Northwest Iowa — State Agriculture Secretary, and Spirit Lake Farmer, Bill Northey is touting a water quality plan House Republicans advanced earlier this year.
Northey says the plan would dedicate “significant” state resources to address water quality concerns.
This past January, Republican Governor Terry Branstad proposed diverting some sales tax money levied for school infrastructure projects to water quality initiatives. House Republicans came up with their own plan, using water usage fees and gambling taxes for water quality projects. Neither idea was debated in the Senate, where Democrats controlled the debate agenda.
Northey, a farmer from Spirit Lake, has been Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture since 2007. He says area farmers have been “very active” in trying to control and reduce farm chemical run-off from cropland. Critics say the voluntary approach isn’t working and it’s time for the federal government or the courts to force changes in farming practices.
