Iowa's conservative tax reform story didn't happen by accident — and Governor Kim Reynolds made that crystal clear at the annual ITR/NFIB Tax Day Luncheon in Des Moines. With roughly 200 attendees packing the Hilton downtown, Chris Hagenow and John Hendrickson recap what the governor had to say about Iowa's decade-long transformation from one of the worst tax climates in the country to one of the ...
Property tax budget hearing statement season is here — and if you flipped that mailer over, stared at confusing percentages, and had no idea what you were looking at, this episode was made for you. Chris Hagenow and ITR Foundation Research Director Sarah Curry break down exactly how to read the statement that arrived in the mail: what to focus on (dollar amounts, not the levy rate), what to ignore...
The Iowa Revenue Estimating Conference released its March forecast this week, and the numbers tell an important story. Iowa's FY2026 general fund revenues are projected at $8.111 billion — down 9.3% from the prior year, with the current year revised down an additional $46 million from December due to federal tax changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The good news: Moody's and Fitch both reaff...
Iowa's 2026 governor's race is already drawing national attention — and this week it got expensive. Randy Feenstra launched a seven-figure statewide TV ad tying Rob Sand to the open borders left and positioning himself as the candidate who will "stand tall" on immigration. Chris Hagenow and ITR Foundation Policy Director John Hendrickson break down what the ad signals about the Republican primary,...
Candidate filing season is underway, and the next few weeks will reveal not just who’s running—but who can’t get on the ballot. Chris and John flag what to watch: retirements, surprise re-runs by incumbents, and especially the volume (and seriousness) of primaries against sitting legislators—potentially on both sides of the carbon capture pipeline issue.They then revisit TIF (Tax Increment Finan...
Sarah Curry returns to the studio to break down the K–12 budget process and why school spending decisions matter for property taxes—especially because, in most places, schools make up the largest share of the property tax bill. The core premise is simple: if “spending drives taxes” is true for cities and counties, it’s true for school districts too, and taxpayers deserve to understand what local b...
Chris Hagenow and John Hendrickson kick off a Presidents’ Day episode from the Hendrickson Library with a quick reset on the show’s running trivia thread—last week’s question on FDR’s failed 1937 “court-packing” push—and a new prompt for listeners: who was Abraham Lincoln’s political hero? They also trade a few studio-quality-of-life notes (and Chris’s ongoing desire for better signage) before mov...
In this episode of ITR Live, Chris Hagenow and John Hendrickson return to the microphones as the Iowa legislative session begins to take shape. With early attention on the governor’s race and shifting dynamics within Republican primaries, the hosts walk through recent endorsements, straw polls, and why early momentum matters—but doesn’t decide outcomes. They emphasize that fundraising, voter outre...
Chris Hagenow is joined in-studio by returning guest Alan Ostergren for a wide-ranging episode that quickly locks onto the political backdrop shaping Iowa’s 2026 cycle: money, organization, and the reality that statewide races are now fought on presidential-scale budgets and media saturation. They then pivot to Minneapolis as a case study in governance: fraud, immigration enforcement, ICE operatio...