Connecting the Dots in Iowa

Joe Kristan at the Tax Update Blog seems to think there is some connection between taxes, tax expenditures (in this case, tax cuts for beautiful movie stars and fascinating movie directors), and government spending (in this case, education). And he isn’t the only one buying into such crazy ideas.

In all seriousness, education funding is a topic worth discussing and one that gets many people fired up. I could offer my views on education funding, but I’m not an education expert. And it doesn’t matter, because the point is that if Iowans don’t want to cut education spending, giving up film credits would be a huge step in that direction. Today is the deadline for state agencies to submit their plans to comply with Iowa Gov. Chet Culver’s 10% across-the-board budget cut for the state. That amounts to $600 million. Kristan points out that the now temporarily suspended film tax credit program was projected to cost the state $363 million.