COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA — The Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) participated in a Mayors’ Roundtable Discussion on the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA) hosted by U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne (IA-03) on Friday, January 7, at the Council Bluffs Public Library.

Nine southwest Iowa mayors were on hand to talk about the new law’s impact on their communities. For many, like Hamburg Mayor Cathy Crain, the infrastructure money could not come soon enough. She stressed the importance of flood prevention in towns like hers. “If you don’t have the flood protection, you don’t have the businesses,” said Crain. “Without the businesses, there’s no town.” Hamburg, home to 1,200 residents, experienced major flooding in 2019 that exposed the need for infrastructure repair.

Rep. Axne spoke about the need for towns and cities of all sizes in the region to coordinate and work together to ensure all receive essential resources they need. Mayor Matt Walsh of Council Bluffs agreed, saying he saw opportunities for collaboration with smaller towns in the region.

SWIPCO Transit Director Mark Lander discussed the need for transit dollars to come back to southwest Iowa. “It’s easy to look at this $300 million and think about just big city buses,” said Lander. “But in southwest Iowa that supports SWITA, which is everywhere and includes rides to the doctor for seniors, kids getting to school, and essential workers on the job in our food processing plants.”

“The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will invest $305 million so Iowa can address the 40 percent of public transit vehicles that are operating beyond their lifetime in our state,” said Rep. Axne. “This money will help keep people safe and ensure everyone can get to where they need to go in Iowa’s Third Congressional District. I am proud to have voted in favor of this legislation, which makes significant investments in Iowa’s transit systems, highways and bridges, broadband and water systems, and so much more.”