The Gazette
Erin Murphy
July 23, 2026

DES MOINES — Chris Hagenow, president of Iowans for Tax Relief, said he believes as long as Iowa voters are aware of the proposed constitutional amendment on this fall’s general election ballot, they will approve the requirement for a two-thirds vote of state lawmakers to increase any state income taxes.

So Hagenow told reporters this week, Iowans for Tax Relief’s planned media campaign this fall will focus on making Iowans aware of the proposal, not necessarily attempting to persuade anyone.

“The whole goal of the campaign is simply to raise awareness that this is on the ballot and what it does,” Hagenow said Wednesday during an online press conference.

“We believe strongly that Iowans support the premise of this amendment, that they support the idea of it being harder to raise their taxes,” Hagenow said. “They simply need to know what this amendment does and that it will benefit them to vote ‘yes.’”

Iowa voters will be asked during the Nov. 3 general election whether to amend the Iowa Constitution for the 52nd time. The latest proposal, from statehouse Republicans, would add to the Iowa Constitution a requirement that any future vote to raise state income taxes on Iowa residents or businesses would require a two-thirds vote of the Iowa Legislature, rather than a simple majority.

Sixteen states have some similar form of a supermajority requirement to increase taxes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Those other states’ provisions include three-fifths, two-thirds or three-fourths majority votes from state lawmakers to increase or impose a new tax, according to NCSL.

Among the other states that require a two-thirds vote from state lawmakers to raise some or all state taxes, similar to the proposed amendment to the Iowa Constitution, are Wisconsin, Missouri, South Dakota, Florida and California, according to NCSL.

Iowans for Tax Relief plans to produce a media campaign to educate Iowa voters about the proposed constitutional amendment, Hagenow said. Hagenow said while the organization is not relaying how much it will spend on the advertising campaign, it will be “a robust paid media campaign” that will include TV, radio and mail literature. The group also has information about the proposal on its website under the web address maketaxhikesharder.com.

Hagenow said he believes a strong majority of Iowans will support the proposal, and that Iowans for Tax Relief has polling that backs up that belief. Hagenow said he believes the organization’s mission is simply to make Iowa voters aware of the proposal.

“We believe strongly that this campaign needs to be about awareness and about explanation of what the amendment does, rather than it being about persuasion,” he said. “That is the biggest challenge of this campaign, is just to help people understand and remind them to turn the ballot over, rather than spending time trying to persuade people.”

As required by the Iowa Constitution, the proposed constitutional amendment was approved by successive two-year meetings of the Iowa Legislature. What ultimately became Senate Joint Resolution 11 was first approved in 2024 by both chambers, then again by the Senate in 2025 and by the House in the final hours of the 2026 session.

Each time, votes fell largely or entirely along party lines, with Republicans supporting and Democrats opposing.

“I, myself, will be a ‘no’ on the amendment for two reasons: No. 1, I take very seriously any changes to our Iowa state Constitution. And second, I do not believe in minority rules,” said Iowa Rep. Dave Jacoby, a Democrat from Coralville and the top Democrat on the House’s tax policy committee’.

“I think it’ll really tie the hands of the Legislature, and 90% of the reason they’re there is to represent Iowans and make votes on taxes and expenditures,” Jacoby said Thursday. “So it kind of diminishes the role of legislators as elected officials to bring what the locals are telling us to Des Moines.”

Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said she is glad to see the proposal being put to Iowa voters, and that she believes her policy record shows her belief in limiting tax rates.

“I love that it’s going to the voters because that’s their money. It’s taxpayer dollars that we operate on, and we should always be just very conscientious of how we’re spending those dollars,” Reynolds told reporters this week. “I think my record would indicate that I align on the side where we need to do everything we can to not raise taxes on people, and it should be a very high threshold before we ever implement a tax increase.”

Reynolds pointed to statehouse Republicans’ work over the past decade, while they have had full control of the state lawmaking process, to reduce state tax rates on personal and business income as well as local property taxes.

Hagenow, a former Republican state lawmaker, alluded to preserving those state tax policies while explaining why he supports the proposed constitutional amendment.

“This Legislature over the last 10 years has done a terrific job … but that’s not to say that it’s always going to be the case,” Hagenow said. “And so this is future-proofing and securing the gains that we’ve made over the last 10 years from what may come. Because legislatures come and go, and then the political winds may change.”

The general election is Nov. 3.