December 11, 2009– The Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce on Friday released its 2010 Legislative Agenda, a document long in development and designed to provide direction to a rigorously overhauled advocacy program division of the organization, Chamber leaders said. The agenda, the product of two extensive membership-wide legislative surveys and several months of committee work, comes one month before the Iowa Legislature convenes on January 11th to open the 2010 legislative session.
The 2010 Agenda, the result of a reorganized governmental advocacy program division of the Fairfield Chamber, is slated for distribution to all Fairfield Chamber members; area community groups; targeted statewide advocacy organizations; and local, state and federal lawmakers. Chamber Executive Director Brent Willett lauded the work of the newly-formed Chamber Government Affairs Committee.
“In early 2009, we set out to create from the thin foundations of what was a relatively diminutive legislative programming arm a robust and effective voice for Chamber member businesses and a voice for their concerns and priorities at the local, state and federal legislative levels,” he said. “What the Government Affairs Committee has come up with in the 2010 agenda will provide Chamber leadership and each Chamber member a well-reasoned and balanced outline of critical legislative issues which stand to affect businesses in the Fairfield area now and moving forward.”
Mike Nunn, a member of the Chamber Board of Directors, chaired the Government Affairs Committee, which began its labors in the summer by drafting the first of two Chamber membership-wide legislative surveys and concluded its 2009 work with the ratification of the agenda by unanimous vote of the Chamber Board of Directors at its November meeting.
“I’m pleased with the work of the Committee and its outcomes,” said Nunn, President of Bovard Studio in Fairfield. “With the legislative advocacy infrastructure we’ve developed over the last year, we’re now in a position to truly advocate for the interests of Chamber member businesses. I look forward to working to put into motion the prerogatives and initiatives that the Agenda summarizes.”
“The agenda the Government Affairs Committee has formed is the result of tireless member polling and debate, and they got it just right,” added Tammy Dunbar, Chamber President.
Priority issues identified in the eight-issue agenda, which has been endorsed by the Fairfield Economic Development Association, include right-to-work, property tax, economic and workforce development, education and county zoning topics. A complete listing of the agenda’s priorities follows.
Preserving Iowa’s Right-to-Work Status
“Iowa’s Right-to-Work status provides employers in the state and those considering doing business in Iowa a competitive advantage. Any alteration to Iowa’s Right-to-Work status would significantly impair future job retention and creation efforts in the state. It is imperative Iowa preserve its Right-to-Work status without modification.”
Employee Free Choice Act
“The Employee Free Choice Act, also identified as the Card Check bill, would dramatically change unionizing practices for businesses across the United States by altering the existing method of secret ballot union organization elections currently monitored by the National Labor Relations Board [NLRB] to provide for open balloting practices by union organizers. The bill would eliminate the NLRB from the process and subsequently authorize card check elections [non-secret ballots], which would leave the process open to coercion tactics.”
Workers Compensation-Directed Medical Care
“Iowa’s current system providing for employer direction of medical care for work-related injuries- Iowa law since 1913- should not be altered in any way.”
Property Tax Reform
“Iowa’s current property tax system, which allows for burden shifting to commercial and industrial property owners, is a major inhibitor of economic growth and should be reformed to more equitably distribute tax liability among property classes.”
Business Retention, Expansion, Attraction and Entrepreneurship
“The Iowa Values Fund is Iowa’s most important economic development engine and should be fully funded in 2010. The Fund, which operates under a tiered wage threshold system, should be amended to allow for wage thresholds to be lowered for startup companies in disadvantaged counties like those in Southeast Iowa.”
Workforce Development
“Iowa’s workforce issue should be addressed with long-term, multi-faceted policies which include education, training, retention and recruitment. Existing workforce development programs, including the 260E and 260F Industrial New Jobs Training programs, should be preserved and expanded to address Iowa’s widening workforce availability and skills gap. Proposals by Iowa Workforce Development to address the increasing number of unemployed Iowans and to provide additional resources for workforce retraining should be given serious consideration by the legislature.”
Education
“The implementation of the Iowa Core Curriculum represents an important step toward a statewide education system with more emphasis on math and science skills development. Further education policy reforms including early childhood education expansion, performance-based assessment programs for educators and students, and statewide accountability standards should be given serious consideration. Too, the state should explore ways in which to more readily and expansively incorporate workforce preparedness education programming, i.e. career academies, into school curriculums to help address Iowa’s workforce availability and skills gap.”
County Zoning
Zoning regulations should be established in Jefferson County, one of only a handful of Iowa counties without a formal development policy. In order to motivate orderly, efficient and comprehensive land use policies and practices, Jefferson County should produce and maintain straightforward zoning regulations which demonstrate to existing and future property owners an investment in orderly and lawful land governance.”
Willett, a co-chairman of the Professional Developers of Iowa Legislative Committee, added that the publication of the agenda comes at a time when another issue not addressed at length in the agenda, the comprehensive review of all state tax credit programs ordered by Governor Culver in November, promises to dominate legislative discussion in the coming months.
“I am a strong supporter of the sorts of tax credit programs which have helped move job creation projects in Jefferson County forward in recent years, including the Enterprise Zone, High Quality Jobs Creation and Research Activities Tax Credit programs and am confident that upon comprehensive review, crystallized even further will be the value of these programs as it relates to community and statewide economic growth,” Willett said. “The repeal of any of the tax credit programs, and the ones I just mentioned have helped leverage more than $11 billion in capital investment since 2003, that are working could have a devastating impact on economic development in Iowa and would not plug any budget gap. The credits are not appropriations; they only kick in when new investment is made and jobs created or retained.”
The Chamber Government Affairs Committee will shortly be announcing in partnership with the Washington, Iowa Chamber of Commerce a Capitol Visit Day to take place in early February, Nunn said. A bus will take Fairfield and Washington Chamber members to Des Moines for visits with local legislators as well as legislative and department leaders. Details on the trip will be announced soon.
To download a copy of the full-color Chamber 2010 Legislative Agenda, visit FairfieldIowa.com/blog. To request a mailed copy, contact the Chamber at 641-472-2111 or chamber@fairfieldiowa.com.
For more information on the 2010 Agenda or the Chamber Government Affairs Committee, contact Willett at 641-472-2111 or bwillett@fairfieldiowa.com.
The Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advocacy of its more than 375 member partners. The Chamber produces dozens of community events year-round and works with local, state, regional and national partners to improve the Fairfield’s business environment and quality of life. The Chamber’s 204 West Broadway offices also house the offices of the Fairfield Economic Development Association.
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