Iowa state legislature

With the 2019 Iowa legislative session set to begin Monday, one of the topics many around the state will be paying close attention to is the potential continuation of the Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) program, commonly referred to as the “Statewide Penny for Infrastructure.”

The 1% sales tax is distributed to public schools all around the state, and some legislators have reportedly questioned the continuation of the program. State Senator for District 10, Jake Chapman, says while he supports the extension of SAVE, he believes there is some work to be done on it this year. “We’re talking about over $15 billion of additional revenue into the state over the coming years. And so we want to make sure if that is going to happen, that it’s done in a way that puts the taxpayers’ interest in mind. And we’ll just have to see how that progresses, but I’m looking forward to those conversations. We want to make sure our education’s being funded, and in particular that SAVE is for infrastructure. But we want to do it responsibly, and we’ll just have to see how that develops over the session.”

The SAVE program had been identified as a legislative priority in both the Perry and Adel-DeSoto-Minburn school districts when the current school year started, with the superintendents of both schools emphasizing the importance of continuing the sales tax. Perry Superintendent Clark Wicks, in particular, said the school’s five-year major facilities plan hinges almost entirely on the funds provided through SAVE. To learn more about the coming Iowa legislative session, click the link below to listen to the Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program with Chapman.

https://raccoonvalleyradio.com/2019/01/lets-talk-dallas-county-172019-jake-chapman/