As usual, the challenge at the start of the legislative session is that the R’s and D’s work together for the well-being of Iowans, and we were admonished to put politics aside until the next election cycle. Apparently, that cycle has arrived for some who already case their political positions in stone. 

I will again serve as chair of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee. The governor’s budget for both natural resources and agriculture was set at $35 million, the same as last year. He provided no additional funding to meet the federal demands of the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Recent media attention has centered on Iowa as a major contributor to the hypoxia mass in the Gulf of Mexico. EPA has stated it will take over administration of the regulation of soil and water conservation in the state unless this legislature provides the means by which the nutrient level of Iowa streams is significantly reduced. It’s my responsibility to attempt to get this issue worked out.