A key legislator predicts lawmakers will “tinker” with the state’s new livestock regulations. This past spring, the Iowa Legislature enacted new rules for large-scale livestock operations, a complicated set of hurdles proposed operations must clear before gaining a permit. Senate Republican Leader Stewart Iverson of Dows pushed the new rules through the 2002 Legislature, and predicts there’ll be a bit of a re-write in 2003.Iverson says “some tinkering needs to be done”, but he says there probably won’t be a major overhaul of the system.House Democrat Leader Dick Myers of Iowa City says Democrats want more than just tinkering. Myers says the law doesn’t go into effect until next March, and there are already problems with it. Many Democrats favor giving local elected officials some veto power over where hog confinements may be built in their areas.
