The Senate previously passed SF 512 during the 2017 legislative session. The passage of the same legislation by the House on Tuesday follows several legislative sessions, multiple bills on the issue and dozens of hours of debate.
“I am proud that the first piece of legislation I will sign as governor will be a water quality bill,” Gov. Reynolds said. “This will go a long way towards our goal of providing a long-term, dedicated and growing revenue source to help fund and scale best practices through the already successful Nutrient Reduction Strategy.”
“As I said in my Condition of the State address earlier this month, improving water quality is a shared goal of Iowans,” she continued. “Many stakeholders – both rural and urban – played a key role in supporting this legislation and reaching a consensus.”
“But make no mistake. Passing this long-awaited legislation does not mean the water quality discussion is over,” the governor concluded. “It should ignite a continuing conversation as we begin to implement and scale best practices that will continue to make an impact on water quality in Iowa.”
“Water quality is often an issue that drives a wedge between rural and urban Iowa,” Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg said. “Today, I am glad that both rural and urban legislators put aside their differences and moved this bill forward on behalf of Iowans.
Gov. Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Gregg devoted their weekly news conference on Monday to the issue, highlighting the Midwest Agriculture Water Quality Partnership Program, a collaborative, watershed based approach being successfully used across the state.
An announcement on a signing for the legislation passed on Tuesday morning will come at a later date.
