Iowa secretary of agriculture Bill Northey is unhappy with Governor Chet Culver’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2011.
Northey says the governor’s proposed sixteen-point-eight million dollar general fund appropriation would take ag and natural resources funding back to where it was in 1994. Unfortunately, Northey says, costs have increased significantly in the past 16 years. And he points out that spending for the rest of state government has grown 48 percent in that time.
In particular, Northey cited the governor’s proposal to reduce the department’s Environmental First funding by one-point-87 million dollars. Not only will it impact the number of conservation projects the department is able to assist farmers with, Northey says, but it will also mean a 187-thousand dollar cut to fund the staff that helps farmers design those practices.
Northey says the ag department has already experienced five layoffs and has 44 open positions, which is over 10 percent of the workforce. He says if the governor’s proposal is implemented another 50 positions may need to be eliminated.
In his proposal, Culver also recommends ending or placing limits upon some state tax credits. That would save the state around 53 million dollars. However, the governor has recommended keeping several credits for the renewable energy industry, including the Biodiesel Blended Fuel Tax Credit, E85 Gasoline Promotion Tax Credit, Ethanol Promotion Tax Credit, Renewable Energy Tax Credit, and the Wind Energy Production Tax Credit.
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