Iowa Hotel & Lodging Association Monthly Update

New Association Serves as State Advocate

Welcome to the Iowa Hotel & Lodging Association—we appreciate your membership! The purpose of our organization is to serve as an advocate for the hotel and lodging industry at the state level. Like many of you, we are also members of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and we cooperate with them on federal issues. Please take a moment to mark our e-mail address on your safe sender list to ensure you receive the latest news and updates. Our goal is to grow the engagement of hoteliers with legislators, regulators, media, and one another. If we have an active group and a unified message, we can help the on-going recovery of our industry. Please feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns.

Jessica Dunker

President and CEO

Iowa Hotel & Lodging Association

jessica@hotellodgingiowa.com

2022 Legislative Work

Hotels Shouldn’t Shoulder Cost of Public Transit

Although it was only formed in January 2022, the IHLA was immediately put to the test. A coordinated effort was launched by a number of Des Moines area communities to change the tax code allowing them the ability to raise hotel/motel tax by 5% for the exclusive use of underwriting the cost of public transportation. Their goal was to lower property taxes and have it off-set by this new higher hotel/motel tax in their communities. Had it passed, any community would have had the option to do this. The IHLA team, board, and contract lobbyist Eric Goranson got to work quickly and found champions in the Iowa House and Senate to stop the language from being included in the massive tax reform bill that passed in 2022.

Data Privacy Changes Proposed, not Passed

Data privacy is a big issue in most Capitol buildings across the nation and is having an impact on how online platforms function. This year Iowa legislator Rep. Brian Lohse (Chair of Information Technology Committee) introduced a bill to clarify Iowa’s stance on data privacy. The IHLA declared undecided on the bill. We normally declare “undecided” to indicate we are interested and watching a bill and so we are able to speak in related subcommittee meetings. Senator Zach Nunn introduced a companion bill in the Senate. Although not a detriment to our industry, the data privacy bill had some language we wanted to ensure was kept in code to protect loyalty program data.

With the help of national partners including Marriott and others, we were able to get that information to the Representative with assurances that our programs would be protected under the bill. Although the bill did not pass we expect it to be an ongoing discussion and we’ll stay highly engaged to make sure consumer data is protected while allowing hotels and lodging businesses to utilize customer data responsibly.Other defensive efforts included staving off an “entertainment tax” proposal and efforts to eliminate the school start date laws. In the coming session, the new Association will begin proactively seeking legislative solutions that help the lodging industry.

Meet in Iowa Increases Hotel Night Stays by 3500+ Nights

In March, the IHLA team, all of whom also work on behalf of the Iowa Restaurant Association, was selected by the Iowa Tourism Office to create and administer a meeting incentive program with the purpose of increasing hotel night stays in the state. Funded by the Iowa Economic Development Authority, the $1 Million program is called “Meet in Iowa.” Proposed by the Association through an RFP process, the program provides groups reimbursement towards various meeting expenses. New overnight meetings (booked after May 1, 2022) and existing meetings that add a tourism experience on the front or backend (thus increasing the hotel nights stays) can qualify. The program has been a tremendous success. To date booked hotel nights in the state have increased by more than 3,500 nights and more than $650,000 in reimbursements have been earmarked for qualifying groups. Learn more about the program at meetinia.com.

IHLA Inaugural Member of State Coalition to Prevent Human Trafficking

In January, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate launched a statewide alliance of businesses to end human trafficking. The IHLA was one of the inaugural members of the group and continues to encourage and help individual hotel and lodging businesses complete training and to join the coalition. The newly formed Iowa Businesses Against Trafficking (IBAT) coalition asks businesses to promote both awareness of human trafficking and the Iowa Safe at Home confidentiality program for survivors of human trafficking and other violent crimes. Learn more at https://ibat.iowa.gov/ (IBAT logo)

Are you on the state-approved list of Iowa hotels confirming your staff has completed human trafficking prevention training? If you’re not, no state employee can stay in your location nor can the state host meetings at your location.

See the List Here

State Level Leadership

The IHLA is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. Annually, we have a meeting of the IHLA membership (virtual or in-person) to vote to confirm the Board. The Board is the final say on which legislative issues we pursue and how we prioritize them. They also approve the budget and are asked on occasion to serve as media and legislative spokespeople on issues. If you have any interest in serving on the Board of Directors please contact Jessica Dunker at jessica@hotellodgingiowa.com Current Board members are below.