Pictured (L-R): Moderator Noah Dryden, District 6 Sen. Jason Schultz, and District 11 Rep. Craig Williams.
The Carroll Chamber of Commerce and Carroll County Growth Partnership (CCGP) hosted its third legislative forum of the 2026 session on Saturday, and the future of Iowa’s workforce was one of the questions brought to District 6 Sen. Jason Schultz (R-Schleswig) and District 11 Rep. Craig Williams (R-Manning). One attendee asked what more the Iowa Legislature could do to make the state more attractive to young people. Williams believes the legislature has done almost everything it can, economically speaking, to make Iowa the place to be.
There are some factors, such as weather or geography, that draw people to particular states, and there is little the Iowa Legislature can do to compete on that front. Williams says that really leaves tax policy as their only lever.
Williams adds that Iowa’s rural nature previously was an obstacle to many of the nation’s highest-paying jobs, but with the availability of high-speed internet, people can now work anywhere in the world from their own homes, as he does with his global ag consulting firm. Schultz says Iowa will be about as competitive as it can be once property tax reform passes, which was a priority for the GOP-led House and Senate heading into this session. He says any other impediments to growth will be outside of lawmakers’ control.
One more legislative forum is scheduled yet for this session. That is slated for Saturday, April 25, at the Kruger Shelter House, beginning at 10 a.m.
