Democrat Rob Sand says if he’s elected governor, he’ll create an Office of Rural Prosperity, appoint a task force focused on expanding rural housing and work to raise Iowa’s minimum wage.
Sand has released a 15 point economic agenda that includes phasing in increases for Iowa’s minimum wage, to ultimately reach $12 an hour. “The economy has been not working for working people,” Sand said during an interview with Radio Iowa.”It’s been favoring those at the top and it hasn’t been working fairly and this is one way to combat that.”
Iowa’s $7.25 an hour minimum wage hasn’t been raised in 18 years and is lower than Nebraska’s, South Dakota’s and Minnesota’s, all of which are adjusted each year. Sand said Iowa’s should have an annual cost of living increase, too. “I think that’s smart and a mix of our neighbors are willing to do it,” Sand said, “which I think is reflective of it being common sense no matter your party affiliation.”
If elected, Sand would ask the Iowa Finance Authority to lead a rural housing task force, to investigate options for affordable housing, including dwellings called ADUs that are on the same lot as another home. “Putting together a task force in the short term that can do some thinking and come up with some of the best ideas out there for different approaches is going to be very helpful,” Sand said.
An Office of Rural Prosperity in a Sand Administration would be “a one-stop shop,” according to Sand, to would help Iowa’s rural residents navigate state and federal programs that may be available. “This all can be incredibly complicated and having someone who really knows the answer to that, that can be the first place to go is going to be really helpful,” Sand said. “I also think we need to have more to have mentoring programs for new and young farmers and making sure that we’re doing what we need to help people who want to get back on the land to be there and help revitalize rural economies.”
Sand’s economic platorm includes boosting state investments in local and regional food systems to help more Iowans grow more of the food Iowans eat, plus identifying ways to support enterprises that convert manure into a commodity farmers can use and sell, like renewable natural gas “to turn manure into something that we can use to increase profitability, which helps farmers and decrease water pollution and nitrate levels at the same time.”
Sand suggests Iowa should consider adopting an Ohio program for small businesses with fewer than 10 employees. “Small business owners and small business employees are part of the heartbeat of our state,” Sand told Radio Iowa, “and the more we can cut red tape and streamline application processes for them, the better off they’re going to be.” Ohio’s program offers technical assistance as well as training and financial assistance to entrepreneurs.