Iowa Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund, Amendment 1 (2010)

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The Iowa Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund Amendment, also known as Amendment 1, was on the November 2, 2010 ballot in the state of Iowa as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, where it was approved.a According to the proposal the next time the Iowa Legislature approved a sales tax increase, the measure would allow 3/8ths of one cent to be used in support of the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund. This would establish permanent revenue for natural resources and outdoor recreational programs in the state. It was reported that this would generate about $150 million a year. The measure was introduced by Representative Paul Bell.

About $150 million of the estimated tax pot would be spent on outdoor recreation and natural resources, which included:

• Natural resources: 23 percent would be allocated to state parks, state forests, state preserves, wildlife areas and other.

• Soil conservation and water protection: 20 percent would be used for soil conservation and watershed protection

• Watershed protection: 14 percent would be used to help preserve watersheds

• Resource Enhancement and Protection Program: 13 percent of the revenue would be used for natural, cultural, and recreational resources parks, trails, museums, and roadside beautification.

• Local conservation partnership: 13 percent would be handed out to local communities for areas pertaining to outdoor and recreation

• Trails: 10 percent would go to outdoor trails for recreational use.

• Lake restoration: 7 percent would go to public lake restoration around the state.

For more details on the proposal, click here

Election results

See also: 2010 ballot measure election results

Official results of the measure follow:

Iowa Amendment 1 (2010)
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		629,235	62.57%
No		376,377	37.43%

Results via Iowa Secretary of State

Text of measure

Summary

The summary of the amendment read as follows:

Adopts Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy Amendment which creates a dedicated trust fund for the purposes of protecting and enhancing water quality and natural areas in the State including parks, trails, and fish and wildlife habitat, and conserving agricultural soils in this State.

Constitutional changes

The measure was proposed to amend Article VII of the Iowa Constitution by adding Section 10 entitled Natural Resources.

Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

SEC. 10. A natural resources and outdoor recreation trust fund is created within the treasury for the purposes of protecting and enhancing water quality and natural areas in this State including parks, trails, and fish and wildlife habitat, and conserving agricultural soils in this State. Moneys in the fund shall be exclusively appropriated by law for these purposes.

The general assembly shall provide by law for the implementation of this section, including by providing for the administration of the fund and at least annual audits of the fund.

Except as otherwise provided in this section, the fund shall be annually credited with an amount equal to the amount generated by a sales tax rate of three-eighths of one percent as may be imposed upon the retail sales price of tangible personal property and the furnishing of enumerated services sold in this State.

No revenue shall be credited to the fund until the tax rate for the sales tax imposed upon the retail sales price of tangible personal property and the furnishing of enumerated services sold in this State in effect on the effective date of this section is increased. After such an increased tax rate becomes effective, an amount equal to the amount generated by the increase in the tax rate shall be annually credited to the fund, not to exceed an amount equal to the amount generated by a tax rate of three-eighths of one percent imposed upon the retail sales price of tangible personal property and the furnishing of enumerated services sold in this State.

Support

Supporters

• The measure's main supporter was Iowa's Water and Land Legacy, which had many members under its coalition. Those members can be found here. The campaign's website was Iowa Conservation 2010.org, provided by the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation.

• According to the measure's campaign manager, Mark Langgin, "We really need to demonstrate to the legislature on November 2 that this is a priority of Iowans and I think that would demonstrate some momentum for funding the trust fund."

• Shana Udvardy, director of Flood Management Policy, commented about the measure in an editorial published by American Rivers, stating, "Citizens involved in Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy are leading the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund 2010 ballot initiative that will give Iowans a chance to vote for permanent and dedicated funding to protect natural areas. This is a model ballot initiative that will help to protect natural areas that are so critical to reducing the risk of flooding, protecting water quality, providing recreation and fish and wildlife habitat."

• Matt O'Connor, director of Iowa Pheasants Forever State Conservation and co-chair of Iowa's Water and Land Legacy, "This November Iowans have chance to clean up our water, protect our soil, enhance our natural resources by voting yes. This is an initiative we can all get behind."

• Shanen Ebersole, a cattle rancher from Ringold County, stated that outside funds would help her make improvements to her land. Ebersole dug up a pond on her property, claiming that it would prevent small streams from taking away top soil. The Nature Conservancy estimated that five tons of soil is lost from each acre of farm land in the state annually. Ebersole said, "All of the (water) that's flooding the city is (coming from) our land upstream. We can't feed you, if you're not taken care of in the city. Our new pond (cost) about $28,000 to build. That would not have been possible without outside funding for us."

Arguments

• Ducks Unlimited, a nonprofit group that helps with the conservation of North America's waterfowl habitats, stated about the measure:

"This will help accelerate the conservation of wetlands, shallow lakes, wildlife management areas and other important waterfowl habitats in Iowa,” said Steve Adair DU director of the Great Plains Regional Office. DU has worked closely with many other organizations and supporters to build strong bipartisan support for this legislation. We’re grateful for the overwhelming support it received in both chambers and realize it’s now up to Iowa voters to make this vision a reality on November second.”

• Scott Moats of Westfield, who was a member of the coalition in support of the measure stated that the amendment was necessary in order to improve Iowa's water quality. According to Moats, data from the Department of Natural Resources stated that 53% of Iowa's water rates as "poor."

Campaigning, rallies and events

• The Water and Land Legacy Coalition planned to visit Davenport, Iowa on October 4, 2010 to speak about the measure. The group had planned to speak at 10 am at the Scott County Family Y. According to reports, speakers were to include Sean McMahon of The Nature Conservancy; Matt O’Connor of Pheasants Forever; Anita O’Gara of Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation; Zach Klipsch of YMCA Camp Abe Lincoln; and Kathy Wine of River Action Inc.

Opposition

Opponents

• Delegates of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation passed a resolution opposing the measure. According to reports, the reason for the resolution was because delegates aregue that there was no guarantee that state legislators would later use the money for other things.
• According to reports, there was little other opposition to the measure.

Arguments

• Farm Bureau President Craig Lang argued, "In the future that might not be the priority of Iowans. Public education, safety are top priorities. How about balancing the budget, those things."

• Opponents also argued that the measure would result in higher taxes that people couldn't afford.

Campaign contributions

Support

The following contributors were listed as donors to the campaign for the measure. The contributions were received by the main organization for the measure, Iowa's Water and Land Legacy.

Date	Contributor	Amount
March 20	Wildlife Society, Iowa Chapter	$2,000
March 23	Iowa Bowhunters Association	$2,000
March 29	Muskies, Inc., Upper Great Plains	$1,000
March 31	National Wild Turkey Federation, Iowa Chapter	$5,000
April 19	Iowa Orinthologist Union	$5,000
June 25	YMCA of Greater Des Moines	$20,000
June 30	HNI Corporation	$2,500
July 14	Iowa Parks Foundation	$1,750
October 5	Clear Lake Telephone Company	$1,000
October 14	Great Outdoors Fund	$1,000

Opposition

According to the Iowa Ethics Commission Database, there were no filed reports of campaign contributions or expenditures to or by a campaign against the measure.

Path to the ballot

The measure was first introduced to the Iowa House of Representatives on January 12, 2009, and was approved by the chamber on February 17, 2009 with a vote of 82-14. The measure was then sent to the Iowa State Senate on the same day it was approved by the House. The Senate then approved of the proposed measure with a vote of 49-1 on February 18, 2009, therefore placing the measure on the ballot. The measure was sent to the Iowa Secretary of State on April 26, 2009. A majority vote is required (in two successive sessions of) the Iowa General Assembly to place a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on the ballot. Iowa is one of 11 states that requires this process.

See also

• Iowa 2010 ballot measures
• 2010 ballot measures
• Iowa Legislature

External links

Suggest a link

• Iowa Secretary of State

Additional reading

• A ballot vote for Iowa conservation
• Constitutional amendment to fund natural resources
• Iowans to vote on conservation funding Nov. 2