Iowa Senator Nate Boulton is campaigning for the Democratic nomination in 2018’s race for the governor’s seat by conducting a 20 county “Hometown Values” tour. He stopped at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) in Carroll earlier this week to introduce his platform to students, staff and interested members of the public. He says that one of the things he is in favor of is raising the minimum wage. He introduced a bill last legislative session to try to stop a measure that, he says, undermined five counties’ local control of managing minimum wage. He says he proposed a plan that would raise it to $15 by 2024, and then planned to have it matched to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
More than that, he says, we are missing out on wage growth throughout the economy by doling out corporate tax credits and incentives.
He directly references the deal struck with Apple in Waukee at the end of August.
Boulton says there are targeted economic development strategies, like partnering with local communities and investments in infrastructure improvements, that will produce a lot more than 50 jobs at a time. He adds, this administration campaigned on a promise of creating 200,000 new jobs and increasing Iowan’s earnings by 25 percent. Instead, he claims, they have doubled the corporate tax credits, exemptions and giveaways, and now Iowans are earning only one point four percent more than 10 years ago; Boulton adds, not even keeping up with the national average and barely beating inflation.
