Mike Gronstal has accepted the burden of the majority. He has forged ahead, fixing flawed Republican legislation even though few Republicans followed him and his Senate Democrats.
I'm referring to the school sales tax equalization bill that passed the Senate with only five R votes this week. Gronstal had noted the bill mainly pumps money into R districts and had wondered why Rs wouldn't vote to take the money, saying he'd let the bill die rather than go it alone.
This crazy local-option sales tax was created in a previous Republican-run legislature. It siphons money from counties with little retail trade to counties with larger trade, such as Polk county. It sounds like something rural Republicans should have opposed, but they always go for regressive taxes. The local control aspect took the burden off them, too.
Thank Democrats for partly fixing this folly. The tax is still regressive but now it will give rural areas a fair shake. Republicans lost control of the legislature for a reason. Democrats should not shrink from the burden of correcting old errors, even if Republicans drag their feet.
Gronstal even came out of the debate sounding fiesty. Maybe he does stand for something besides re-election.
1 Comment
well, I'm glad to hear there was some good news
this week, because environmentalists are pretty discouraged by our Democratic leadership in the House and Senate. More on that in future posts.
The Republican position on this bill was absurd. If you live in a county with few retail options, which would you prefer:
1. a statewide sales tax that would actually put money into your schools, or
2. a local-option sales tax that would direct your retail dollars toward schools in a different county
The idea that number 2 is better because people have the option of voting it up or down is ridiculous. Whether or not they approve the local-option tax, their schools would get no money, and they would still have to pay the tax in the nearby counties where they shop.
desmoinesdem Thu 24 Apr 9:46 AM