OTTUMWA, IOWA -- There was plenty of food, carnival rides, and politics at the Southern Iowa Labor Council's Labor Day picnic in Ottumwa, Sunday, Sept. 4. Workers from the UFCW Local 230 union brought their families out for a day of fun and as the afternoon drew to a close, State Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal gave a speech along with U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack.
KTVO asked both of them what's the pressing issue on their agenda and they both responded with the same outcry...job creation.
"I think job number 1 for everybody in the legislature has to be about getting Iowans back to work," said State Senate Majority Leader Michal Gronstal, D- Council Bluffs.
"So doing the kinds of things we need to do to encourage people; that's why commercial property tax is part of our plan."
"Jobs have been the number 1 issue since this recession began," said U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-2nd Congressional District.
"We got waylaid by the debt issue, by any number of other things. We really now, not just on Labor Day, but now, moving forward, we have to focus on jobs. That's got to be our only concern at this point."
In response to the latest U.S. Labor Department report of stagnant job growth, Loebsack said we need to make more things in America and close loopholes that give incentives to companies to send jobs overseas.
Loebsack says he isnt sure but speculates that President Obama's upcoming jobs speech will address extending the payroll tax holiday, which he agrees with.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKTVO