Representative Wills:He wants to keep fighting for Iowa’s smallest towns

I believe we are facing a critical juncture in our state. Are we going to bury our heads in the sand and ignore the shrinking populations of rural Iowa or are we going to finally put forth serious efforts toward tackling the issue head on? I have been working on a piece of legislation that identifies communities in rural Iowa that don’t need a handout but instead need to be treated fairly. Rural Iowa should have an opportunity to compete for the same or similar benefits that seem to always land in our largest cities and counties.House File 468 is a bill that requires half the state’s economic development tax credits to be used in rural Iowa. It targets communities meeting the following criteria: population under 15,000, proximity to a four-lane highway or interstate road systems, contain a community college within it to train a workforce.These communities too often can’t compete with the big cities when it comes to applying for incentives or wooing business and industry. Some of that is due to economic development strategies that don’t focus on our areas of state. I envision a system where our state has regional hubs of economic development that serve as economic generators for the towns, communities and counties surrounding them.