Iowa

IEDA chief seeks to revamp incentives as Iowa’s tax climate shifts, job growth lags

Published

1 year ago

January 24, 2025

IEDA chief seeks to revamp incentives as Iowa’s tax climate shifts, job growth lags

Iowa’s economic development chief is laying out how she believes the state should overhaul and scale back business development incentives after Iowa legislators cut corporate, income and other taxes in recent years.

With Iowa’s more competitive tax climate for business, Debi Durham said, she hopes a smaller, more targeted set of tax credits, capped at $110 million annually, can help raise the standard of living for Iowans while bringing more transparency and certainty to state budgeting.

“The Legislature’s going to know exactly how much we’re handing out in any given year,” Durham said.

The executive director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority since 2011 and Iowa Finance Authority since 2019, Durham said she wants to replace the longtime High-Quality Jobs Program, which currently receives $68 million annually, with Business Incentives for Growth — and recommends spending $18 million less doing so.

Created in 2005, the High Quality Jobs Program provides a mix of tax credits for investment and research activities, refunds of sales and use tax, forgivable loans and direct financial assistance if companies meet certain hiring, wage, retention and other standards.

The program, whose funding has been scaled back from $130 million over time, also has allowed the use of 20-year property tax abatements, like those used to help Meta, owner of Facebook, expand its data warehouse campus of 11 buildings in Altoona. In 2024, the value of those controversial tax abatements in the growing city reached $1.1 billion.

But as the Register reported earlier this month, Meta’s data centers and its property won’t be subject to property taxes until 2034 and in the meantime, changes in Iowa’s property tax system at the Legislature could reduce the payout the city is counting on.

Durham said last week that IEDA no longer allows municipalities to use 20-year abatements as part of the incentive program. And she said state leaders need to evaluate whether data warehouses, which are expanding rapidly across the country while their demand for energy and water grows, need to continue to be incentivized in Iowa, like the ethanol and wind industries before them.

“The question is, should any industry, once they’ve established themselves in the marketplace, continue to receive incentives?” she said. “That is a legislative question.”

Durham said the IEDA also is proposing replacing an existing uncapped tax credit program for research activities currently administered by the Iowa Department of Revenue with one that would be run by IEDA and have a $40 million annual cap.

The current research activities tax credit can provide individual and corporate income tax refunds for qualifying research expenditures, including wages and supplies. The proposal says businesses’ research in Iowa must be “experimental” and aimed at discovering technological information or developing a new product.

Both the Business Incentives for Growth and the new research and development tax credits would apply to tax liability first and then be refundable.

John Fuller, a spokesperson for the revenue department, said the agency “supports proposals that increase efficiencies in state government, including changes in how state tax credit programs are administered. This aligns with the Governor’s continued efforts to improve how government agencies work together for the people of Iowa.”

Tax credits are no angel

The IEDA also wants to sunset the state’s Angel Investment Tax Credit program, established in 2002 to jumpstart venture capital investment in Iowa startups, and create a new Seed Investor Program in combination with an existing Innovation Fund so the state can offer up to $10 million annually in tax credits.

The hope, Durham said, would be to better help rural Iowa businesses with a lower investment threshold qualify for the credits.

A report by the Department of Revenue in December found no hard evidence the existing Angel Investor tax credits, which amount to 25% of a qualifying business’s capital investment, benefit the state. The report said it was “not possible to definitively establish that the tax credit leads to investment that, in the absence of the tax credit, would not occur.”

Another 2022 state report said while studies have found that angel tax credits, offered in numerous states across the country, are associated with increased investment activity, their availability “does not necessarily result in robust growth of new firms in terms of employment growth and other measures of success.”

The IEDA’s proposal, which has not been filed at the Legislature or assigned a bill number, also would replace an existing tax credit program for chemical production with one for aviation fuel, and increase allowable credits by $5 million to $10 million annually. It would sunset or repeal tax credits for targeted jobs, assistive devices and employer child care.

And the agency wants to establish a two-year pilot program for in-state film production. That program would provide a rebate after expenses to projects that qualify — up to a total of $10 million annually, Durham said.

The Legislature has been reluctant to consider any proposed film incentives since a 2009 scandal, closely covered by the Des Moines Register, that involved a poorly administered tax credit for film production. A state audit in fall 2010 uncovered $26 million in tax credits that were improperly issued — about 80% of what had been doled out.

Widespread abuse of the credit led to the firings of a half-dozen people at the Iowa Department of Economic Development — the IEDA’s predecessor — millions in settlements and the convictions of seven people on fraud or theft charges. The scandal also hounded then-Gov. Chet Culver as he made a failed bid for re-election against former Gov. Terry Branstad.

But a bill that would provide the new moviemaking tax credits, House File 2662, passed the House last year.

Rep. Ray Sorenson, who chairs the House economic growth and tech committee and an ex officio member of the IEDA Board, said the committee is looking forward to digging into the specifics of the proposals, as the session progresses.

“We of course share the IEDA’s goal of bringing economic development to every corner of the state and work to help them get their proposals through committee and to the floor,” he said.

Proposal comes as Iowa’s economy sputters. Would it help?

When asked what the net difference would be in all the proposed incentives changes from the 2024 fiscal year, Staci Hupp Ballard, a spokesperson for the IEDA, said the Legislative Services Agency will do an analysis of the changes and “we believe the fiscal note will show a significant savings.”

Ballard said the new tax credits were proposed after the agency took into “account the types of projects we’re seeing, feedback from industry and stakeholders, and what other states are offering.”

It’s impossible how to know how the changes, if enacted, would benefit the state, as Iowa has faced increasingly stark revenue and economic forecasts.

The Register reported last week that as of January, Iowa’s overall employment growth since 2019 was 0.6%, while it was 4.6% for the U.S. as a whole. Companies filed 99 notifications of plant closings or mass layoffs last year, the largest total for any year since 2016, and nearly 30 more than the 71 recorded in 2023.

In 2022-23, Iowa experienced a drop in real personal income of 2%, the worst in the nation, according to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis statistics released last month.

Peter Orazem, a professor emeritus of economics at Iowa State University, said that doesn’t paint a rosy picture of Iowa’s economic outlook.

“Greater dependence on agriculture drags down income growth with weakness in that sector,” Orazem said. He noted that Iowa is lagging in finance and manufacturing, as well as in its agricultural sector.

In December, Iowa’s three-member Revenue Estimating Conference predicted Iowa will take in $9.15 billion in fiscal year 2025 — enough money to cover the $8.91 billion budget that began in July. But in fiscal year 2026, the panel said, the state will take in $8.73 billion, less money than budgeted.

Lee Rood’s Reader’s Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Reach her at lrood@registermedia.com, at 515-284-8549, on Twitter at @leerood or on Facebook at Facebook.com/readerswatchdog.

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Iowa

‘¿Habla español?’ Iowa schools look overseas to find Spanish teachers

Published

6 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

‘¿Habla español?’ Iowa schools look overseas to find Spanish teachers

The Exchange Visiting Teachers from Spain helps schools find qualified Spanish teachers.
World language teaching positions are hard to fill in rural areas.

The sounds of Dallas Center-Grimes High School Spanish students singing “¿Por Que Te Vas?” by Jeanette with varying levels of gusto and prodding by teacher Antton Zuazu Hernández may seem like an unusual way to learn.

But the sing-along is how Zuazu Hernández, a native of Spain, helps engage his students and share his culture as part of a teacher-exchange program.

“I feel I’m a messenger in a way, and this is part of the program,” he said. “We’re expected to both bring our culture here and bring your culture back to Spain.”

Zuazu Hernández — who taught English in Spain — is among 26 bilingual teachers in Iowa as part of an exchange program between the Iowa Department of Education and Spain’s Ministry of Education and Culture.

“(The program) was created to address the shortage of qualified Spanish teachers in the state and helps expose students to different world cultures,” said Heather Doe, the department’s spokesperson. “… The Exchange Visiting Teachers from Spain program has been very successful in helping schools, especially in rural communities, hire highly qualified Spanish teachers.”

Iowa has nearly 1,200 world language teachers in kindergarten through college, according to the Iowa World Language Association website.

Some foreign language teachers in Iowa moved to the U.S. and later obtained teaching credentials. Others were recruited to work in Iowa schools.

Iowa schools, including Waukee Community School District, even offer financial incentives as a recruitment tool for hard to fill positions.

“Many of them, like me, will arrive with teaching experience from our home countries, but in the process of validating the credentials in the U.S. we find obstacles,” said Elizabeth Bulthuis, a Waukee High School world languages teacher who immigrated from Ecuador in 2003, “and the validating of credentials also can be lengthy and costly, because of all the educational systems and how they are structured differently.”

Exchange program is beneficial to schools, superintendent

The Spain exchange program — which brings hundreds of teachers to schools across the U.S. — comes with several requirements.

The Spanish teachers must be certified in the language with at least two years of experience, Doe said. Additionally, candidates go through a vetting process at the federal, state and local levels. Teachers also attend a three-day state orientation.

Schools and districts participating in the program pay an $895 fee to offset licensing and orientation costs, Doe said.

The program is a blessing for rural areas struggling to fill positions teaching foreign language, special education, math and science.

“It’s very difficult to even get an applicant,” said Deron Stender, the superintendent at the rural Creston Community School District, “… When I say it’s difficult to even find (the candidates) they don’t exist. And if they do, they’re probably going to be in a larger metro, urban, suburban areas where there’s just more opportunities.”

St. Anthony’s conducts bilingual class for its students

St. Anthony’s Catholic school brings Spanish speaking teachers to the U.S. to teach students the language.

Zuazu Hernández taught Spanish and drove a bus at Creston during the 2024-25 school year. But falling enrollment and budget cuts resulted in his position being eliminated.

A program drawback is teachers only have three-year visas, he said.

“When you have a very good individual that comes to your district from a foreign country after the third year, you still have that need again,” Stender said. “So, we just open it back up to the same program, but you’re doing another refresh of the process, and while that’s a challenge, it’s still better than not having a teacher in the classroom.”

Not every world language teacher comes from Spain

Another issue schools have faced is filling teaching positions for immersion programs.

In the early 2000s, St. Anthony’s started a Spanish-immersion program after several families with children of Honduras and Guatemala descent wanted their kids to have a Catholic school education and maintain their connection to the Spanish language.

“A lot of teachers go to school to teach Spanish, but they go to school to teach it as a standalone Spanish class,” principal Jennifer Raes said. “… We were really searching for teachers that could come here and teach in any subject, just a regular teacher, but also has the skills of teaching in Spanish and English.”

Marisol Guerra, a Honduras native, came to the U.S. in 2010 to help start St. Anthony’s program. Guerra manage to come to the U.S. as part of that year’s Spain exchange program cohort.

More than a decade later, the school offers classes in English and an immersive track where 85% of the students’ day is spent learning in Spanish. While families were hesitant in the beginning to take part in the immersion program, there is now a waitlist of almost a dozen families.

“There was uncertainty, (but) they wanted their children to learn a second language,” Guerra said, “and they wanted without knowing, I think, they also were exposing them to other cultures and opening their minds to other things.”

The over the years, St. Anthony’s has employed teachers who moved to America from Spain, Mexico and other Latin American countries.

The over representation of teachers from Spain likely is due to other countries not offering similar exchange programs, said Bulthuis, a member of the Iowa World Language Association.

It took several years for the veteran teacher — who came to Iowa in 2005 — to become credentialed to teach in the U.S. because she was not part of an exchange program.

“I think that world language teachers can be difficult to recruit because the pool of candidates is relatively small, so teachers need a strong language proficiency, cultural knowledge and all the teaching certifications,” said Bulthuis, who left Ecuador in 2003 because of the country’s financial crisis, “(but) many people who speak another language also have opportunity in other careers.”

Bulthuis does not recommend loosening the criteria to teach in Iowa but suggests improving or streamlining the process for an international teacher to obtain a state teaching license.

“… Not every Spanish speaking country is going to have (an exchange) program like that in place to help their community,” Bulthuis said,

Cultural exchange

Educators say employing international teachers goes beyond language skills.

“International educators can bring tremendous cultural and linguistic expertise to the classroom, which is an incredible skill and very valuable for students,” Bulthuis said.

That cultural exchange can carry over into a school’s lesson plans.

Zuazu Hernández often lets his American students’ interests drive what he teaches them about Spanish culture. These questions have ranged from wanting more insight into bullfighting, the Spanish school system, stereotypes and politics.

“Sometimes, they are more interested in me as a person, or the things I can tell them about Spain than the actual Spanish language,” he said, “but they have that curiosity that I think all teachers, we have to take advantage of.”

While reading “¡Viva el toro!” by Lisa Ray Turner and Blaine Ray, a novel about bullfighting, Zuazu Hernández talked to students about his family’s love of the cultural spectacle and how it is losing popularity in Spain because of how the bulls are treated.

Zuazu Hernández is open about his perspective on the practice to his students.

“To me, bullfighting is not worth sustaining just because it’s a tradition — traditions are not always good or acceptable — but rather because it’s an art, and it expands the depth of human understanding of the most intense truths in life, with death as the scariest of all,” he told the Des Moines Register in an email.

His students appreciate his candidness and the chance to learn from teachers with different lived experiences.

“I like having different teachers because they have different experiences, and I think it adds to the overall class,” said Grace Heston, an 11th grader Dallas Center-Grimes High School. “When you’re learning about Spanish, you’re not just learning about a language, you’re learning about the culture associated with it.”

Samantha Hernandez covers education for the Register. Reach her at (515) 851-0982 or svhernandez@gannett.com.

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Iowa

NCAA Wrestling Championships at-large bids announced

Published

18 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

NCAA Wrestling Championships at-large bids announced

The 330 wrestlers competing in Cleveland at the NCAA Championships are now set.

After the conference tournaments established the lion’s share of wrestlers, the NCAA announced the at-large bids on Tuesday, March 10, completing the rest of the field.

Brackets and seeds will be announced on March 10, but here’s a look at the contingents each state of Iowa program will be sending after the at-large bids were announced.

Iowa wrestling NCAA qualifiers

For the third year in a row, Iowa wrestling will be sending nine to the NCAA Championships. Victor Voinovich did not earn an at-large bid at 157 pounds after finishing ninth at the Big Ten Championships, one place outside of NCAA automatic qualification. He concludes his season with a 12-6 record.

Voinovich narrowly earned the starting job over Jordan Williams at 157, with Iowa coach Tom Brands saying it was very close, but Voinovich had shown a little more “fight” this year. Now that Voinovich hasn’t qualified for NCAAs, it’s a decision that will go further under the microscope.

What’s done is done, however, for Iowa. They’ll take Dean Peterson (125), Drake Ayala (133), Nasir Bailey (141), Ryder Block (149), Michael Caliendo (165), Patrick Kennedy (174), Angelo Ferrari (184), Gabe Arnold (197) and Ben Kueter (285) to Cleveland in hopes of salvaging what has been a tough season.

Iowa State wrestling NCAA qualifiers

For the first time since 2010, Iowa State will send all 10 wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. Vinny Zerban earned an at-large bid at 157 pounds despite falling short of the automatic qualifying threshold at the Big 12 Championships. Zerban suffered a concussion and medically forfeited out of the tournament after his first match in Tulsa. His health status will be worth monitoring NCAAs inch closer, from March 19-22.

The Cyclones look poised for one of their best postseasons in recent memory with their 10 qualifiers ―Stevo Poulin (125), Garrett Grice (133), Anthony Echemendia (141), Jacob Frost (149), Zerban, Connor Euton (165), MJ Gaitan (174), Isaac Dean (184), Rocky Elam (197) and Yonger Bastida (285). The loss of Evan Frost hurts the Cyclones, considering his pedigree and season as a whole, but Grice’s has earned several ranked wins since entering the lineup in February and could still add some much-needed team points as the team chases a team trophy.

Behind title contenders Elam and Bastida, proven podium threats in Poulin, Echemnedia, Jacob Frost and Zerban (if healthy), Iowa State will be in the mix for a top-four finish in Cleveland.

UNI wrestling NCAA qualifiers

Northern Iowa will send five to the NCAA Championships. Automatic qualifiers Julian Farber (133), Caleb Rathjen (149) and Ryder Downey (165) will be joined by Jared Simma (174) and Nick Fox (184), who each earned at-large bids. The number of qualifiers could extend to six, with Trever Anderson (125) being the alternate at 125 pounds for NCAAs. However, he had to medically forfeit out of the Big 12 Championships, so his health status would be in question if he got called up.

With that, Max Brady (141), Cael Rahnavardi (157), John Gunderson (197) and Adam Ahrendsen (285) will have their seasons come to an end. Brady, a true freshman, will still have three NCAA chances in his career after showing promising moments in relief of Cory Land’s season-ending injury. Gunderson, a U23 World team member, will return for next season as well. Rahnavardi and Ahrendsen were both in their final seasons of eligibility.

Following injuries to Land and Wyatt Voelker, it’s been a hard year for the Panthers. This is half the number of NCAA qualifiers that UNI had last season when they qualified 10 for the first time since 1986. The last time UNI had five or fewer qualifiers was 2016.

However, all five of their wrestlers have each shown moments of brilliance, either this season or in prior NCAA Championships. They may be a smaller crew than normal, but Downey, Rathjen, Farber, Simma and Fox are all ones to watch in Cleveland.

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.

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Iowa

DCI agent say he was fired for questioning Iowa college gambling probe

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

DCI agent say he was fired for questioning Iowa college gambling probe

A former Iowa investigator is suing the state, claiming he was fired for criticizing a high-profile college sports gambling probe.
Mark Ludwick alleges his termination was retaliation for testifying that investigators conducted illegal searches and were told to mislead students.
The gambling investigation, which led to charges against dozens of student-athletes, has faced legal challenges over its methods.

A longtime investigator for the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation says he was forced out of the agency because he voiced reservations about a high-profile investigation into gambling in college athletics.

Mark Ludwick was hired by Iowa’s top investigative agency in 1997 and was terminated in November 2024, according to a lawsuit filed Feb. 20 in Polk County. According to his complaint, Ludwick was fired after two “frivolous” investigations, one claiming he’d exceeded the speed limit driving to a murder scene, and the other for assistance he provided to a domestic abuse victim.

The real reason, Ludwick alleges, is that officials were embarrassed after Ludwick testified under oath about what he regarded as weaknesses in their sports wagering investigation, which resulted in dozens of Iowa State University and University of Iowa student-athletes facing suspensions, 25 being criminally charged and 19 pleading guilty to underage gambling.

Ludwick testified in early 2024 he believed investigators had conducted illegal searches to identify the online gamblers and that he and other agents had been directed to lie to students about whether they were subjects of the investigation. He also alleged that stress about the case contributed to another agent’s fatal heart attack, although the agent’s relatives disputed the connection.

Now Ludwick is accusing the state of violating Iowa’s whistleblower protection statute. He declined through his attorney to comment. The Iowa Attorney General’s Office also declined to comment, and the Iowa Department of Public Safety, which includes the DCI, did not respond to an inquiry about the case.

Gambling investigation raised constitutional concerns

In the gambling investigation, DCI investigators used software tools provided by GeoComply, a Canadian company that contracts with online sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings, to look for evidence of illegal gambling activity. Using a GeoComply system, the investigators created a so-called “geofence” around college athletic facilities that allowed them to detect student athletes using wagering accounts registered to parents and friends to place bets ― sometimes on their own games.

Although the investigation resulted in numerous arrests and suspensions, it also drew controversy, in particular for agents’ failure to obtain warrants before conducting their location searches. GeoComply, which had encouraged Iowa to use its service, responded by cancelling the state’s access.

A large group of current and former students sued the state, accusing investigators of violating their constitutional rights. In November 2025, a federal judge ruled that the state’s investigation “does not comport with the Fourth Amendment,” which provides protection from illegal searches.

Nonetheless, the court dismissed the lawsuit, finding the officers involved were entitled to immunity. An appeal is pending.

Ludwick’s reservations emerge in depositions

Ludwick was an experienced investigator for the DCI, working on high-profile cases including the 2015 murder of Shirley Carter, whose son was tried and acquitted, and the 2017 deaths of two girls in a fire started by a relative.

While not the lead agent on the 2023 gambling investigation, Ludwick was tapped to assist by interviewing some of the student athletes. He later testified he grew concerned that the state’s geofence searches amounted to illegal, warrantless searches, and declined to participate in the case any further. He alleges that other DCI agents shared his concerns and also maneuvered to avoid being involved in the case.

Ludwick says he reported his concerns to his superiors. In January 2024, he was deposed by defense attorneys for four of the students, and “testified truthfully during his deposition that he believed an illegal search had been conducted.” Defense attorneys cited Ludwick’s remarks within days in filings covered by numerous media outlets, including the Des Moines Register, which “caused embarrassment and increased scrutiny for the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Commissioner Bayens, and other employees,” Ludwick’s suit states.

According to the complaint, officials launched an investigation into Ludwick for speeding on March 5, weeks after the embarrassing testimony was reported. On Aug. 8, officials initiated a second investigation after, Ludwick says, “he attempted to help a victim of domestic abuse flee her abuser.” He denies his actions violated Iowa law or department policy.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.

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