Iowa's economy is rigged. For decades, the promise has been that tax cuts for the wealthy and deregulation for corporations would create prosperity for all. This "trickle-down" theory has failed. The result is a broken social contract where CEOs now make 300 times what their workers earn, while families struggle with the high cost of housing, energy, and transportation. It's time to build an economy that puts people over profit.

The Problem: A System Skewed Toward Corporate Power

• Starvation Wages & Soaring CEO Pay: Iowa's minimum wage is frozen at $7.25—a starvation wage. While neighboring states move toward $15, studies show a true Iowa living wage is now near $20/hour. Meanwhile, executive pay has exploded, extracting wealth from our communities.

• Unaffordable Housing & Corporate Landlords: Families are squeezed by rising rents and housing costs. The logic of the market, focused solely on profit, fails to provide stable, affordable homes for our elderly, young families, and low-income Iowans.

• Corporate Monopolies & Stranded Communities: From energy giants like MidAmerican to retail chains like Dollar General, large corporations use their power to crush small businesses and trap consumers with high prices and limited choices. This has devastated main streets and left rural Iowans with fewer essential services.

• A Rigged Tax System: Iowa politicians have slashed corporate taxes, with rates set to fall to 5% by 2028. The promised "good-paying jobs and philanthropy" have not materialized. Instead, it's a giveaway that forces working families to shoulder the burden through higher property and sales taxes.

• Inadequate & Unsafe Infrastructure: The lack of reliable, affordable public transportation, especially in rural areas, isolates residents, burdens families with multiple car payments, forces our elderly to drive on dangerous winter roads, and holds back our economy.

The Kris Williams Solution: An Iowa that Works for Workers

I believe the economy should serve people, not the other way around. Here is my plan to rebalance power, lower costs, and rebuild prosperity from the ground up.

1. Guarantee a Living Wage & Tax Extreme Wealth: Raise Iowa's minimum wage to a true living wage, starting with a push to $20/hour. Simultaneously, we will reform our tax code to make ultra-wealthy individuals and corporations pay their fair share, reversing the failed trickle-down experiment.

2. Launch a Public Housing Initiative: Use state resources to convert abandoned buildings into quality, affordable public housing. We will guarantee units for vulnerable populations like the elderly and young families, with the rest available first-come, first-serve. This reduces market pressure, protects community home values, and ensures housing is a right, not a luxury.

3. Break Monopolies & Protect Main Street: Create publicly owned utility options to provide low-cost, clean energy and break the stranglehold of private monopolies. We will enact strict antitrust enforcement and support policies to protect consumers and small "mom-and-pop" businesses from predatory corporate practices.

4. Invest in Public, Statewide Transportation: Build a 21st-century transportation network that includes expanding rural rail and bus services. This will connect towns to jobs and healthcare, provide safe alternatives to winter driving, and reduce the financial burden of personal vehicles on working families.

The choice is clear: continue a system designed for corporate greed, or fight for one built on the dignity of work. I choose people over profit. We will build an Iowa where hard work is rewarded, families can afford to thrive, and communities—not corporations—come first.