Hinson backed tax credits that helped her husband’s company

Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson pushed for tax credits that allowed her husband’s future business to save millions of dollars.

For years, housing projects approved by the Iowa Economic Development Authority were eligible for a sales tax refund and an investment tax credit that could be up to 10% of a project’s total cost.

In 2017, when Hinson was serving in the Iowa House, she backed S.F. 488, which reserved $5 million in these incentives for housing projects in smaller cities. It also increased the available credit for these projects to 20%.

In other words, a developer building a $2 million project in Hinson’s largely rural district could now apply for a $400,000 tax credit, double what was previously available.

Hinson voted in 2019 to increase the reserved incentives from $5 million to $10 million. She ran for Congress the following year on a platform that included expanding tax incentives for rural developers.

Hinson’s husband, Matthew Arenholz, co-founded BAM Development LLC in 2021, which builds and operates apartment complexes across the Midwest. His co-founders were Iowa Reps. Joe Mitchell and Michael Bousselot. Mitchell served with Hinson and also supported S.F. 488.

In 2023, BAM Development was awarded $1 million in tax credits made possible by S.F. 488 for its Emerald Place Townhomes development in Clear Lake, IA. This was in addition to another $1 million credit provided by the city of Clear Lake.

In order to receive the S.F. 488 credit, BAM Development had to submit letters of support from local stakeholders. One letter came from Sukup Manufacturing Co., a manufacturer of grain storage, drying, and handling equipment based in Smithfield, IA. Members of the Sukup family donated a combined $47,500 to Hinson’s congressional campaigns. They gave another $4,000 to her leadership PAC.

Another letter came from the North Iowa Corridor Economic Development Corporation (NICEDC), a nonprofit focused on private economic development in Mason City, Clear Lake, and greater Cerro Gordo County, all of which are in Hinson’s district.

Last year, Hinson helped NICEDC secure $3 million in public funding through her role on the House Appropriations Committee. Hinson’s written requests for the funding asserted that she had no financial interest in NICEDC.

NOTUS reported on Aug. 27 that Arenholz helped arrange a 2023 meeting between Hinson, other members of Congress, and members of an insurance industry lobbying group that he was working with.

Arenholz is also a stakeholder in a private-equity backed brokerage firm.

Hinson is now running for the U.S. Senate against Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek.