1. United States
2. Iowa
3. Letter

This bill needs to be vetoed. The amendment to Senate File 603 which was passed in the Iowa Senate today takes away the ability for cities, counties, school districts and other public entities to consider whether developers, including developers seeking millions of dollars in tax incentives, will utilize contractors and subcontractors with training programs and properly trained employees to work on projects subsidized by taxpayers. Further, it puts millions of dollars of grants at risk and threatens to dismantle some of the work-based learning programming that Governor Reynolds and a bipartisan group of legislators has prioritized as good workforce development policy. Union and non-union contractors, along with schools and community colleges, operate registered apprenticeship programs across Iowa. Registered apprenticeship is the model that is used to train tradespeople; it has been for hundreds of years. We must ask again: What is so wrong with requiring would-be developers who are asking for millions of dollars in incentives to make commitments to safety and workplace training when it comes to the projects they want subsidized by the public? Some legislators would ask that we hand over our tax dollars without any questions simply because they think that union workers might gain an edge if training and qualifications are allowed to be considered. This certainly is no reason to send our communities in a race to the bottom when we are facing a severe workforce crisis. Please veto this bill.