Senate adopts amendments and passes House File 2771, agriculture and natural resources budget bill

The Senate passed House File 2771, the agriculture and natural resources budget bill, after adopting Senate amendments and substituting HF 2771 for Senate File 2487 by unanimous consent.

Senator Shipley moved adoption of amendments and told the chamber the bill as amended "appropriates $47,500,000 from the general fund to the Departments of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Board of Regents for fiscal year '27," an increase of $900,000 compared to fiscal year '26. He outlined increases including $500,000 for the Choose Iowa program, $356,000 for the Department of Agriculture, $122,000 to assist a vet lab with moving equipment and a $100,000 appropriation from the Iowa Bridal Disease Prevention Fund for a foreign animal disease program. Shipley also said the bill provides an additional $176,000 from interest off the Groundwater Protection Fund for DNR groundwater protection work and $300,000 for water quality monitoring, and appropriates $18,000,000 in additional RIF funding for water quality improvements in rural Iowa.

"The money can also be used to provide grants for water quality monitoring to organizations across the state upon the approval of the three principal entities," Shipley said, referring to the nutrient reduction strategy partners named in his remarks.

Senator Stade spoke in support of the bill, praising its investments in water protection and monitoring and urging sustained monitoring capacity: "Iowa needs real time sensors to help track nitrate and phosphorus levels, aquifer conditions, and overall water quality across the state. The monitors are indispensable because we cannot solve problems that we refuse to measure." Stade said the bill also supports soil and water conservation, forestry health and foreign-animal-disease prevention.

After debate, the Senate adopted the cited amendments by voice vote and returned the chamber to House File 2771 as amended. The Senate then approved final passage; the secretary opened the voting system and several senators were recorded voting aye, including Senator Whitver, Senator Evans, Senator Dawson, Senator Townsend, Senator Blake, Senator Bisignano, Senator Salmon and Senator Clemens. The chair declared the bill passed by constitutional majority, recorded as 43 ayes.

Following passage, Senator Shipley asked unanimous consent to withdraw Senate File 2487, which was agreed to. The Senate also granted unanimous consent to immediately message House File 2771 to the House. The body recessed for party caucuses after the business concluded.

The bill funds water-quality monitoring and rural water improvements, increases support for agricultural programs and provides targeted grants and appropriations described above. Several program and fund names were read into the record during the floor discussion; specific program administration and eligibility details were not included in the floor remarks and were not specified in the transcript.