Infrastructure bonding plan taking shape

DES MOINES – State lawmakers crafting a $700 million infrastructure bonding bill have added a $45 million piece to benefit disaster recovery efforts in Cedar Rapids.

Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines, said negotiators are looking at a provision that would provide state help in resolving the city's downtown steam heat issue and assist with damaged cultural and civic infrastructure such as the Paramount Theater and the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library.

Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, a member of a 10-member Democratic group hammering out bonding package details, said the figures are still preliminary but there is a willingness to help Cedar Rapids officials leverage federal and private aid in responding to flood damage in the billions of dollars.

“We need to make sure that we maximize the leverage of those funds,” Hogg said. “That's one of the reasons why we have to pass a bonding proposal this year because without the bonding proposal, not only do we not get much of anything done, we also kiss away a lot of federal funds and that would be a mistake.”

House and Senate Democrats who are working on the bonding package also want to earmark $118 million for projects with local matching money and a demonstrated need on a competitive grant basis with a priority going to disaster-recovery efforts, he said. No single project receiving more than $50 million.

Another bonding component would be geared toward a statewide housing recovery program designed to encourage local investments for new, affordable housing, especially in stressed areas, by providing roughly $20 million in incentives beyond the tax credits already offered by the Iowa Finance Authority, McCoy said.

A stumbling block to resolution continues to be Gov. Chet Culver's desire to include road and bridge improvements in the bonding plan – a component that is meeting with legislative resistance, he said.