LOW ROAD FOR OUR COMMUNITY
In 2017, the Iowa General Assembly authorized the Iowa Department of Transportation to create a “Federal-Aid Swap” program.
These funding swaps are a crooked tool to bypass federal construction laws that protect local workers, require the use of American materials, and provide opportunities for veterans, women, and minorities to bid on local projects.
What does Iowa’s Federal-Aid Swap Program do?
- Eliminates federal prevailing wage protections on public infrastructure projects
- Eliminates “Buy America” provisions that support Iowa’s steel and manufacturing industries
- Eliminates funding for apprenticeship programs
What is the impact of the Swap Program?
- Promotes foreign steel over American steel
- Less work for local contractors
- Loss of jobs for local workers
- Lower wages for skilled construction workers
- Less economic activity in the community
- $27 million in federal dollars lost from the Quad City community
- Harder for veterans, women, and people of color to work in the trades
Cutting the wages of local middle-class construction workers and promoting foreign steel would not save money on infrastructure projects. Local metropolitan planning organizations across Iowa should OPT OUT of the “Federal-Aid Swap” program.
noswaps.com 