Take Action: Legislative and Policy Action Alerts
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Take Action: Protect Iowa homes from flooding & erosion
updated March 12, 2024
On Monday, March 11, Senate File 455 passed in the Iowa House after it was brought back on a 44-49 'no' vote. Now, the bad stormwater bill is with the full Senate. SF 455 would prevent cities and counties from adopting local stormwater ordinances and topsoil replacement requirements for new developments. This would restrict city and county governments’ ability to require developers to install effective stormwater infrastructure. Developers will be able to do the bare minimum at the time of construction, leaving community members to foot the bill when their neighborhood floods and streambanks erode in the coming years.
Take action today: tell your Senator that residents should not have to subsidize developers who are benefitting from building and selling homes in your community in order to have safe and effective stormwater management.
Protect Iowa Homes from Flooding & Erosion
Take Action: Protect Iowa waterways from manure pollution
updated February 20, 2024
Senate Study Bill 2371 (successor to SSB 3152) would allow feedlot operators to apply manure according to potentially inaccurate, improperly calculated nutrient management plans (NMPs). It creates a large loophole and incentive for livestock operations to wait to file an NMP until their manure storage basin is almost full, risking water quality violations. It could lead to more overapplication of manure as fertilizer on farm fields that may be ineligible to receive manure application under an NMP that is inaccurate and ultimately disapproved.
NMPs are the only mechanism Iowa DNR has to monitor how much manure is being applied as fertilizer and where it is being applied. SF 2371 is heading to the floor of the Senate. It is crucial to contact your state senator and ask them to oppose this bill.
Protect Iowa waterways from manure pollution
Are Your Electricity Bills Too High? Iowa needs utility rate reform
updated February 7, 2024
Are your power bills too high? Chances are, if you are a customer of Alliant Energy or MidAmerican Energy, the answer is yes. As for-profit monopolies with few incentives to keep costs low for customers, Iowa’s two largest utilities are charging more than they should be.
If you’re an Alliant Energy customer, you probably already know that Alliant raised rates over 33% between 2010 and 2022, asking the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) for another raise in 2023. Meanwhile, MidAmerican Energy has raised the total rate customers pay by almost 25% since 2014 without even having to make a full case in front of the IUB.
Take Action Now: Tell your legislators it is time to do something about rising utility rates!