Iowa Senate News Release
For Immediate Release: Aug. 2, 2017
State Senator Rita Hart of Wheatland highlighted several bipartisan ways to reinvest in rural Iowa and small towns in a letter to Governor Kim Reynolds on August 1. Hart, former chair of the Iowa Senate’s Economic Growth Committee, offered ways to revitalize rural Iowa and indicated her strong desire to focus on workforce training.
“Extraordinary, bipartisan efforts need to be taken during the 2018 session to support efforts that will result in enough highly skilled workers in our small towns and rural communities to meet existing business demands throughout the state as well as create new business opportunity,” Hart wrote in her letter to Reynolds.
Hart’s suggestions for reinvesting in rural Iowa and small towns include:
- Ensuring safe, affordable housing for Iowa families.
- Enhancing cultural and community attractions.
- Access to reliable high-speed Internet.
- Encouraging a regional approach to economic development that supports rural revitalization.
Hart also expressed a willingness to work with Governor Reynolds on workforce training initiatives. She noted that in previous sessions, they had worked together to craft bipartisan solutions, such as keeping tuition affordable at Iowa’s universities and community colleges and funding an adult literacy program.
“Like many Iowans, Senate Democrats remain concerned about funding cuts to Iowa universities and community colleges that were approved during the 2017 session,” Hart wrote. “Those cuts have a negative impact at a time when we need to invest more in Iowa’s current and future workforce training.”
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