Week thirteen is in the books and while it was busy, we passed some important legislative for farmers and for Iowans.
Senate File 2401 is one of the bills we debated last week to help support farmers and the agriculture industry in our state. In 1986, the Grain Indemnity Fund was created during the farm crisis and acts similar to an insurance policy for the grain farmers store at grain elevators. Currently, all grain dealers and warehouse operators are required to participate in the Grain Indemnity Fund and pay fees on purchased or stored grain. If at the end of a fiscal year the fund exceeds $8 million, the fees are waived, but if the balance of the fund falls below $3 million, the Grain Indemnity Fund Board reinstates these fees. Senate File 2401 adjusts those amounts to $12 million and $5 million and also extends coverage to credit sale contracts. Last year, the Grain Indemnity Fund ran out of money due to a number of circumstances and the fee had to be reinstated. This bill updates these numbers to better reflect today’s economy and hopefully prevent additional fees on farmers in the future.
House File 2465 is another bill passed last week that’s making some updates to the high school curriculum requirements to give more flexibility to schools who want to use agriculture or STEM-related instruction to meet various course requirements. Usually, high schoolers have to take five units of science, which include subjects like physics and chemistry. Now, with this bill, students can use up to two units of agriculture-related classes as part of their science credits. This means classes that focus on farming and agricultural science can count towards the science requirements. The bill also changes the math curriculum by allowing classes in applied sciences, technology, engineering, or manufacturing to count towards math credits. This move aims to show students how math applies in the real world, from designing products to solving engineering problems.
Last week the Senate passed SF 2412 to help control the cost of herbicide for farmers. A few years ago, trial lawyers took aim at RoundUp, a commonly used herbicide on many farms across the state. Trial lawyers found a willing judge and jury in California to award a multi-billion dollar judgement against the maker of that product, claiming the label the company used did not adequately warn the users of the product of the risks of using it.
The label used on RoundUp is determined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. If the company does not use the label approved by the EPA, it cannot sell the product in the United States. The EPA has determined the label on RoundUp is correct and appropriate given the risk of the product, which is minimal. This agency is the same one trying to regulate every farm pond in America, so if there was even a remote problem with RoundUp, the EPA would regulate it as strictly as possible.
RoundUp is more effective, cheaper, safer for farmers, and better for the environment than many herbicides used a couple decades ago. It is usable for farmers because of advances in seed genetics that made crops resistant to it.
SF 2412 simply states manufacturers cannot be sued for the required EPA label they put on their agricultural products. It is a common-sense proposal, but during debate in the Senate, many wild claims were made about not allowing farmers to sue if they get sick. Despite the false rhetoric of Democrats, nothing in this bill prevents them from suing if a product is found to actually cause cancer. It just states a manufacturer cannot be sued if they label their product as required under federal law and regulated by the EPA.
In Iowa, the legislature is routinely battling out-of-state attacks on production agriculture. The attack on an effective, affordable product that helps Iowa farmers produce the cheapest and safest food supply in human history is unfortunate, but not surprising. The House has not yet acted on the legislation but hopefully they will soon and put the interests of Iowa farmers ahead of trial lawyers.
Taxpayer Protections Pass Iowa Senate
On Tuesday (April 2) the Iowa Senate passed Senate Joint Resolution 2004, a proposal to put a flat tax into the Iowa Constitution. SJR 2004 is a constitutional amendment, which means it needs to pass two consecutive General Assemblies before going before the people of Iowa for a vote. The constitutional amendment would add a single tax rate into the constitution, ensuring one single rate for all Iowans and making it more difficult for a graduated tax rate to be put back into place.
In 2022, the legislature passed a historic tax relief measure to implement a flat tax in Iowa, ensuring a fairer system for Iowans so hard-working Iowans keep more of the money they earn. We do not believe Iowans should be punished for working hard to be successful. The 2022 tax cut is in addition to several other tax relief measures passed since 2017.
Other states have this provision in their constitution. One of them is our neighbors to the east, Illinois. Before that state became overrun by Democrats and public sector labor unions, they placed a flat tax requirement into their constitution. Democrats have worked hard in Illinois to remove it. The group that headed that charge was almost entirely funded by Illinois’ governor, JB Pritzker, to the tune of $58 million. Even then, in 2020, the vote to bring a graduated tax rate back to Illinois lost by a ten-point margin.
According to recent polling, not only have voters shown overwhelming support for requiring a two-thirds supermajority to increase tax rates in Iowa, they also have shown strong support for putting a flat tax in the constitution. Iowans know this constitutional amendment would protect them from unfair tax increases, keep the tax code simpler, and limit irresponsible budgeting in future legislatures. However, Democrats couldn’t deny their unquenchable thirst for your money and still voted against the proposal in the Iowa Senate. While Senate Democrats continue their crusade to raise taxes, Senate Republicans have been focused on protecting taxpayers by passing historic measure after historic measure focused on tax relief for Iowa families. I was proud to support this bill and it now goes to the Iowa House for their consideration.
Senator Driscoll serves as the chair of the Agriculture Committee and also serves on the Local Government, Natural Resources and Environment, State Government, Ways and Means, and Workforce committees.
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