H.F. 316 Section 1. SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICTS —— 1 APPROPRIATION. There is appropriated from the general fund of 2 the state to the department of agriculture and land stewardship 3 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015, and ending June 30, 4 2016, the following amount, or so much thereof as is necessary, 5 to be used for the purposes designated: 6 1. For purposes of supporting soil and water conservation 7 districts in this state as provided in chapter 161A: 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 6,700,000 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FTEs 100.00 10 2. The appropriation made in subsection 1 shall be used to 11 fund salaries, support, and maintenance of one full-time field 12 office secretary I position in each soil and water conservation 13 district office. 14 EXPLANATION 15 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 16 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 17 There are 100 soil and water conservation districts 18 organized in this state, one located in each county except for 19 Pottawattamie county which maintains two districts. A soil 20 conservation district is associated with local governments, 21 state government, and the federal government, including locally 22 elected district commissioners (Code section 161A.5), a state 23 soil conservation committee and soil conservation division 24 established within the department of agriculture and land 25 stewardship (DALS) (Code section 161A.4), and the national 26 resource conservation service (NRCS) a subagency of the United 27 States department of agriculture. District offices are staffed 28 by an NRCS employee and sometimes a secretary employed by the 29 DALS. This bill appropriates moneys to DALS for FY 2015-2016 30 and requires that the agency support each district office by 31 employing one full-time secretary. 32 -1- LSB 2478YH (3) 86 da/nh 1/ 1