Ocheyedan, Iowa — A state senator from Ocheyedan suggests when legislators return to Des Moines in January, they’ll have a limited amount of time to act on water quality legislation.
Senator David Johnson of Ocheyedan says Governor Branstad’s recently-tweaked water quality financing plan doesn’t provide a sufficient amount of money quickly enough.
Johnson says state lawmakers must make water quality their top priority in 2017.
Governor Branstad has suggested extending a one percent sales tax for schools that is to end in 2029. He’d dedicate three-eights of that tax to water quality projects and the rest would continue to go to schools. Johnson says that’s too late and it’s time to raise the sales tax in 2017 by three-eights of a cent and use the proceeds for initiatives that improve water quality and soil conservation.
Johnson recently changed his voter registration from Republican to “no party” as a sign of his objections to Donald Trump.
