(KIWA Staff Photo)Statewide, Iowa – Governor Kim Reynolds has signed the bill that’s designed to extend nearly $1.4 billion in state tax incentives to a company that plans to build a steel mill in Iowa.
The plan easily cleared the Iowa House this past Friday afternoon on a 75 to 17 vote. Representative Carter Nordman, a Republican from Dallas Center, said the project’s a game-changer for the state.
Representative Blaine Watkins is a Republican from Donnelson, about 23 miles from the site the company has picked to build the plant.
Rep. Matthew Rinker, a Republican from Burlington, says the plant could become the cornerstone of Iowa’s economy.
A few Democrats have questioned whether the plant would ever be built and whether the company based in India had the financial wherewithal to build it.
Representative Elinor (L-ih-nor) Levin (luh-VINN) of Iowa City suggested President Trump’s announcement of the project was meant to boost the campaign of a Republican in a tight race for re-election.
The legislature convened in special session this past Friday morning with the sole purpose of voting on changes to a state economic development program for large-scale projects. Senators passed this bill early Friday night on a 28 to 19 vote.
Republican Senator Jeff Reichman guided the bill through debate. He’s from Montrose, about 20 miles from the site where the plant is expected to be built.
Six of Governor Reynolds’ fellow Republicans in the Senate opposed tax breaks. Senator Dan Dawson, a Republican from Council Bluffs, has led the Senate tax-writing committee. He called it the largest corporate give-away in Iowa history.
Senator Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, says he’s worried the state won’t be able to afford the tax breaks — and he says legislature is giving up its responsibility to make decisions about state spending.
At 6:45 p.m. a small group listening to senate debate on the House floor cheered as the bill clear the Senate. The Senate adjourned a couple of minutes later.
The House followed at 6:53 p.m., then House Speaker Pat Grassley spoke with reporters, touting what he described as a “performance based” plan that will only pay the company if the steel mill is built.
