Although Iowa may not always be the most celebrated state in the union, U.S. News and World Report has ranked the “Hawkeye State” as No. 1.
Iowa beat out the other 49 states through the study’s rankings that highlighted its developed infrastructure. Iowa has the highest ultra-fast internet access in the country, the third highest in healthcare, the fourth in opportunity, the fifth in education, and the ninth in the quality of life.
“When people think of Iowa, they usually think of agricultural places that won’t necessarily need to be connected,” David Daack, a broadband consultant for Connected Nation was quoted as saying by the U.S. News and World Report. “But given the big data needs of agriculture today and in the future, those areas are going to need to be every bit as connected as the urban areas. …You could almost argue that maybe we should go (to the farms) first and work our way back into the cities.”
Although Iowa has a high ranking in a lot of important categories, the state only ranked 17th for their economy, the business environment was ranked 46th, and its fiscal stability was ranked 21st.
“This is an area we really are going to be focusing in on over the next few years: both our competitive nature and also having more venture funding and growing that venture system within our state,” Director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority Debi Durham was quoted as saying by the U.S. News and World Report.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ Future Ready Iowa program would help grow Iowa’s quality of life by ensuring that 70 percent of Iowa’s workforce would have education or training beyond high school by 2025.
Reynolds has also introduced a tax reform bill to the state’s legislature that would lower individual income taxes.
“My plan combines meaningful tax relief while protecting our budget priorities,” Reynolds said in a prepared statement as quoted by the Des Moines Register. “We’ve prioritized tax relief for middle class taxpayers, small business owners, teachers and working families across the state. We’re long past due for real tax reform that simplifies and updates our system while allowing Iowans to keep more of their hard-earned money in their communities.”
