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Legislative and Policy Action Alerts
Take Action to Restore REAP Funding
The House Ag and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee unveiled a budget proposal that cuts REAP from last year’s extremely low level of $12 million, to only $10 million. The budget diverts the $2 million cut to fund our treasured state parks and allows the DNR to divert another $1 million to state parks maintenance. And even with this shift, state park funding remains flat. This is a double hit – continuing to under fund our state parks while also cutting this critical program. The cut to REAP is a $400,000 cut to the Iowa Department of Ag and Land Stewardship, a $400,000 cut to County Conservation, and a $300,000 cut to city parks and open spaces.
Contact your legislator and ask them to restore cuts to REAP and fund the program at $16M/year. Include an example of your favorite REAP project in your message and let him or her know that investing in REAP is an investment in healthy land and water and vibrant local economies.
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Speak Out Against Harmful Bottle Deposit Repeal
Some lawmakers at the Iowa Capitol are attempting to repeal Iowa’s bottle deposit program. In place since 1979, Iowa’s bottle deposit program has been very successful with an estimated 71% of beverage containers in Iowa redeemed annually. That translates to 1.36 billion bottles that end up being recycled instead of littered across our beautiful landscapes.
States without beverage container deposit programs only see a recycling rate of about 24%. Should Iowa’s deposit program be repealed, we could see an additional 901 MILLION cans and bottles cluttering our roadsides, waterways, fields and parks every year. That is about 16,011 cans and bottles per square mile.
We need you to act now to ensure this harmful legislation does not become law. Please click the “Take Action Now” button to send a message to your state representative, asking them to oppose HF 575. Together, we can keep Iowa beautiful!
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Take Action to Protect Iowa's Energy Leadership
Two bills could damage years of progress made on clean energy and efficiency.
SF 2311 is a threat to nearly 21,000 Iowa jobs in energy efficiency and solar. Proposed changes allow some utilities to put fees on solar customers, reduced consumer choice and increase energy prices for Iowa families. This bill is a serious threat to Iowa jobs, consumers and energy leadership. Tell your elected officials to vote NO on any bill that takes Iowa’s energy policy backward.
SSB 3197, a wide-ranging tax bill just introduced in the Iowa Senate, would eliminate the upfront Iowa solar energy tax credit at the end of June this year. This tax credit has helped develop solar projects in all 99 of Iowa’s counties and leveraged $21.6M in state dollars into 3,395 solar projects and a total investment of $166,369,422. The credit supports solar installations for residential and business taxpayers, and many farmers and rural businesses benefit from this credit.
FACT SHEET: Learn more here.
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