The Greater Des Moines Partnership released its priorities for the 2024 legislative session during its annual state legislative breakfast today.

The event, held at the Des Moines Embassy Club West, also featured a panel discussion with state lawmakers, including Sens. Mike Bousselot and Pam Jochum, and Reps. Jennifer Konfrst and David Young. Look for coverage from that discussion in Wednesday’s Business Record e-newsletter.

The Partnership’s priorities for the upcoming session focus on economic development, work-based learning, child care, housing and placemaking.

Andrea Woodard, senior vice president of government relations and public policy for the Partnership, said its agenda for the 2024 Legislature is created by the Partnership’s Government Policy Council with input from Partnership members and investors through a survey and various meetings. The Partnership also works with its government partners to shape the agenda, which was approved by the Partnership’s executive committee on Nov. 10, she said.

“Our goal is to take this agenda and work with the governor and the General Assembly and further our priorities of our membership at the state legislative level,” Woodard said in comments made ahead of today’s breakfast meeting.

The Partnership only takes positions on bills on which there is a consensus, she said.

Under economic development, one bill the Partnership supports investment in is the MEGA [Major Economic Growth Attraction program], which is designed to provide assistance for large economic development projects, she said.

While there may not be many sites that would be eligible for the program, the program also frees up investment in other programs that the region does use, Woodard said.

Under work-based learning, Woodard said the Partnership believes continued investment in work-based learning programs can provide creative ways to build the state’s talent pool.

“We were supportive last year of the creation of the state Office of Apprenticeship, and working with our talent development team to lean into how we can help support apprenticeship programs across the state,” she said.

“We actually have some of the highest per-capita apprenticeships throughout the country, and work-based learning opportunities for K-12 and beyond is something we’re watching for what sort of policy proposals will come out,” Woodard said. “We know there will be some but since we haven’t seen any, we’re hesitant to say what exactly we will be supporting.”

She said she believes the focus of those efforts will be on “high-need industries,” and focus on those more than focusing on particular groups of students.

“I think the focus we’ll hear about is more industry specific,” Woodard said.

On child care, she said there are several bills outstanding from the previous session, some of which will need to be reintroduced.

One of those is a bill that would provide property tax relief for child care providers that would potentially help lower costs for families and increase wages for employees, Woodard said.

Other bills address income tax exemptions for child care workers, and having the Child Care Assistance program pay for additional absences. The program pays providers for up to six absences. If a child is absent more than that, the payments stop. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was expanded to unlimited absences as part of federal assistance programs, but that funding has come to an end.

Woodard said she is not sure there is a “politically viable option” for increasing wages.

“I think the approach from a political standpoint is to find savings elsewhere that give the providers room to adjust within their business model,” she said.

Woodard said she believes there will be an effort to increase investment in the Workforce Housing Tax Credit program. She said it’s unclear what the exact proposal will be, but investment will be a priority for the Partnership.

Another housing priority will be the creation of a low-income housing tax credit program, which addresses different income levels than the Workforce Housing Tax Credit program.

The Partnership will also support more investment in Destination Iowa, a program designed to enhance the quality of life in Iowa communities to attract new residents and visitors to the state.

Woodard said workforce development is at the root of each of the Partnership’s legislative priorities.

“Our goal is to attract and retain talent,” she said. “Our businesses need talent, and we are welcoming all talent to the region with open arms and we have language in our mission of being a welcoming community to business and talent.”

The 2024 legislative session is scheduled to start Jan. 8. Watch for ongoing coverage of the session and issues that affect the business community in the Business Record.