"It's The Brain Drain. Their Brains Are Draining."

Iowa Republicans think they have a winner of an idea to keep 20-somethings in Iowa after they graduate from college: No state income tax until you turn 30. From the Des Moines register, Don't Tax Anyone Under 30

Iowans younger than 30 would pay no state income taxes under an economic-growth plan unveiled Tuesday by Senate Republicans - an idea that drew cheers and jeers from young and old."

More than half of our college graduates leave the state after graduation. We want to reverse Iowa's brain drain and make our state a more attractive place for our young people," said Senate Republican Co-President Jeff Lamberti of Ankeny.The average yearly tax savings would run about $600 for taxpayers in their 20s or younger.

"I think it sounds great," said Adam McGinnis, 20, a University of Iowa pharmacy major. "My major allows me to go anywhere, so why not stay in Iowa?"

But Mescha Grammer, 20, a U of I senior who's headed to law school next year, laughed at the idea. "Six hundred dollars a year really isn't that much, especially if you get better job offers," she said.

Where to begin? For starters, the state income tax rate as an actual anxiety for people in their 20's must rank about 533rd on the list, right between the fear of not having enough creamer for the morning coffee and the fear of being eaten by rabid skunks. It just will not be on the average young person's radar.

But it seems to me that the problem wouldn't really lie with the behavior of individual 20-somethings in the first place. Are there really scads of well paying entry level jobs in Iowa that don't get filled because young Iowans move off somewhere else? I doubt it. And if you want to help create more jobs that would appeal to younger workers how exactly is giving them a tax break going to do that? This helps employers how exactly?

Now there may very well be a problem with Iowa's tax structure - it does seem a little severe compared with some neighboring states (See this chart). And if you consider that Chicago must be a big draw for young Iowans, I wonder how this plan could be viewed as an improvement over Illinois' 3% flat state income tax. Young Iowans entering the workforce will know that they will eventually turn 30 and have to pay Iowa's state income tax (which can hit 9%), right?

I really cannot see how this plan would be helpful in any meaningful way. Well, it might allow the Republicans to claim they did something....although nothing effectual.