I’m proud to represent small towns and rural Iowa. We’ve faced some big challenges in recent years though, with more than 70 counties losing population since 2010.
Rural Iowans need higher wages. Rural businesses need skilled workers and more customers. With bipartisan support, we can help create jobs and economic prosperity across our state. We need the kinds of investments that make people proud to call small-town Iowa home.
Here are a few ideas I’ll be working on this year to turn things around:
• Making sure small rural communities (under 30,000) get their share of state resources for education, job training and economic development efforts that help them capitalize on their strengths and invest in themselves.
• Guaranteeing rural Iowa has access to quality health care and mental health care, including quick response times in emergencies.
• Improving water quality. Iowa has more than 700 impaired waterways. Many communities struggle to provide safe drinking water to local residents. That’s why I’ve supported additional funding for water quality efforts in recent years. This year, we’re ready to bolster monitoring and bring together stakeholders — industry, cities, landowners, septic tank owners — so that we can make real progress toward our long-term clean water goals.
• Encouraging more production and use of renewable energy, like solar, wind and biofuels. Between 2012 and 2015, Iowa’s solar energy tax credit led to more than 2,500 solar energy projects that created more than 700 jobs and investment of more than $130 million.
Contact Sen. Chaz Allen
at 641-521-6297
or chaz.allen@legis.iow.gov