(Council Bluffs) — At least one KMAland lawmaker wants continued state investments in community betterment and quality of life initiatives.
State Representative Brent Siegrist is one of the lawmakers returning to the capital early next month, with some of his priorities focused on the state’s parks and recreation programs. Siegrist tells KMA News that he would like to see the state invest dollars into state parks and increase funding for improvements at county parks.
“Generally, we give that money to the Department of Natural Resources for park maintenance, upkeep, and things of that nature in our Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure fund–which is basically our gambling revenue,” said Siegrist. “So, I’d like to see us continue to do that.”
Additionally, 20% of the funds from the state’s Resource Enhancement and Protection, or REAP program, go toward county conservation agencies. Other areas include the first $350,000 for conservation education, 9% for state land management, 15% for city parks and open space, and 28% for state open space, among others.
Siegrist hopes to see similar, if not additional, allocations to the state’s recreational infrastructure.
“We put an additional $6 million into park infrastructure last year as well as $2.5 million last year into our bike trails and hiking trails,” he said. “I’d like to do at least that and hopefully even increase that amount. Because, I think those quality of life initiatives are extremely important.”
Meanwhile, state lawmakers will also review how the state’s agencies are adjusting to a significant government reorganization bill last year that reduced the number of executive-level state cabinets from 37 to 16. Some of those changes include making the Office of the Consumer Advocate a division under the attorney general’s office and moving the Iowa Child Advocacy Board to the Department of Health and Human Services. Another item impacting Siegrist’s district is removing a section of state law prohibiting the closure of the Iowa School for the Deaf in Council Bluffs without legislative approval. Given the magnitude of the legislation, Siegrist expects some tweaks during the 2024 legislative session.
“Basically, 95% of what the governor recommended last year made a lot of sense, and there were a few issues in there that some of us had some concerns about, and we’ll see if those have manifested themselves over the interim,” said Siegrist. “I was with some of our Department of (Health and) Human Services people and they’re still kind of going through all of this and making sure they’re good with the regionalization of some of the programs that we offer.”
The 2024 session gavels in on January 8th. Siegrist made his comments on a recent edition of KMA’s “Morning Line” program.
