Amendment 1: Two-Thirds Legislative Vote Required for Income Tax Increases
Statewide — all of Iowa
General election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026
- Placed on the ballot by the legislature. It first passed the 2023-24 General Assembly as House Joint Resolution 2006 (House 61-35 on March 26, 2024; Senate 31-13 on April 10, 2024) and passed the 2025-26 General Assembly as Senate Joint Resolution 11 (Senate 32-15 on April 15, 2025; House 57-21 on May 2, 2026), as Iowa requires approval by two successive General Assemblies with an election between. A simple majority of voters is needed. Iowa has no citizen initiative process.[1][2]
The question on the ballot
Shall the following amendment to the Constitution be adopted? Summary: Provides that any bill to increase the individual income tax rate or the corporate income tax rate, or the rate of any other type of tax based upon income or legal and special reserves, shall require the affirmative votes of at least two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the legislature for passage. Further, the two-thirds majority vote requirement applies to the passage of a bill to establish a new tax on any type of income or legal and special reserves imposed by the state. The requirement excludes taxes imposed at the option of a local government. A lawsuit challenging the proper enactment of a bill under this section must be filed no later than one year following the enactment.[5][6]
The amendment would add a new Article XIII to the Iowa Constitution. Bills raising the individual or corporate income tax rate, raising the rate of any other tax based on income or on legal and special reserves, or creating a new state tax on income or legal and special reserves would need the votes of at least two-thirds of the members elected to each house (an absolute two-thirds, per Ballotpedia). Locally imposed optional taxes are excluded; a lawsuit claiming a bill needed a two-thirds vote must be filed within one year of enactment; and covered bills must include a separate provision describing the requirement. No official fiscal estimate was found. Iowa Public Radio reports the change would raise the votes needed from 51 House members and 26 senators to 67 and 34.[1][7]
A YES vote means
Amends the Iowa Constitution to require the votes of at least two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the legislature to pass a bill that raises the individual or corporate income tax rate, raises another income-based tax rate or a tax on legal and special reserves, or creates a new state tax on income or legal and special reserves.
A NO vote means
Leaves the constitution unchanged; such tax bills continue to need only the usual majority vote in each chamber.
The law today
Today a bill raising the individual or corporate income tax rate passes the Iowa legislature by the usual simple majority: 51 of 100 House members and 26 of 50 senators. Iowa currently has a flat individual income tax rate of 3.8 percent, and the state sales tax rate, last raised in 2008, is 6 percent (Iowa Public Radio).[8][7]
Arguments made for
- Chris Hagenow, president of Iowans for Tax Relief: "If we are concerned about what might fall on Iowans as far as their tax burden, then we should in fact make it harder to raise taxes. … I reject the notion that limiting raising one tax means we're going to raise another."[7]
- Make Tax Hikes Harder (campaign supporting Amendment 1): Amendment 1 "doesn't eliminate the ability to raise taxes, but it encourages government to prioritize responsible spending before asking Iowa families and businesses to pay more."[3]
Arguments made against
- Anne Discher, executive director of Common Good Iowa, which leads a coalition opposing the amendment: "Essentially, they are only protecting the two taxes that can be structured in a way that makes sure that the wealthiest folks in our state and the most profitable corporations pay what they owe."[7]
- Common Good Iowa (writing about the resolution before final passage): "In our 150-member Legislature, it would take as few as 17 members of the Senate or 34 members of the House to stop a majority from correcting fiscal problems stemming from the tax policies lawmakers have passed since 2018."[4]
On record in support
On record in opposition
Research notes & limits
Iowa publishes no state voter pamphlet with arguments. The ballot wording is verified verbatim against two county sample ballots (Black Hawk and Scott counties), each of which lists the amendment as the only statewide public measure; the Iowa Secretary of State's page was not fetched. Legislative vote dates and tallies (House 61-35 and Senate 31-13 in 2024; Senate 32-15 on April 15, 2025 and House 57-21 on May 2, 2026) are from Ballotpedia; the legislature's bill page (legis.iowa.gov BillBook) is a JavaScript application that could not be machine-read, and Ballotpedia News gives April 10, 2025 as the date SJR 11 was introduced rather than passed. Each side has two statements: Iowa Public Radio's post-passage interviews (Hagenow for, Discher against) plus the Make Tax Hikes Harder campaign site and a Common Good Iowa policy paper written before final passage. Opposition campaign Fair Taxes for Iowa's Future (votenoiowa.info) and a Radio Iowa report returned HTTP 403 and were not bypassed. Enrichment: no official fiscal estimate and no campaign-finance totals (Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board filings were not reachable) were found. Supporter and opponent names come from Iowa Public Radio's Oct. 13 explainer and the campaigns' own pages; the IPR list of coalition members is partial ("and several other organizations"). The Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council page reports the coalition's formation and position; the council itself is not described as a coalition member.
Sources · 8
Researched 2026-10-19. Green citations are official government records.
- 1.Iowa Amendment 1, Two-Thirds Legislative Vote Requirement for Income Tax Increase Bills Amendment (2026) · Ballotpedia Reference
- 2.Senate Joint Resolution 11 (91st General Assembly) · Iowa Legislature Official record
- 3.Make Tax Hikes Harder: Amendment 1 · Make Tax Hikes Harder (campaign supporting Amendment 1) Candidate's own words
- 4.Reckless minority-rule tax amendment risks our schools, safety, health · Common Good Iowa Candidate's own words
- 5.Official General Election Ballot, Black Hawk County, Iowa (sample) · Black Hawk County Auditor / Elections Official record
- 6.Official Ballot, General Election, Scott County, State of Iowa, November 3, 2026 (sample) · Scott County Auditor / Elections · 2026-11-03 Official record
- 7.What to know about Amendment 1, the constitutional amendment on your Iowa ballot · Iowa Public Radio · 2026-10-13 News report
- 8.Fair Taxes for Iowa's Future Urges No Vote on Amendment 1 · Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council Candidate's own words