Illinois & Iowa kick off legislative sessions
Iowa and Illinois kicked off their legislative sessions this month, with legislation and executive priorities beginning to be announced.
Last week, Governor Reynolds held her annual Condition of the State address in which she talked about many positive ideas for Iowa businesses.
"As we look to the beginning of Iowa’s session, we’re keeping a close eye on several topics," said Ryan Sempf, Executive Director of Government Affairs for the Chamber.
These topic include:
- Reorientation of economic development incentives to meet the changing needs of large-scale corporate investment
- Promoting Iowa’s participation in the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Compact
- Supporting investment in Iowa’s workforce development programs including certain funding for K-12, community college, 4-year universities and on-the-job-training programming
In Illinois, the session is just starting, but the Chamber is already hard at work. "Specifically, we are working with local legislators to introduce legislation to improve investment in middle-income housing and reinvestment in brownfields and grayfields,'' said Sempf. He said that these new investments could help to create parity between the two states and level the playing field for investment. "Our Middle-Income Housing Proposal also ties in well with Governor Pritzker’s recently released Ad-Hoc report on housing," said Sempf.
The Chamber is also tracking ongoing conversations related to the bailout of Chicago transit agencies, focusing on ensuring that the Quad Cities and downstate communities, not just Chicago, receive something from the deal. This issue will likely develop throughout the session.