.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} It’s far too early to predict what will happen in the national midterm elections this fall. Any number of game-changing events could come along before then.

On the state level, however, current trends are likely to hold, and Republicans are playing a strong hand in the showdown for the governor’s seat.

If Terry Branstad, Rod Roberts or Bob Vander Plaats should defeat Democratic Gov. Chet Culver, corporate leaders will be watching closely to see what happens next. In the primary campaign, each candidate is presenting himself as the friend of business by being the foe of corporate taxation.

Branstad has said he wants to cut the top corporate income tax rate in half and slice corporate property taxes as well. Roberts and Vander Plaats both say they would eliminate the corporate income tax altogether.

Most business owners would love that, but don’t bank on it just yet.

For one thing, our budget prospects make a cut in revenues unappealing. How much money are we talking about? After refunds, the state of Iowa kept about $165 million in corporate income tax receipts this year. Not enough to solve our problems, but too much to be lightly cast aside.

The main argument for cutting out corporate income taxes is that it would make Iowa more attractive to companies seeking to relocate. Maybe. About 45 states levy corporate income taxes, so making the change would set you apart from the field in a good way. But that number also indicates that the tax isn’t a competitive factor at this point.

States have tended to lower their corporate income tax rates in recent decades, but they also are showing a lot of interest in “combined reporting,” a method of collecting more taxes from multistate corporations. They don’t seem ready to just give up on the income stream in times such as these.

Besides all of that, the Democrats should still control the Legislature. It’s not likely that a bill will pass in the first place.