Legislative Priorities

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Iowa Works Campaign

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2007 Legislative Priorities
Investing in Iowa’s Human Capital: Workforce Development as the Pipeline for Economic Growth

The Future of Iowa’s Economy and Workforce
It is estimated that, given Iowa’s demographics and increasing employer skill requirements, Iowa will have over 150,000 more jobs than qualified workers to fill them by 2012. Given the demand for a skilled workforce, the State must invest in its greatest resource – its workers – to ensure the long-term economic health and vitality of Iowa.

To address the impending workforce shortage, Iowa must continue to expand and strengthen a flexible and efficient workforce delivery system that can immediately respond to changing demands and needs. The following recommendations aim to assist policymakers as they outline the necessary components of an effective and responsive workforce delivery system.

AIWP’s Recommendations
For complete recommendations click here.

1. Establish a State Workforce Commission to provide recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly regarding the investment necessary to meet Iowa’s worker and skill shortage.

2. Strengthen collaboration and partnerships by expanding the responsibilities of the Regional Workforce Investment Boards (RWIBs) to ensure that a variety of training options for workers exist, aligning with current data about local economies, adequately reflecting skill demands, and resulting in high-quality jobs and a larger skilled labor pool for business and industry.

3. Build a skilled workforce by developing accessible, quality short-term training for individuals who are seeking high-demand jobs. A dedicated stream of funding should target training and retraining in conjunction with local economic development and employer needs.

4. Expand eligibility for training and retraining of dislocated workers to include small business employees by revising the State Emergency Grants to give workforce regions financial support for dislocations of fewer than 25 people so that Iowa’s small business workers can access the services and support they need to get back on their feet.

5. Restore PROMISE JOBS funding cuts to ensure that Iowa is able to meet new federal requirements that impose stricter work participation guidelines.

6. Utilize the untapped workforce (ex-offenders, disconnected youth, persons with disabilities, older Iowans, New Iowans, and individuals with literacy and educational barriers) by employing innovative strategies to maximize all pools of potential workers in Iowa.

7. Assure accountability for the workforce system by tracking long-term education and employment outcomes of people who receive education and training services in Iowa.

8. Support the Iowa Works Campaign policy agenda that proposes training results, investing in regional strategies, building private-public relationships, and creating career pathways for all Iowans.