(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds is preparing her list of priority issues for the 2024 Iowa legislature and it includes a tax plan. A year ago, Reynolds said her goal was to completely eliminate the state income tax by early 2027. Reynolds told reporters this (Monday) morning she’s meeting with legislators and business leaders — and her staff is analyzing a variety of data points, but the governor isn’t ready to reveal details.

“We’re visiting with the respective parties that we need to and, most importantly, economists to make sure that we’re in a good place to be able to sustain it,” Reynolds says. The Iowa Taxpayer Relief Fund currently has a more than two-point-seven BILLION dollar balance of taxes that were paid to the state, but not spent. The state surplus is approaching two BILLION dollars on top of that.

“The fact of the matter is we’re sitting on a pretty good surplus and the Taxpayer (Relief) Fund especially is designated to really help reduce the tax burden on Iowans, so we’ve got money there and we’re going to turn it back over to Iowans and we need to be more competitive,” Reynolds said. Democrats in the legislature say state tax cuts should be targeted to low and middle income Iowans.