S-N Editorial

Fourteen years is a long time to ignore the will of the people. In Iowa, lawmakers don’t seem to mind.

The Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund was established by popular demand in 2010. Back then, 62 percent of Iowa voters agreed this constitutionally-protected fund was needed to generate additional revenue for natural resources and conservation projects. Several lawmakers over the years have proposed using the hypothetical revenue to fund new water quality initiatives that help fix Iowa’s polluted lakes, streams and rivers. Unfortunately, the Republican majority in Des Moines has refused to budge and it remains penniless to this day.

The Legislature’s failure to fund the trust has been extremely curious. While it’s true that Iowa has become come more conservative over the past 14 years, the trust wasn’t approved during a period of “purple” politics.

The overwhelming support it received in 2010 came during the same year Terry Branstad won back his old job from incumbent Democratic Gov. Chet Culver, Republicans took back the Iowa House of Representatives, and other statewide offices like secretary of state and auditor flipped back to the GOP. Nationwide, the Tea Party Movement rallied conservatives and took back control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Simply put, it wasn’t liberals’ best year by any stretch of the imagination.

Support for the trust hasn’t waivered – among those who remember it still exists, anyway. A statewide poll conducted in late 2018 by Iowa’s Land & Water Legacy showed 69 percent of likely voters endorsed funding it, while a survey conducted the previous year by the Des Moines Register showed 56 percent of Iowans wanted the same thing. Those numbers are significant and shouldn’t be ignored. People want this and the benefits it could have on the quality of life in Iowa are clear.

A state study prepared by Kim Reynolds’ administration said the economic benefits from outdoor recreation are great, generating $8.7 billion in consumer spending, employing 83,000 Iowans, contributing $2.7 billion in wages and $649 million in in-state and local tax revenue. Those numbers came from the 2018 quinquennial update of Iowa’s Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, two years before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Usage of state parks and other outdoor resources has skyrocketed since then and continues to hold steady.

As noted above, state-managed parks aren’t the only thing that could benefit from the trust. The current situation afflicting Iowa’s ailing waters demands the courage of lawmakers to fund something a super-majority of Iowans already approved. Experts have said around $4 billion needs to be invested in infrastructure improvements, conservation efforts and other means if Iowa wants to reduce the amount of phosphorus and nitrates it contributes to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River. The Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund is a clear and obvious way to pay for that in some form.

The biggest hurdle to sustainable state parks and natural resources funding lies with legislative priorities of the Republican majorities in the governor’s office, Iowa House and Iowa Senate. They’ve ignored it for 14 years, and if you skim headlines nowadays, you’ll find that bills dealing with gender politics, book bans and other Culture War nonsense rule the day. Their priorities are questionable at best, as most of these policies seem driven by inflamed social media outrage and unhinged media outlets.

The trust should have been funded 14 years ago, but lawmakers have only sat on their hands and wasted time. It’s time they pull their heads out of the weeds and do something to benefit the state instead of proposing do-nothing bills that only generate headlines to rally the extreme fringes of their bases. Sure, the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund isn’t flashy, but it certainly has the potential to benefit Iowans for generations to come. God forbid Iowa’s lawmakers look down the road instead of plucking the low-hanging fruit of today’s vitriolic identity politics.