Tax Package For Web Search Portal Business (Wink,Wink)

The Iowa Senate followed our friends in the House in passing a package of tax breaks to lure a qualifying web search portal business. The package is essentially the same as passed last year when we successfully lured Google to Council Bluffs...except these tax breaks can be used to lure Microsoft, which has expressed interest in Iowa.

I asked during committee debate if these breaks could be used to lure other similar high-tech companies; that is, why pass a new package everytime when we could simply put the breaks in place to lure high-wage, high-tech jobs year-round?

The good news: this bill does apply to similiar businesses. These high-tech businesses are looking for inexpensive, plentiful power--and smart kids. We have both. Iowa wins when we can keep young people from leaving the state by partnering with our education institutions and employers to place them in high-wage jobs immediately upon graduation.

However, this bill also begs a bigger question: why peacemeal these tax breaks at specific companies when we know they work? How about creating a hospitable tax climate for all types of business development in Iowa? That should be our next challenge.