As someone who has lived through the economic gut-punch of job loss—and watched neighbors, friends, and even entire communities unravel because of it—I cannot stay silent while Iowa lawmakers hand corporations a $1 billion reward for creating the very conditions that put working families in crisis.
Earlier this week, Representative Dan Gosa sounded the alarm in his newsletter. While I encourage you to read his full remarks, here is the heart of it: As Iowa braces for a potential economic downturn and more layoffs, Governor Kim Reynolds and Republican lawmakers are prioritizing corporate tax breaks over everyday Iowans. Specifically, they are pushing a bill that would slash unemployment insurance taxes for businesses over the next five years. These are the same businesses that are laying people off, and not a single word of this proposal promises any increase in unemployment benefits for those affected.
This is not just a policy disagreement. It is a moral failure. It is a deliberate decision to ignore suffering, to prioritize profit over people, and to deepen the chasm between Iowa’s economic winners and its expendable labor force.
Let us be clear: Unemployment insurance is not a handout. It is not a safety net for the lazy or unmotivated. It is a foundational support system—one that provides stability, dignity, and a fighting chance to rebuild when someone’s world is upended through no fault of their own. When a factory closes, when a corporate merger eliminates an entire division, when automation sweeps away hundreds of jobs overnight, workers do not get a vote. But they sure as hell deserve a lifeline.
Instead, this bill slashes that lifeline at the knees. It sends a clear and chilling message: If you lose your job, do not expect help. If your employer saves money by eliminating your position, expect them to be rewarded.
The hypocrisy is galling. These are the same GOP leaders who, just a few years ago, cut unemployment benefits under the guise of fiscal responsibility. They shortened benefit periods, narrowed eligibility, and made it harder for jobless Iowans to qualify for the little support that remained. Now, in the face of another potential recession, they want to offer a financial windfall to the very corporations responsible for the upcoming wave of economic displacement.
What does this tell us about their priorities?
It tells us that they see corporate balance sheets as more deserving of protection than human lives. That workers are expendable. That economic policy is something done to us, not for us. That hardship is a personal failing, while profit is a public virtue.
It tells us that the Iowa GOP is not serious about economic recovery—unless you define recovery solely as what boosts the portfolios of the wealthiest entities in the state.
And it is not just bad optics. It is bad economics. When unemployment rises, consumer spending drops. Families cut back. Local businesses suffer. Housing insecurity increases. Mental health worsens. School stability erodes. Communities unravel. Meanwhile, the corporations benefiting from this bill will pocket the money, restructure, and move on.
Real resilience does not come from enabling corporations to discard workers without consequence. It comes from investing in people, in communities, in skill-building and support systems and recovery pathways.
That is why I wrote the following letter to Representative Gosa. And that is why I am sharing it publicly—because silence is complicity, and because policy decisions made in the State Capitol affect every kitchen table across Iowa.
Open Letter to Representative Dan Gosa
Dear Representative Gosa,
Thank you for your recent newsletter calling attention to the reckless and harmful proposal to grant a billion-dollar tax break to corporations—even as working Iowans are bracing for layoffs, reduced hours, and economic uncertainty.
This proposed legislation is not just tone-deaf. It is dangerous. It rewards corporate behavior that leads to job loss, without offering a single ounce of relief to the very people who will bear the burden of that loss. It is the equivalent of offering a bonus to the arsonist while telling the family whose house burned down that they should learn to live with the ashes.
I am urging you to vote against this bill in every form. Iowa workers cannot withstand another blow to their economic dignity. We need lawmakers who will fight for people, not just profit margins. We need policy that reflects empathy, accountability, and long-term vision.
I respectfully request that you and your colleagues consider a far more humane and sustainable set of actions:
- Reverse previous cuts to unemployment benefits, restoring eligibility and duration to pre-2021 levels.
- Tie corporate tax relief to worker retention, so that businesses are rewarded for preserving jobs—not eliminating them.
- Create a statewide Workforce Resilience Fund to provide rapid retraining, mental health services, and rental assistance to displaced workers.
- Implement clawback provisions requiring companies that receive tax cuts and then initiate mass layoffs to return those funds to the state.
I have already signed the public petition opposing this bill (linked here), and I will continue to urge others to do the same. But petitions are not enough. We need voices like yours—amplified in committee rooms, in floor debates, and in conversations with skeptical colleagues.
Please know that you have my support, and the support of many across Iowa, as you speak truth to power. If there are hearings, community forums, or media opportunities where the voices of impacted Iowans would be helpful, I would be honored to participate or help organize testimony.
We are watching. We are remembering. And we are voting.
Sincerely,
Jay Thomas Santana
Davenport, Iowa
Iowa deserves better than policies that punish the struggling and coddle the powerful. If you are reading this and agree, here are three things you can do right now:
- Sign the petition to stop this corporate giveaway:
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-new-tax-cuts-for-corporations - Contact your legislators and tell them to vote no on any bill that cuts corporate taxes without protecting workers. You can find your representative here.
- Share this post. Talk about it at work, at your place of worship, on your social media, or with your family. The more we normalize demanding economic justice, the harder it becomes to ignore us.
If our economy is going to recover—if our state is going to heal—it will not be because another billionaire got a break. It will be because ordinary Iowans stood up and said, “Enough.”
And that time is now.
