Two Democrats in the Iowa House are proposing a new way to raise money for water quality efforts in the state — and about half of the money would come from farmers. Representative Marti Anderson is a Democrat from Des Moines.
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Anderson and Democratic Representative Chuck Isenhart of Dubuque both propose using state tax dollars, but they envision having farmers contribute as well. Commodity groups would pass “check-off” referendums, similar to the “check-off” payments participating farmers make today based on the amount of grain or number of livestock they sell.
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Isenhart says their plan also calls for creation of a state “Clean Water Commission” to decide how and where to spend the money. It would be structured like the Iowa Transportation Commission, which decides how state gas tax money is spent on roads and bridges. This water quality funding idea is an alternative to Republican Governor Terry Branstad’s plan to extend a sales tax used for school infrastructure for another 20 years and use the inflationary growth in that tax for water quality initiatives.