Iowa LICA 1310 8 th Ave. N.E. Independence, Iowa 50644 319-334-9884 Cell: 319-240-2420 [email protected]www.ialica.com Iowa LICA News March/April 2015 Contents Page 2 LICA Agency Meeting Page 3 Year of the Pond Page 4/5 Tips on Effective Working with Congress Page 6 Highlights of State Technical Committee Meeting Page 7 Upcoming Events Page 8 More Antiques for the Farm Page 10 Army Corp Page 11 LICA Members at the Capitol Page 12 Equipment Needed Page 13 Dial 811 Before You Dig Page 15 Workers Comp Fraud Iowa LICA at the Capitol 2015 Iowa Conservation Partnership Day Pictured are Paul Keppler, Iowa Secretary Northey, Tim Recker. and Russ Peters. On January 29, LICA mem- bers partnered with members of your local Conservation Districts of Iowa and State Soil Conservation Committee to showcase the conservation practices that are implement- ed across Iowa to preserve and protect our soil and water. LICA members also met with several state representatives and senators. . Iowa LICA State Board Members Meet with Legislators On March 4, Iowa members met with legislators and asked them to allow Iowa LICA representa- tives to be a part of any changes that may be proposed on mov- ing permits. Earlier in the ses- sion many of the permitting fees were raised. These fees were in the same bill as the increase in gas tax. Thanks to the hard work of State Representative Dave Maxwell, he was able to cut the proposed fee increase by 50%. I can tell you for a fact that if it wasn't for the tenacity of Representative Maxwell, the fees would have increased by almost 500%. LICA members Tim Recker, Mark Erpelding, and Norm Rozendaal went to the Capitol before the bill passed in order to support Representative Maxwell’s stand on these increases. Above: Scott Bohle, Dan Rasmussen, Dave Flewelling, Maretta Grattan, Worthan Grattan, Representative Maxwell, Mark Erpelding, Victor Gingerich, and Tim Recker
16
Embed
Iowa LICA at the Capitol - ialica.comialica.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/2015-April... · Iowa LICA 1310 8th Ave. N.E. Independence, Iowa 50644 319-334-9884 Cell: 319-240-2420 [email protected]
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Iowa LICA Board of Directors have voted to accept the bids for materials for the pond construction.
The Board of Directors have awarded the bid to Agri Drain Corp for the control structure. All the metal
pipes will be provided by Northern Iowa Construction Products. We want to thank Contech Engineered
Solutions and Metal Culverts, Inc. for their very competitive bids.
If all goes well, the contractors will start the pond project 10 days to 2 weeks before the field day. They
will install all the pipe and get the core trench installed. It is our plan to document on film the entire
process so it can be shown to others. The pond probably won’t be completely finished this year. We
will need one more field day in 2017 in order to get the entire project done.
The contractors who have volunteered their time and expertise are: Mark Erpelding, Doug Egeland,
Gene Blazek, Dan Vorwald, Dave Flewelling, and Scott Bohle.
Make sure you get these dates on your calendar. This should be the best show yet. The farm is really
taking shape. You can be proud of what you have been able to accomplish on this farm.
4
Tips on Effective Working with Congress (Lobbying?) By John Peterson, LICA Director of Government Relations
Introduction: In the almost 30 years I have been pr ivileged to work on Capitol Hill in Washington,
DC with Members of Congress, Congressional staffs, cabinet agencies, and professional lobbyists, I have
been compiling helpful tips picked up from a number of sources. Those sources are as varied as the
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the Portland Cement Association (PCA), and the American
Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF). With IECA now more involved with government relations, these tips
are worth sharing. They are important not only for IECA’s Government Relations Committee members,
but also for individual IECA members who may have reason to contact legislators at any level, federal,
state, or local. While they are specific to the U.S. Congress, they are probably just as useful with govern-
ments throughout the world.
Don’t underestimate legislators. With very rare exceptions, they are honest, intelligent, and want to
do the right thing. Your role is to inform them on what you think is right. Be understanding. Put yourself in the legislators place. Try to understand their constituent’s posi-
tions, their outlooks, and their goals. Then you are more likely to persuade them to adopt your position. Be practical. Recognize that each legislator has commitments. Don’t unduly chastise a legislator if
they happen to vote against one of your issues. This does not mean they have deserted your whole pro-
gram. Give legislators the benefit of the doubt. They will appreciate and remember that you did. Be informed. Never meet with legislators to advocate a position without fir st master ing all the facts
on it, and the arguments for and against. Be a good opponent. Fight issues, not persons. Be ready with alternatives and solutions as well as
with criticisms. This is constructive opposition. Don’t run down the opposition. Name calling or derogatory remarks don’t win fr iends and influ-
ence legislation. Don’t assume each legislator is a walking encyclopedia on every pending issue. Each session of Con-
gress or your State Legislature sees thousands of bills introduced and passed. In my Commonwealth of
Virginia in 2004, 3,006 different bills and resolutions were introduced, and 1,715 passed by the General
Assembly. That’s a lot of legislation to read and remember. It’s impossible for every legislator to know
every bill, chapter, and verse. Don’t talk without the facts. Smoke and mir ror s won’t do the job in winning a legislator over . You
must demonstrate, through tangible evidence supported by facts, that a particular action is both desirable
and justified. Couch your arguments in long term investments. Discuss cost effectiveness and efficiency. Don’t forget there is always another side to the issue. Each VA State Representative has an average
of 71,000 constituents, and each Federal Representative about 700,000. It’s even more for Senators. You
can be sure that there is at least one of their constituents who have a different position on your issue, and
like you expect to have their voice heard. Don’t expect commitment on the spot. Most legislators are thoughtful and deliberate, who make a
point of seeking all sides of an issue before taking a position. This does not mean that you fail to ensure
they know what you would like them to do, be specific. Good politicians check the depth of the water be-
fore diving in. Be reasonable. Recognize that legitimate differences of opinion exist. Never indulge in threats. Re-
member that friends come and go, but enemies accumulate. Never break a promise. This is a cardinal rule of politics. If you tell a legislator you will do some-
thing, then do it. No excuses. Keep your word. Keep all commitments and promises in a timely manner. Learn to evaluate and weigh issues. Many bills which are introduced “by request” are never intend-
ed to become law. So don’t criticize legislators for bills introduced, and don’t call out the “troops” until
you are sure a bill you oppose is serious.
5
Don’t change horses in the middle of the stream. Never leave legislators out on a limb suppor ting
your issue, and then change your position after they have publicly supported a position you asked them to
take. Be realistic. Remember that controversial legislation or regulations usually result in compromise. It
has always been so and will always be in our Constitutional Republic. Like it or not, compromise is the
language of politics. Don’t burn your bridges when you don’t win. Working with legislators is an investment that may
not pay off immediately. Don’t burn your bridges if the results you want are not immediately forthcoming. Be thoughtful. Commend the things your legislators do that you suppor t. They may not even be
your main issues. That is the way you would like to be treated. Lawmakers will tell you they get dozens of
letters asking them to do something, but very few thanking them for what they have done. Be friendly. Don’t contact legislators only when you want their help. Invite them to attend your or-
ganization’s meeting when they are back in their district to say “thank you” and discuss issues. Take pains
to stay in touch with them throughout the year – every year. Don’t fail to say “thank you.” Even though meeting with constituents comes with the ter r itory for
legislators, it is still an act that should be acknowledged. A thank you is always in order and appreciated. Don’t leave never to be heard from again. One phone call or visit is not enough. Stay on top of de-
velopments relating to your issue so that when new and relevant information becomes available, you can
pass it along.
One final thought – be sure of what you ask for. You might just get it! There is another old adage that is
appropriate for IECA, “Your influence counts – but only if you exercise it.”
6
Bruce Barnhart, Iowa LICA’s representative,on the State Technical Committee, and others met on
February 27 in Des Moines.
The following are some of the highlights of the meeting.
The funding for animal waste storage facilities is now ranked at the district level
not county level. The feeling is to have the applications judged there amongst a
broader area so that a poor quality application that might get approved at a county
where there might not be any competition might not get funded at the district level.
Conservation Security Program contracts that expire are reapplying at much lower
levels. The renewal process mandates that you can’t change your practices from the first application, you
have to continue to do that practice and add another practice to renew. It appears many people think that
is too restrictive and are not applying.
There was a report on updating the functional assessment for wetland mitigation and this would possibly
relate to future wetland banks. They are trying to use other states existing criteria where they fit rather
than develop brand new stuff just for Iowa. The staff feels that we can pick from different state models
for different geographic conditions and those models will work well.
The biggest change in that wetland discussion is that in the past there has been talk about 1½ or 2 acres to
mitigate 1 acre. Staff says nowhere in the law or rules is that a requirement and that they are going to pro-
pose following a 1 to 1 ratio for mitigation.
Conservation Innovative Grants (CIG) Categories for the State CIG () are: Soil Health/Quality, Iowa