The State Senator whose district covers most of Washington County says that committee and sub-committee meetings are beginning. The initial start to the legislative session was couple weeks ago. Senator Sandy Greiner says that at an Ag and Natural Resources Appropriations sub-committee, she heard a description of the budget proposed by Iowa Governor Terry Branstad.  She says that she is glad that there are no proposed cuts to the ag-related departments. Greiner says that farmers are working to reduce soil erosion and that budget cuts to state agencies that support farmers would be—in her words: devastating.

Greiner also says that she has received many letters constituents with opinions about gun laws and about a proposed nutrient reduction strategy. That strategy is an attempt to reduce the nutrients in the Mississippi River watershed and Gulf of Mexico by reducing entry of those nutrients at large waste-water treatment plants and farm fields.