Please consider introducing these resolutions at your democrat or republican caucus Monday.

Subject: Caucus Resolutions

1.

WHEREAS, Iowa's farmers and farmland are some of  the best in the world; and WHEREAS, according to a 1998 study by Iowa State University Extension, Iowa loses 26,000 acres of farmland to development each year; and

WHEREAS, the world's population has reached 6 billion, and there are 80 million additional mouths to feed each year; and

WHEREAS, urban sprawl not only consumes farmland but has a devastating effect on our cities, small towns and natural areas as well;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Iowa Legislature is encouraged to act quickly and decisively to adopt measures designed to protect prime farmland from urban sprawl, encroachment by highways, and other types of development pressure.

2.

WHEREAS, many of Iowa's larger cities have lost population and tax base in the urban core while vacant lots and abandoned buildings have proliferated; and

WHEREAS, similar trends are evident in the town squares and on the Main Streets of many of our smaller communities; and

WHEREAS, development continues to move further and further out from our cities and towns, straining taxpayers' ability to meet the costs of providing and maintaining new infrastructure; and

WHEREAS, according to a 1998 study by Iowa State University Extension, half of all the land in Iowa's cities is zoned agricultural;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Iowa Legislature is encouraged to act quickly and decisively to adopt measures designed to encourage development and redevelopment inside our cities and towns, and to limit taxpayer subsidies for new growth on farmland.

Prepared by 1000 Friends of Iowa