Tax relief group flexes its muscle

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By Charlotte Eby | Monday, June 26, 2006 | 8 comment(s)

DES MOINES — The first inkling Rep. Joe Hutter of Bettendorf had that he was being targeted by a taxpayers’ rights group came when he flipped on his television.

That was when the two-term Republican legislator knew Iowans for Tax Relief, or ITR, a powerful Statehouse lobbying group, wanted to push him out of office.

The group’s political arm criticized Hutter in a TV ad for voting to take money out of a state trust fund for senior citizens and voting to give lawmakers a pay raise, votes most of his fellow Republicans took as well.

Hutter said the ad distorted his record and was filled with “half-truths.” But it was effective.

GOP voters in the June 6 primary election handed a victory to Hutter’s ITR-backed opponent, Linda J. Miller of Bettendorf. Now Hutter is thinking of running for the seat in the November general election as an independent.

“I pay more attention to the people in Bettendorf than I do special-interest groups,” he said.

He was not the only state lawmaker in the crosshairs of the ITR this year.

Rep. Paul Wilderdyke of Woodbine was ousted in the primary by GOP challenger Matt Windschitl of Missouri Valley, another candidate who got financial help from ITR’s political arm.

Wilderdyke said the defeats suffered by Hutter and himself demonstrate the group’s influence.

“There’s no two ways about. And I don’t know if it’s the power they’ve got now — it’s the power they’ve got after this,” Wilderdyke said.

ITR ran television ads criticizing Wilderdyke for supporting a bill that would have granted in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants.

Neither of the candidates who lost was willing to back ITR’s top issue — amending Iowa’s constitution so only

voters can approve tax hikes.

Wilderdyke also was at odds with the group for his vote in favor of the Iowa Values Fund, an economic development program.

He feels ITR retaliated against him for those positions.

“They just bought a seat in the Iowa House,” he said.

ITR backs “fiscal conservatives”

The Web site for Muscatine-based Iowans for Tax Relief calls its political arm, Taxpayers United, “the most effective force in Iowa politics.”

It boasts a winning record in picking candidates —- more than 90 percent of the time, according to the group’s count.

“We research legislative candidates all over Iowa, come alongside those who share our vision and help them win,” the Web site reads.

Taxpayers United contributed substantially to both Hutter’s and Wilderdyke’s opponents, pitching in $30,000 in the weeks leading up to the primary election.

Ed Failor Jr., ITR’s executive vice president, said the group supports politicians who believe more money should stay in the pockets of businesses and Iowans.

“We believe in a free market; we believe in defending the taxpayer,” he said.

The group believes Hutter’s and Wilderdyke’s districts could have been represented better by someone who is more fiscally conservative, he said.

“Whenever anyone says ‘buying an election,’ that’s an impossibility. Was there great investment in having a message heard? Absolutely,” he added.

Group formed in 1978

A small group of activists, including David Stanley and Ed Failor Sr., formed Iowans for Tax Relief in 1978.

Today, the group boats 50,000 members across the state. Taxpayers United, its political action committee, or PAC, was formed in 1984 and has grown to become one of what Failor Jr. believes is one of the state’s top three PACs.

“We do it differently than a lot of people. We never arm-twist up at the Statehouse. We just go out and find candidates who are really, really, really true believers,” he said.

The challengers who were successful in ousting Hutter and Wilderdyke say they would have won their seats without help from ITR.

Miller said she was not recruited by the group and believes it was her support of the taxpayers’ rights constitutional amendment that earned its endorsement.

“I’m definitely conservative on tax issues. I think that we pay enough taxes in Iowa to do the job that we need to do,” she said.

Miller, who is making her first run for public office, said the money from ITR came with “no strings attached.”

“I don’t feel like I have any obligation to anybody other than the voters in Bettendorf,” she said.

Windschitl said voters chose him in the primary because he listened to them and shares their values.

“The people are looking for a fresh voice for common sense in the Iowa House. That’s why they decided to vote for me over the incumbent,” he said.

Windschitl said he was “pleased and proud” to be supported by ITR.

“They’re trying to help the little guy out instead of always worrying about what the state can get in its pocket,” he said.

But Hutter said he feels like ITR used him and Wilderdyke to make a statement.

“We were pawns in the political arena,” Hutter said. “They wanted to show not only just us, but the rest of the elected people in Iowa, that they can get rid of people who don’t march to their drums.”

Charlotte Eby can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 or chareby@aol.com.