Amendment on land funds is wrong process

Tuesday, voters will be asked to amend the Iowa Constitution to protect funding for environmental activities. On the surface, it seems reasonable. Who could be against birdies and fishies?

But think long and hard before approving this measure. Amending the constitution was deliberately made difficult because only extremely important issues should rise to the level of a constitutional amendment.

However, with little to no public discussion, the Legislature proposes to establish a constitutionally protected fund for additional environmental activities. While the goals are laudable, the method is not.

Amending the constitution to protect agencies' budgets is bad public policy. If this ploy to avoid accountability succeeds, millions of dollars in public funding will gush forth with no method of controlling it in future years. Altering the formula will be impossible. Why? Because it will take another constitutional amendment, a very difficult process.

The main argument for this amendment was that past Legislatures had shortchanged environmental responsibilities. Perhaps so. But the proper way to deal with budget issues is to elect legislators who will act responsibly when it comes to setting the budgets of state agencies. Not change the Constitution of Iowa.

Ervin Root

Atkins