_____ From: Mark Langgin, Campaign Manager - Iowa's Water & Land Legacy [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark Langgin, Campaign Manager - Iowa's Water & Land Legacy Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2010 1:56 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Major Campaign Endorsement - Cedar Rapids Gazette In This Issue Cedar Rapids Gazette Endorsement Meeting in Iowa City The Gazette: A Vote for Our Natural Resources < rWater_New2.jpg> By The Gazette Editorial Board -- October 3, 2010 Iowa voters are being asked this fall to consider a constitutional amendment creating the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund. Under the measure, the next time state lawmakers raise Iowa's sales tax by a penny, the trust fund would get 3/8ths of that added cent. The presence of this amendment on the November ballot is a sign of how our lawmakers and governors over the years have shortchanged our priceless natural resources. Iowa ranks 47th in such spending nationally. Lawmakers fail time and time again to fully fund the Resource Enhancement and Protection fund, or REAP. Conservationists, environmentalists, many farmers and others who care about our resources are routinely outgunned at the statehouse by more powerful interests in the race for scarce cash. The drive to place such a fund in the state Constitution also underscores the reality that lawmakers routinely raid unprotected, statutory funds when budget <h> Constitutional enshrinement has kept lawmakers from raiding the Road Use Tax Fund and the Fish and Game Trust Fund from similar emergency scooping. We believe resources funding is a priority. And there is much to like about this proposal. Still, we're uncomfortable doing budgeting by constitutional amendment. We realize that the road fund and fish and game fund are in the Constitution, but what sets the proposal apart is its very specific earmarking of a general tax, in this case, the sales tax. We think this could set a troubling precedent that prompts future General Assemblies to store pet projects in our state's guiding document. The Constitution, we believe, should be amended rarely. We wish, instead of this measure, that Iowa law would allow voters to make a straight up or down vote on a tax increase for natural resources. Iowa doesn't have initiative and referendum, so we're left with this decision. We wrestled to reconcile our understanding of the state's resources needs with our misgivings about amending the Constitution. But in the end, it was our unbending advocacy for broader, smarter watershed management practices that tipped the scale. We urge a "yes" vote. Two-thirds of the dollars raised by a future resources fund would be used for water quality measures, which could provide much-needed funds for efforts to improve land use practices and slow raging runoff. These measures could lessen the severity of future flooding in the Cedar River watershed and across Iowa. Watershed management could make a big impact on the future of this community and others. Yet, the issue has struggled to gain momentum at the Statehouse. This future fund could provide the resources and the push needed to get something done. Educational Meeting - Iowa City October 13, 4:00 PM Join us in Iowa City on October 13th! Iowa's Water & Land Legacy will be hosting an INFORMATIONAL session on October 13th at 4:00 PM at the Iowa City Public Library (Meeting Room "A"). Please spread the word to your email lists, listserves, and contacts in the Iowa City area. There will be a brief (15 minute) presentation, and opportunity to answer questions, and materials/information on how to get involved over the final couple weeks of the campaign. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp