IPTA’s Legislative Committee has identified our State Legislative Priorities. A new priority for IPTA will focus on property tax reform, and a new Legislative Property Tax Subcommittee will be created to address a response to the legislature.

IPTA will be highlighting results from our Statewide Economic Study, including the research finding that for every $1 invested in public transit in Iowa, $3 is returned to the state.

The top State Legislative Priorities are:

• Increase funding for the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund (RIIF) to $2 million for public transportation. Currently at $1.3 million, this competitive process has shown that, in the last 5 years, $34 million has been needed, while $19 million has been received.
• Protect the local transit levy. Protecting the transit levy equals protecting local control. Cutting levy flexibility would force service reductions and forfeit millions in federal match funds.
• An investment in Iowa can generate a large amount of funding from the Federal Government. Increase state funding to take advantage of federal dollars. We continue to seek a full allocation of sales tax on new vehicles from 4% to 5%.
• NEMT should be given to transit systems first before outsourcing to other entities. IPTA continued to tell your story on how the tiered rates for providers that bundled transportation services have reduced transit systems' revenue by 30%.