Our Plan for Prosperity

The American Dream is the opportunity to prosper - to be educated, to have satisfying work, to own a home and make a family, to give back to the community, and to retire securely. It is not a guarantee. Achieving the dream requires old-fashioned Iowa values like sacrifice, accountability, fairness, and self-reliance.

Iowa House Democrats believe in the American Dream and creating opportunities for Iowans to reach it. To that end, we offer our - Plan for Prosperity - which marshals the strength of our schools, our economy, and our natural resources with the values of Iowans to create a force for progress.

Our plan is not about handing out benefits. It’s about equality and rewarding initiative and hard work. It’s about making it easier for those who are accountable and responsible to fulfill their dreams in Iowa. It’s about recognizing how all of Iowa’s greatest assets can be fit together to reach a common goal - prosperity.

Learning: The Early Years through College

Prosperity begins with a quality education and strong parental involvement. During their critical years, young children need access to stimulating child care and pre-school so they are prepared when they enter elementary school. Once in our schools, students must be challenged with a rigorous curriculum that demands their best performance by teachers who are highly qualified in the subjects they teach.

Tougher standards mean little without bright, committed, highly qualified teachers. We can’t expect to attract and retain great educators when Iowa’s average teacher pay ranks in the bottom third of the nation.

College graduates will earn $1 million more in their lifetimes than an adult with only a high school diploma. Yet, college has become less affordable as in-state tuitions have increased by more than half in the past few years. We will bring down tuition costs and limit future increases. Work-study programs should be expanded to help students pay their college costs.

Our "Plan for Prosperity" Will:

Raise Iowa teacher salaries to at least the national median within five years.
Insist that Iowa teachers are certified to teach the subjects they teach.
Assure that local school districts provide remedial assistance, such as tutoring, afterschool programs, and summer school, for all students not achieving academic proficiency by the time they reach middle school.
Restore work-study programs for community college and university students.
Limit state university tuition increases to no more than the rate of inflation, and work to make Iowa community college tuitions comparable to states in the region.

Iowa: The “Green” State

Iowa’s energy future is at the mercy of price-gouging oil companies and volatile foreign governments. But Iowa is uniquely positioned to break their stranglehold on our economy. Iowa has energy alternatives – corn-based ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, soy-based diesel, biomass, and wind energy - that can create thousands of good jobs, ease the burden on middle-class pocketbooks, and provide more national security through less reliance on foreign oil.

Democrats will work aggressively to create new business opportunities and good jobs while lowering energy costs for Iowa families, farmers, and small businesses. We will bring together the best academic, research, and business minds to give us direction on alternative energy policies. Our goal is to establish Iowa as “The Green State” – nationally and internationally recognized for its energy leadership.

Our "Plan for Prosperity" Will:

Develop the nation’s first bio-refinery for the next generation of ethanol technology.
Significantly increase the amount of electricity generated from renewable energy sources.
Make Iowa a national leader in the manufacturing of equipment and technology for the production of alternative energy.
Create a public/private partnership to commercialize alternative fuels research and technology.
Secure Iowa’s food supply against infectious diseases and bio-terrorism.

Rewarding Hard Work

No one who works full-time should live in poverty. Yet many hardworking Iowa families can barely make ends meet. Iowa has more two-income families than any other state because many jobs pay poorly and don’t offer health insurance or other benefits. While our commitment to high-paid, high-tech jobs and greater access to college will pay off in the long run, some Iowans need our help now to be self-reliant.

Many workers have no employer-provided health insurance. When a parent or child is sick, the last thing they should worry about is whether they can afford to see a doctor. Small businesses should be able to pool their purchasing power to get lower rates that will allow them to provide health coverage for their employees.

In rewarding work, House Democrats will balance the legitimate interests of businesses and their workers.

Our "Plan for Prosperity" Will:

Raise the minimum wage in Iowa from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour by 2009.
Expand job training opportunities at community colleges, including specialized business-specific training for our high-tech workers of the future.
Allow small businesses to pool their workforces so they have the power to obtain cheaper health insurance rates for themselves and their employees.
Reduce commercial property taxes on Iowa businesses, without shifting taxes to homes and farms, with the goal to make Iowa more competitive with states in our region.