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As Greater Des Moines Partnership officials and community leaders prepare for their annual lobbying trip in June to Washington, D.C., one thing is certain: No one knows how the ailing economy, or the stimulus legislation prescribed to cure it, will affect the millions of dollars in funding requests they will make on behalf of local projects.

“I think this year where things might be different, as opposed to our approach over the past several years, is we did have this stimulus fund program,” said Brian Laurenzo, a Des Moines patent attorney who chairs the Partnership’s Government Policy Committee and the Surface Transportation Program subcommittee of the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). “We don’t know yet whether that will mean there will be less money for our ongoing projects.”

Last year’s lobbying trip brought tangible results earlier this month, when President Barack Obama signed the $410 billion Fiscal 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which included more than $28 million for 38 Central Iowa projects. Among those were added funding for the Principal Riverwalk, plus more money for Des Moines preschool programs, hospitals and colleges and for a variety of Iowa State University research initiatives (see pie chart to the right and list of approved projects located below the story).

That funding, however, represented just a small portion of the more than $256 million in funding assistance for projects the Partnership sought on behalf of its members last year. Those requests included “quality of life” projects such as $10 million to help build a whitewater kayaking course on a stretch of the Des Moines River downtown, as well as a host of highway development, education and health-care-related projects.

Meanwhile, the MPO continues to wait for Congress to pass a transportation reauthorization bill, a process that can stretch out over more than one year. The highest-priority projects for Greater Des Moines remain largely the same as in the past several years, Laurenzo said, among them the proposed Interstate 80-35/Northwest 26th Street interchange and projects such as the Northeast Beltway and the Southwest Connector.

“These are long-term projects, and each year we go out to make our delegation aware of these priorities,” he said. “I think the amount of reauthorization money available may be less than it has been in the past due to the economy and because of the stimulus money already provided. But we have not been made aware of any decisions that would confirm that at this point. So we keep plugging away to make sure the Greater Des Moines area gets as much as it’s entitled to.”

Greater Des Moines enjoys a “very positive working relationship” with each member of Iowa’s congressional delegation, Laurenzo said. “They really get it. This has also helped our senators and congressmen by narrowing down the list of competing projects,” he said.

The Des Moines metro area is also seeking to maximize the funding it receives on the stimulus side of the equation, which emphasizes “shovel-ready” projects that can begin immediately to create construction jobs and stimulate the economy. Laurenzo recently completed a process in which the MPO worked with community leaders to prioritize a list of 19 transportation projects deemed to have the best shot at qualifying for stimulus funds. (see list of shovel-ready projects)

“These are all projects that need to be done,” he said. “They were on the radar of our member governments, but the money may not have been available to the governments.

“I think what we feel really good about with respect to the stimulus projects is that some of the governments that don’t normally apply or are able to obtain funds through the normal process were able to benefit,” Laurenzo said, listing Bondurant, Norwalk and Windsor Heights as examples. “These are cities that don’t normally qualify for the major construction dollars because many times the projects are more local than regional in nature.”

These Greater Des Moines projects received funding through the Fiscal 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act.

Source: Greater Des Moines Partnership