By creating desirable and robust communities with a great “quality of place”, Iowa can establish itself as a great place to live and work. Available housing stock, modern and accessible airports, robust broadband connections, community placemaking projects, and recreational opportunities are vital to Iowa’s workforce attraction and retention strategy.
Likewise, providing businesses and communities with the resources they need to recover from disasters and prepare for the future will help our companies and communities thrive. Funding commitments must be maintained to ensure ongoing local investments remains as planned and ensure our roads, bridges, waterways, transit, and hospitals meet the demands of our modern economy.
| Policy Solutions | Federal Policy | State Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Secure sustainable and permanent funding sources to assist rural and urban communities with placemaking projects that spur economic growth and workforce attraction, including support for the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund. * | ★ | ★ |
| Support funding increases and policy changes that meet the demand for affordable and available housing stock as well as limiting regulations that raise the cost of housing. * | ★ | ★ |
| Support funding sources and flexible policies to address needed water infrastructure improvements, including full funding of the Iowa Flood Center, federal programs, and projects to improve flood mitigation efforts, flood protection and forecasting. | ★ | ★ |
| Support the development of an integrated broadband investment strategy to capitalize on additional funding to support the needs of individuals and industry including education technology, autonomous vehicle technology, and cyber security. | ★ | ★ |
| Support infrastructure commitments and the fair allocation of federal monies to develop local infrastructure projects in rural and urban areas including airport improvement, passenger rail, broadband expansion, roads, and bridges. | ★ | |
| Support continued funding for the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Passenger Rail Fund Program to provide matching funding for passenger rail infrastructure development, with the goal of establishing inter-city passenger rail service from Chicago to Iowa City-Des Moines-Omaha along the Iowa Interstate Railroad. | ★ | |
| Support a universal charitable deduction that will encourage taxpayers to support their communities. | ★ | |
| Promote public-private partnerships to mobilize private capital to leverage public investments for infrastructure, economic and community development projects, and continue to fund grant programs such as Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) and Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) to further advance local objectives. | ★ |
(* Featured Priority)
