FROM THE DESK OF REPRESENTATIVE DE BOEF

February 3, 2005

Again this Session I have the privilege of serving as a member of the Agriculture Committee and Co-chair of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee.  Since I sit on both of these committees, I frequently receive letters from constituents expressing concerns about the Soil and Conservation Districts and their issues in the state.

Soil and Water Conservation Districts were founded in 1939 and today administer the Soil Conservation Cost Share Program and work with land owners to promote sustainable agricultural practices that protect the soil and water.  There are one hundred Soil and Water Conservation Districts in Iowa, with one district in each county, except for Pottawattamie County that has two.  Approximately $2,000 to $2,200 is distributed to each district to encourage environmental projects.

On Tuesday, January 25, I was floor manager of House Study Bill 7, which was amended and passed out of the  Agriculture Committee.  The bill proposes to modify current FY 05 appropriations to explicitly authorize monies for reimbursement of soil and water conservation district commissioner expenses.  This legislation arises from action taken by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) this past summer that did not allocate from its state funding any money for commissioners’ expenses.  The denial in funding in part was due to differing unofficial legal opinions provided to the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture that made her uneasy as to whether such an allocation from enacted allocations complied with accompanying intent language that allowed up to 5 to 10% of various cost-share appropriations to be used for the cost of administration and implementation of soil and water conservation practices.  This passed on a 21-0 margin and has been referred to the Appropriation Standing Committee as HF 162.  It will come up for debate in the House where I will be guiding it the rest of the way through the legislative process.

For a number of years, the Legislature included explicit intent language in its appropriation measures dealing with the IDALS that explicitly allocated a specified amount of money to reimburse the soil and water conservation district commissioners for some expenses that they incur in the exercise of their office.  However, in 2002, at the behest of a request by the Secretary, the Iowa General Assembly removed specific within line-item allocations so as to accord the Secretary maximum administrative flexibility to cope with budget reductions that have occurred in recent years.  While removing the within line-item allocation,  the legislative drafters were quite clear in discussions with the Secretary at that time that they were not withdrawing support for various departmental operations previously funded with certain minimum allocations. 

HF 162 seeks to redress the non-funding of soil and water district commissioner expenses by amending language enacted last year in Senate File 2298, the Omnibus appropriations bill, which provided monies from the Environment First Fund for a number of soil and water conservation cost-share operations.  As amended by committee action, the bill amends intent language found in Section 301, subsection 1, paragraph f, of SF 2298 to reallocate $250,000 of the $2 million allocation for efforts to assist farmers to enroll land in federal conservation programs that enhance vegetative restoration such as buffer strips, in order to pay for some commissioner expenses in the current fiscal year.  The legislation has been referred to the House Appropriations Committee.  HF 162 has a Senate companion bill (Senate File 71).  The bill has an immediate effective date so that if and when the bill is enacted, the moneys can quickly go out to the district offices for distribution to the commissioners.

It is rumored that Ag Secretary Patty Judge and the Governor are not getting along at all.  The Department of Agriculture has not been receiving funding compared to other Departments.  My personal observation is that Governor Vilsack, a trial lawyer who originates from  Pennsylvania, has minimal appreciation for the importance of agricultural in Iowa.  This contributes to the shortage of funding the department experiences.  The shortage is magnified because the Department of Agriculture had to absorb huge salary increases to their state employees.  Next year’s salary package would require more in dollars than the total amount of funding the Department receives from the state.  Most of their ability to exist is because of federal grants they are able to secure.  This dilemma resulted in the Secretary seeking a legal opinion on whether the County Commissioners could legally be paid from the $2 million allocation approved in SF 2298 which was passed in the spring of 2004.  

This lack of reimbursement to the County Commissioners combined with the firing of Bill Ehm, the State Director, has resulted in an outpouring of protest across Iowa.  All of the entities involved are in agreement with the language in the proposed bill.

HF 162 is a direct result of the attention drawn to the issue by the public.  It is a great example of successful grassroots lobbying.  The persistence has resulted in a great outcome of which the constituents can be proud!

I am going to offer a question of the week again this year.

One hot button issues is the overabundance of deer in our state.  Do you agree with allowing out-of-state licenses to combat this problem?

I would appreciate your input!

My phone number at the Capitol is 515-281-3221, or e-mail me at bdeboef@legis.state.ia.us.

 I would welcome visitors at the Capitol, too!