Nolan Center for Justice: "Solving Iowa's Workforce Crisis"

Last month, CPAC Foundation’s Nolan Center for Justice joined ranks with Faith and Freedom Coalition to pen a letter to Brad Zaun, Chairman of Iowa Senate Judiciary Committee urging reforms like those of President Trump’s First Step Act to the state probation system.  

The letter identified three states that implemented compliance credit programs with positive results. Compliance credit programs such as the ones cited in the letter encourage continuing education and stable employment while shortening probation periods and reducing the load on taxpayer funded probation programs. As such, the letter urges Iowa to implement a similar compliance credit program to both solve their workforce crisis and save valuable taxpayer funds. 

Last March, the Iowa House proposed a bill suggesting a system, in which, “an individual on probation may earn discharge credits, educational credits, and workforce credits that reduce the individual’s term of probation.” The system proposed to reward educational achievements, stable employment, and probation compliance with shortened probation terms. The bill passed the House last year and was picked up again in February of this year by the Senate with a fiscal note, exploring the financial impact of the system.  

Read Nolan Center for Justice and Faith and Freedom Coalition’s full comments on compliance credit systems in the letter here.