Republican Zach Lahn and Democrat Rob Sand drew sharp contrasts on school funding, taxes and data centers Wednesday night in a televised debate for the Iowa gubernatorial race in Sioux City, less than three weeks before the Nov. 3 election.
Moderating the debate were Matt Breen of KTIV, Dave Price of Gray Media, and Justin Rust of the N’West Iowa REVIEW. You can watch the full debate on KCRG’s YouTube channel.
Here are three takeaways from the KTIV debate.
Who put a number on school funding?
Sand repeated his call for a 5% increase in state aid to schools in his first year. He said he could not promise the same in year two.
Sand said ending data center tax breaks, taxing cannabis like alcohol, restoring an income limit on school vouchers, and making his Public Innovations & Efficiencies (PIE) program mandatory would more than cover the cost. He estimated cannabis would raise about $50 million in the first year and more than $100 million afterward.
Lahn was asked twice for a percentage and did not give one. He called a specific number “a great debate question,” but “not exactly the best governance question.” Moderator Matt Breen noted that inflation is 3.7%.
Lahn instead pointed to phonics-based reading, innovation zones, and “off-ramps” for struggling students, but said the costs of those ideas are not yet known.
How would Lahn pay for ending property taxes?
Lahn repeated his goal of making Iowa the first state to eliminate property taxes on primary residences. Property taxes are a major source of revenue for many public services across the board, including public schools. Asked how he would make up for that lost revenue, he said he has not put out a proposal on the exact mechanisms.
He pitched a blockchain ledger of every state transaction and “citizen auditors” to find waste. He also floated a 2.5-cent sales tax increase that would cover most of the cost, but added “that’s not my proposal.”
Sand put the state’s budget deficit at $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion a year and said the remaining surplus is shrinking each year following the income tax cuts Republicans passed and sped up.
Where do they agree on data centers?
Both said Iowa should stop giving data centers tax breaks. Lahn said the state should set the rules, require the companies to cover their electricity costs and protect water quality, and let counties impose moratoriums.
Lahn cited a data center near Cedar Rapids that received more than $500 million in property tax abatements in exchange for 30 long-term jobs.
Sand went a different direction, saying local officials should be barred from signing nondisclosure agreements that keep the public in the dark about who is building what.
“Hogwash,” he said. “We should ban that.”
The two also split on H-1B visas at public universities, which Lahn would end and Sand would keep.
Sand closed by calling for more checks on politicians. Lahn cast himself as an outsider who never wanted to be a politician. Absentee voting opened Wednesday.
