“Time and time again. Governor Reynolds spouts talking points then her record proves the exact opposite. Her failure to fully fund Future Ready Iowa is yet more proof that Kim Reynolds would rather pay off her special interests with wasteful corporate giveaways than actually improve the lives of Iowans,” said Iowa Democratic Party
Chair Troy Price. “Our working families deserve better than Governor Reynolds and her mismanagement and misplaced priorities.”
Excerpts from the article can be found below:
CEDAR RAPIDS GAZETTE: Future Ready Iowa needs funding to close Iowa skills gap
In many cases, Townsend told the Downtown Rotary, the barrier to people finding work and employers finding people to fill jobs is that skills gap.
About 128,000 Iowans need to be educated, certified and trained to meet Iowa’s workplace needs. About 58.4 percent of the workforce has met the goals of Future Ready Iowa, but that’s up just three-10ths of a percent from the previous year.
“My expectation is that when we do get an appropriation, we would see an increase of certainly more than three-10ths of a percent each year,” she said later.
The key to making Future Ready Iowa successful will be getting funding from the Legislature next year. About $3 million was appropriated to “build the infrastructure,” Townsend said, but said about $18 million will be needed to fund the Last Dollar Scholar and Grant Program and the Employer Innovation Fund and to expand apprenticeship program.
She’s hopeful the funding will be approved when the Legislature meets in January because the program was unanimously approved by the Legislature earlier this year.
“That’s a good recognition of the skills gaps and that this is not a partisan issue,” Townsend said. “It will take all of us working together to close that skills gap.”