Workforce will be the focus during the 2023 legislative session, according to lawmakers who participated in Tuesday’s Legislative Leaders Breakfast, hosted by the Greater Des Moines Partnership.

The legislators outlined their priorities and participated in a question and answer session following the Partnership’s release of its legislative priorities for the upcoming session that is scheduled to begin Jan. 9. See the Business Record’s Tuesday PM Daily newsletter for a story about the Partnership’s legislative agenda.

Lawmakers participating in the panel discussion at the Hotel Fort Des Moines on Tuesday included Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, Rep. Carter Nordman, R-Panora, Sen. Sarah Trone-Garriott, D-West Des Moines, and Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale.

While they said workforce will be a top priority, the lawmakers also shared their thoughts on other topics, including civility.

The conversation was moderated by Onnalee Gettler, the chair of the Partnership’s Government Policy Committee, which worked to develop the organization’s legislative priorities for 2023.

During the opening part of the discussion, each lawmaker outlined their priorities for the next year.

Zaun listed property taxes and empowering parents as the top priorities in 2023. Trone-Garriott listed investment in pre-K education as a priority, saying it will have the biggest impact on the state, affecting learning, outcomes for emotional and mental health, and the state’s future workforce.

Nordman listed workforce development and parental choice as top priorities, and Konfrst listed priorities identified in the People over Politics initiative that Democrats released in September, and included lowering child care and housing costs for Iowa families, reproductive freedom, public education and legalizing marijuana.

During the question and answer session, Zaun talked about the need for regulatory reform.

“We have 170 boards and commissions in the state of Iowa, and certainly from occupational licensing, there’s 40 different boards as well, and I think we’ll probably be looking at that,” he said. “Another thing we’ll have a conversation about is the certificate of need requirements for health care. Certainly you have to be very careful about that. I think we’ve made some positive changes. We certainly need to make some more.”

Nordman discussed the need to recruit and retain top talent.

He said the state needs to continue to invest in Future Ready Iowa. He also said more focus is needed to ensure “that our regents universities are really helping us develop the workforce and making sure that the dollars the taxpayers are sending to our regent universities are being spent in a way that they’re getting a return on their investment.”

“So ensuring that students that are going to our regent universities are coming out with degrees that are useful to our workforce … and create a return on investment for taxpayers,” Nordman said.

Konfrst, who serves as House minority leader, said while Future Ready Iowa is a “wonderful program,” she will seek to have paramedics and emergency medical technicians re-included in the program.

“They were cut out because of some changes, and we desperately need those folks in communities across our state,” she said.

Konfrst also said Iowa needs to do more to make Iowa a welcoming state and “make sure the things we’re doing in our state and in our Legislature are the kinds of things that make families want to come here, move here and grow here.”

“We’re going to be working very closely so that the things that are proposed that aren’t part of the workforce package but impact workforce are also pointed out and discussed,” she said. “We’ve all heard from people who feel as if maybe they aren’t as welcome here as they used to be, and we don’t have the luxury of shutting people out in this state, so we’re going to work really hard to protect them.”

Trone-Garriott said Iowa needs a quality of life that will bring and keep top talent here, and placemaking is a key ingredient to providing that. But it’s important not to isolate them from other issues the state is facing, such as homelessness and water quality, she said.

“We also need to be thinking big picture about these projects because we cannot isolate them from other, larger issues in our state,” Trone-Garriott said.

Gettler also asked the lawmakers to comment on the topic of civility.

Zaun, who serves as Senate president pro-tempore, talked about his father, who was a Republican and whose two best friends were Democrats. They would argue over issues, but then go on family vacations together. He said that kind of relationship is rare these days.

Zaun said he doesn’t look at bills as Democrat or Republican, but what is best for Iowa.

“I try to be as fair as I can,” he said. “When I sit in the president’s chair, I try to listen and follow the rules that have been established.”

Zaun also tried to distance the Iowa Legislature from Congress in Washington, D.C., which he called dysfunctional.

“They don’t play good together,” he said.

Trone-Garriott said that for her, part of civility is taking the time to talk to everyone, no matter their background.

“That’s something that I’m very committed to,” she said. “I know that despite distinct and sometimes insurmountable differences, we always have common ground and we always have the opportunity to work together. It’s very important to lean into that and demonstrate that by reaching out to folks and being accessible.”

Nordman said civility all comes down to respect.

“I am, especially in my generation, concerned about how quickly people are to dismiss one another. How quickly someone is willing to not be a friend with someone because they don’t agree politically, or not talk to a family member because you have different political ideology,” said Nordman, who is 24 years old. “I see a lot of that in my generation. As a state legislator I try my best to ensure that I am listening to everyone’s opinion. Not going to agree with them, but I think having a hard conversation is a good thing.”

Konfrst said civility has to happen before lawmakers walk into the Capitol.

“We have to remember that bipartisanship and civility also includes recognizing the humanity of our fellow Iowans,” she said. “The campaign was hostile. That’s fair to say. We need to remember when we walk through those doors the campaign is over. We get along. We work together, however some of it is hard to forget. Some of what was said. When someone can’t honor the humanity of one of my constituents, or my nephew or someone I love, it’s harder for me to forgive them than it is when they disagree on tax policy.

“We talk about issues at the Capitol that are very personal, that are very deep to our cores, and I hope when we do that this year we’re remembering that we’re talking about people and we’re not just talking about groups of people who are nameless and faceless. That there are kids and people watching us and looking for civility in those debates, too,” Konfrst said.