Published: March 18, 2008 09:17 am      

How much land for recreation?

DEWITT — “How much more green space for recreation do we need in this state?” Reggie Kaufman, Calamus area farmer, asked five state legislators at a recent forum in DeWitt.

He was talking about a bill in the General Assembly which would strengthen government’s ability to take private land for a lake — supposedly as “a source of public drinking water.”

“Every time we remove a piece of a small farmer’s land, we eliminate the tax base on it forever,” he pointed out.

“We’re asking people to come in for tourism, to visit our communities, but my farm borders 800 acres of public hunting land and the most I ever see there is six to eight people. Come on, folks. We’re talking about roads that everybody needs versus parks.”

But Goose Lake farmer Fred Kinkaid saw another side of the issue.

He said studies show the people of Scott County want more recreation facilities, so they drive through Clinton County to get to Jackson County.

“They don’t stop in Clinton County because it’s a recreation wasteland,” he said.

Rep. Steve Olson, R-DeWitt, told Kaufman he had a good argument,

“but the flip side of it is, one of the biggest things to keep young people in the state is, you have to have a quality of life and give them recreational activities of some sort.

“I don’t know when enough is enough,” he said. “And it isn’t just the DNR. Look at all of the property that is off the tax rolls in Scott County because it’s been donated to St. Ambrose College.

“The people get a tax break, but just oodles of money is now off the tax rolls.”

Sen. Frank Woods, D-Eldridge, chimed in: “How much is too much? I don’t have the answer.”

Here are some other topics discussed in the noon session with Sen. Roger Stewart, D-Preston; Rep. Polly Bukta, D-Clinton; Rep. Tom Schueller, D-Maquoketa, and Wood and Olson.

Smoking ban?

Bukta, has “said all along I would vote for any bill that has a smoking ban in it.” So, she said, she did vote for a bill she didn’t like because it “had too many exceptions,” but did have a smoking ban.

Olson said he voted against the bill because he feels it is an invasion of personal property rights.

And Wood explained what could happen to the bill eventually:

“The House had their version, which came over to the Senate. The Senate amended it and sent it back over to the House. If they insist on their language, it will go back to the Senate, which has to either go with the House version or keep with the Senate’s. I would anticipate the Senate will insist on their language.

“Then it will go to what they call a conference committee, which has equal representation from each chamber — three Democrats and two Republicans from each.

“They will basically be locked in a room and come up with a consensus. Whatever they come up with is now the bill. If both chambers vote it up, it goes to the Governor.

“If one chamber votes it up and the other votes it down, it’s a dead issue.”



Trapped by pledges?

“I’m on the transportation committee that passed a bill out of committee,” said Bukta. “It was one of the most important things we should be working on, but it was like pulling teeth to get the votes we needed. Only seven Democrats and five Republicans voted to get that bill out of committee. Why? Because people are afraid of raising fees, and there are a lot of fees in that bill.

“There are fees for pickups, for license tags for cars. They won’t hit people all at once, it’ll just go up each year. And a lot of things are grandfathered in.

“But there are people in both houses who have signed pledges to never raise taxes and they’re afraid this bill will be looked on as a tax raise.

“A pledge is a serious thing. These people have boxed themselves in.

“Our roads are in horrendous condition. Not only the interstates, but the secondary roads are just absolutely horrible. We have to do what we can. If this (bill) goes, it will be a start.”

Schueller said, “I’m all for adding the use tax. I think it’s a great way to generate money for Time 21. But understand, it takes 51 votes on the House side and 26 votes on the Senate side. If you don’t have them votes, you can’t increase the fuel tax, you can’t get the use tax on the Silo Bill, that would raise $53 million for roads, out of committee and we can’t move forward.”

Olson said he had heard that Washington County is considering a one-cent, one-time levy on property taxes “just to refurbish their need for rock and that type of thing. Their funds have been depleted this winter.”

Wood, who is on the Ways and Means Committee in the Senate, agreed with Bukta about legislators who are not willing to vote for a tax increase.

Referring to a bill which has a one-cent tax on new automobiles, which would go to the road fund, he said, “We won’t be able to get that bill out of ways and means if we leave that in there.”

He added: “I know that Sen. Riley and Sen. Noble have been in constant contact with the Governor as to their findings” in meetings they sponsored around the state stressing the need for an increase in the gas tax.

“At least the Governor’s ear is being tweeked a little bit,” he said.

Wind energy vs coal-fired

Olson led off: ”While everyone wants to become more reliant on renewable energy, I think some of these programs are going to be very costly — as well as unattainable. We do not have a lot of wind energy infrastructure in place to convert to that. I don’t think it’s realistic. I did not support that.”

Wood, who is on the Natural Resources Committee, said, “Two or thee years ago we had an individual come in and talk about wind energy.

“He said if the U.S. put up a number of turbines in the wind tunnel — that starts in Texas and goes up to the Midwest — they could produce 2.5 times the amount of electricity to run the country.

“But we don’t have the grid out there to accept that and it’s very, very expensive. That being said, I would be in favor of looking at that, but it’s not coming overnight.

“And what are we going to do in the meantime, while being environmentally cautious? They talk about clean coal, but the last time I looked, coal was very black and can be very dirty.

“I know the technology is out there to clean it up, and we do need to make sure we have the energy we need.

“We were asked in the Senate, ‘Would you be in favor of a moratorium to not allow any more coal-fired plants?’ We answered that we were not in favor of a moratorium.”

Schueller also was not in favor of a moratorium.

“It’s my understanding when that (coal-fired) plant in Marshalltown comes on line, it will take the place of two outdated plants, plus generate more electricity. We have to address the immediate needs.”