A legislative rulemaking proposal could generate up to $46 million in additional tax exemptions for Iowa manufacturers, a move that a Democratic lawmaker said would unfairly bypass the legislative process, The Des Moines Register reported. The proposed changes would reduce the sales and use tax burden for manufacturers by up to $40 million annually and would also reduce their local option sales tax burden by up to $6 million annually between 2017 and 2020. Sen. Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat, called the move to approve the changes through the administrative rules process “Illegal.” Victoria Daniels, public information officer for the Iowa Department of Revenue, said the process does not create new tax policy and that the rules committee is the appropriate place to consider the changes.