DES MOINES - Several years of budget cuts has left the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship funded at the same level it was in the 1990s.
The Department's general fund appropriation has been cut from $21.2 million in fiscal year 2009 to $16.5 million in the current fiscal year, or a 22 percent reduction. As a result, the Department lost a total of 58 employees since 2008 and is at the lowest staffing levels in 25 years.
Ag secretary Bill Northey has asked Gov. Terry Branstad to restore $1.69 million of the $3.09 million reduction be restored. If granted, the department's 2013 general fund budget would be $18.1 million, which is 14.5 percent below 2009 levels.
Northey said the funds would be used to backfill some of the losses in the department's Weights and Measures, Pesticide and Animal Industry Bureaus. Funds would also be used to meet mandatory increased costs facing the department due to union agreements, IPERS and increased health costs.
"We believe now is the time for the governor and Legislature to consider starting to restore part of the funding to these key priorities," Northey said. "The department has great employees who have worked very hard to get the work done and meet our code responsibilities, but continued attrition would be a concern. That's why we've come forward with this proposal and look forward to continuing to discuss it with the governor and legislators."
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Northey, who recently met with Branstad to discuss the department's funding needs, also laid out number of water quality priorities for the fepartment with proposed funding from the Environment First fund, which receives a standing appropriation from the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund.
The department's Environment First funding has been cut from $15.8 million in fiscal year 2009 to $12.4 million in fiscal year 2012, which is a 21.5 percent reduction. The department's total Environment First funding request for fiscal year 2013 is $19.2 million, an increase of $6.8 million.
The funds would be used for the department's urban conservation program, ag drainage well closure, water shed protection fund, additional cost share to support farmers installing conservation practices and the Conservation Reserve Program.
Northey also requested funding that would allow for the reinstatement of nine state soil secretary positions and six state soil technician positions. Twenty-one field offices are currently without a state secretary and 14 technicians have been lost in the last two years.
"I understand state funding remains very tight and that is unlikely to change in the upcoming fiscal year, but the dramatic budget cuts experienced by the Department have had an impact and we think the time is right to make our case to restore some of those cuts," Northey said.
