A bid to replenish a state fund for ATV parks like the one south of Fort Dodge cleared the Senate Tuesday, a week after the House killed an identical plan.
State Sen. Daryl Beall, D-Fort Dodge, introduced an amendment to transfer $775,000 into the ATV account and $950,000 into a fund for snowmobile trails.
That measure was added to an agriculture and natural resources budget bill that senators approved Tuesday on a 37-11 vote. The bill now goes to the House.
Beall’s amendment is a mirror image of one state Rep. Helen Miller, D-Fort Dodge, tried to get approved last week. It replaces money in the ATV and snowmobile accounts that lawmakers took in 2002 to plug a budget deficit.
‘‘The money in question was never in the state budget, it wasn’t public money and it wasn’t paid by Iowa taxpayers,’’ Beall said. ‘‘It was voluntarily assessed by ATV and snowmobile owners upon themselves.’’
He said lawmakers ‘‘scooped’’ the money and offered ‘‘no IOUs, no thank you letters, no promise to pay it back.’’
‘‘Little wonder many people don’t trust their government,’’ he said.
The measure approved Tuesday moves money from the state’s account that pays for cleaning up pollution from leaking underground storage tanks and places it in the ATV and snowmobile funds.
The underground storage tank fund receives $13 million annually, but about $10.5 million is usually spent.
The ATV account gets money from a $25 annual permit fee paid by ATV owners. It pays for improvements at sites like the Gypsum City Off-Highway Vehicle Park at Webster County Road P59 and 219th Street.
Miller’s amendment was defeated on a rare 50-50 vote in the House.
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