ALTA'S LEGISLATIVE WORKSHOPSaturday, November 19th saw about 30 folks assemble for informal, informative discussions with IOWA elected officials. Our own DFQC's ALTA PRICE organized the event held at the Bettendorf Community Center. It was a chance for concerned citizens in the area to speak in small groups to one elected official at a time.
Senator Frank Wood (D-Eldridge), Representatives Cindy Winckler (D-Davenport) and Ed Fallon (D-Des Moines/ gubernatorial candidate), as well as our own Ms. Elesha Gayman, former DEAN DELEGATE to Boston and candidate for House Representative were in attendance. Representative Joe Hutter (R-Bettendorf) was also present. We divided into small groups and spent about ½ an hour at a time laying out our concerns on the need for adequate health care coverage, education matters, election reform, corporate reform, environmental hazards and other issues.
The first ½ hour saw Senator Wood listen to fair labor challenges while in another room, Rep. Winckler heard from attendees on their views to strengthen educational spending.
Later, Senator Wood listened as several of us in our group of about 10 voiced our dissatisfaction with the Master Matrix that is implemented by the Department Of Natural Resources. It is a permit that has 44 questions that must be answered by anyone across the state wanting to build or expand a CAFO (Confined Animal Feeding Operation) above a certain number of animal units.
Many of us seated that day felt the Master Matrix is flawed and does really not give a county "local control". It just gives each county's Board Of Supervisors the opportunity to be part of the permitting process if that Board has so agreed every January for the past 3 years to do so. One of our messages to Senator Wood is that there needs to be discussion about this again.
Even though many legislatures are 'farmers', that term applies to numerous types of land/animal workers. Many still are small to medium family farmers, while others are FACTORY RUN INDUSTRIAL ENTITIES that like to be under the wide umbrella of the term 'farmer'. So, we would like to see consciousness raised regarding the impact on children's health from the excessive hydrogen sulfide and ammonia created by the CAFO's. We would like to see that more is done to promote the use of methane produced by cattle lots, but not necessarily promoting large lots, though. Jerry Neff, president of the Sierra Club suggested we envision a long-term plan for gradually segregating problem areas and searching for a better way to raise animals.
We also talked about the bottle bill and that it needs to be revisited to include milk containers, water bottles, and other beverage holders. Some large grocery store chains and bottle distributors oppose a change unless it would be to do away with bottle deposit all together.
We will be following the progress of the Legislature after it convenes in early January. This November get-together was well worth our time because it was OUR list of items directly given to the Senator and Representatives that we feel are imperative for consideration during the new year.
Don't forget: CPR…CONSERVE/PARTICIPATE/RECYCLE
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