State taxpayer support of the 107 airports in Iowa will be reduced by nearly 40 percent in the next budgeting year under the plan Republican legislators crafted. The eight airports that offer commercial passenger flights will get about six-hundred-thousand dollars ($600,000) less. Representative Dennis Cohoon, a Democrat from Burlington, says the state funding helps the smaller commercial airports in Iowa that offer passenger service update their facilities.

 

Representative Dan Huseman, a Republican from Aurelia, says the G-O-P had to make difficult choices because of lower-than-expected state tax revenue.

 

In addition to the state’s largest airports in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, commercial passenger service is available at airports in Burlington, Dubuque, Fort Dodge, Iowa City, Mason City, Sioux City and Waterloo.