Corridor economic development groups seek support for affordable housing, child care

SWISHER — Corridor economic development groups are pushing for state policies in 2024 that lift barriers to employment, expand community amenities and make Iowa a more enticing, inclusive place to live.

Regional legislative priorities call for solutions to child care, affordable housing, talent development, immigration and natural resources, leaders of the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance and Greater Iowa City Inc. said Wednesday at the annual event launching the groups’ legislative priorities.

Area business leaders, municipal officials and 12 state lawmakers from both parties attended the event at Cedar Ridge Winery & Distillery in Swisher. The priorities were identified with input from the groups’ combined 2,000 members and other community stakeholders.

“Getting everyone focused on the top priorities for how we’re going to work together is really important,” said Nancy Bird, chief executive officer of Greater Iowa City Inc.

State Sen. Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, said the groups need to encourage their members to reach out to lawmakers to send the message that “we're bringing money into the state. We're hiring people. We're your constituents.”

Jobs, child care

Some of the priorities focus on workers and employment.

To remove barriers to employment, the groups seek to boost child care worker wages and expand Child Care Assistance benefits to people who might join the workforce but who can’t afford child care.

Child care workers in Iowa are paid an average of $11.61 per hour, according to 2022 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Annually, they make an average of $24,140.

Johnson County used federal American Rescue Plan Act funds and private dollars to raise the pay of child care workers by $2 an hour and pay the increased payroll taxes incurred by employers participating in the program.

Weiner, the Iowa City state senator, said the program is innovative but would need bipartisan support to develop a statewide model.

Additionally, Weiner said there should be a fund to fill gaps when child care providers are not reimbursed and to cover the cost of accepting families who receive Child Care Assistance, the state’s program for low-income parents.

Both Weiner and Rep. Sami Scheetz, D-Cedar Rapids, support raising the poverty level to allow additional access to child care subsidies for low-income families.

On the federal level, the Corridor economic development groups seek to protect the nearly 4,000 recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Temporary Protective Status to support immigrant and refugee workers and simplify pathways to citizenship.

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Economic Alliance Executive Director Doug Neumann said state investments in Future Ready Iowa for education and job training are among the groups’ legislative wins, which area employers have leveraged.

The groups seek more support for “earn and learn,” work study and apprenticeship programs.

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Anne Parmley, community impact director for TrueNorth and an Economic Alliance policy board member, said TrueNorth is fortunate to have a great reputation that attracts workers.

But “any time that you have opportunities to bring people into your organization, you want the best pool of qualified candidates,” Parmley said. “ … TrueNorth benefits from growth, both from a workforce perspective and as a business providing services in our communities.”

Housing, amenities

Funding bumps that promote community attractions and expand affordable housing also are among the group’s priorities.

Gov. Kim Reynolds used $100 million of the state’s allocation of federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars for a Destination Iowa program to invest in community place-making ideas and to spur tourism. Senate File 577, which lawmakers passed earlier this year, made this permanent.

Neumann said that went a long way to support the groups’ calls to enhance community attractions. The city of Cedar Rapids was awarded $3 million toward outdoor recreation in the Czech Village and New Bohemia District.

Nationwide, communities are grappling with how to boost the supply of affordable housing at a time when inflation challenges developers’ ability to finance new projects. State and federal tax credit programs, as well as local financial incentives, help make new projects feasible, but applications exceed funds available for these developments.

For example, Neumann said, workforce housing tax credits have certain caps on the level of lease rates or the construction cost per unit. These limitations could make an otherwise ready-to-go project ineligible for funding, Neumann said, so it may be time for lawmakers to revisit eligibility requirements.

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Scheetz pointed to legislation the Iowa House Democratic caucus sponsored to create a tax credit program that would allocate up to $15 million a year in tax credits to build affordable housing units, leveraging $23 million in federal incentives.

The legislation, which never advanced out of committee, would expand a first-time home savings account, which offers a tax-free way to save for a home. It also would create grants for home improvements where households making $109,000 or less would be eligible for grants up to $20,000.

State government inaction on affordable housing and child care, and policies that make Iowa less welcoming to marginalized communities, “make it harder to attract young individuals to our state,” Scheetz said in a statement.

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