The Greater Des Moines Partnership’s 2011 trip to Washington, D.C., begins Wednesday, and transportation figures to be a big concern of participants, Senior Vice President of Public Policy Jay Byers told the Business Record last week.
 
“Transportation projects and priorities, I’d say, are the top drivers in terms of public participation and one of the reasons why people go,” Byers said. “Transportation infrastructure is a huge component of economic development, and federal dollars play a huge role in that, whether it’s earmarks, whether it’s formula funding, whether it’s the (Department of Transportation) – there’s a lot at stake.”
 
A big difference on this trip, he said, is that because the federal government has a moratorium on earmarks, officials will focus more on alternate forms of funding and keeping issues in the forefront of lawmakers’ minds.
 
For transportation, that includes making sure Iowa representatives in Washington know what projects the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization has identified as priorities, and letting them know that they will be asking for money and support in the future to complete a passenger rail line that could connect Des Moines to Omaha in the west and to Iowa City and Chicago in the east.
 
Other issues Byers highlighted that would be important to officials on the trip include research and development, industrial trade, education, immigration, health care, quality of life and flood protection.
 
Nearly 175 people are participating in the trip this year, many of them local government or business leaders. Byers stressed that the Partnership’s trip is not a one-time “snapshot” of Washington, D.C.
 
“This is just when we all are getting to go and focus on these issues again, but we’re talking with our congressional delegation all the time,” he said. “This isn’t about a one-time ask. This is about relationships. This is about connectivity.”
 
The Partnership has a schedule of events, but the nature of the trip allows for different groups to meet with lawmakers and officials to discuss issues that pertain directly to them.
 
“The level of advocacy sophistication is pretty incredible in terms of people who have gone on this trip who know how to navigate the federal system, know who to talk to, know how to develop those relationships,” Byers said.
 
For a complete online guide of the Partnership’s 2011 federal policy agenda and a list of participants, go to the trip website by clicking here.  To follow trip updates on Twitter, search the hashtag #iadc.