calling for an end to “wasteful tax giveaways in the current tax system.” Hubbell has an ownership stake in Hubbell Realty, a company his great-great grandfather started in the 1850s. Feenstra says Hubbell should have had Hubbell Realty decline $750-thousand in state tax credits earlier this month.
Hubbell’s campaign spokeswoman says Hubbell helped draft a list of proposed changes in the state tax credit system eight years ago, but Republican Governor Kim Reynolds “hasn’t made a single change” that Hubbell recommended. Hubbell and the rest of the panel, for example, called for a review of every state tax credit every five years to judge its effectiveness. The group also called for an end to having the state write checks to corporations that claimed tax credits worth more than their income tax bill to the state. Feenstra says Republican legislators and Governor Reynolds have promised to review state tax credit policies next year.
