A bill moving through an Iowa Senate committee deals with taypayer-funded lobbying, and making it clear to taxpayers just who is lobbying and whom they represent.

Sen. Amy Sinclair is chair of the Senate Government Oversight Committee; she says this bill is designed to make lobbying more transparent, especially when it’s being done at taxpayer cost.

And she tells KNIA/KRLS News making this clear is especially important in the area of property tax reform, which a number of local taxing bodies are opposed to.

“That is one of the things that many local jurisdictions are lobbying against, is that property tax reform piece. And so for constituents to know that their tax dollars that they’re concerned about to begin with are also being used to lobby against reforming that process…I think that’s something people would like to know,” Sinclair says.

A bill earlier in the session which would have done away with using tax dollars for lobbying in the state or federal legislature altogether failed to move forward.

Senator Sinclair says this bill should come up for vote soon; she says she believes taxpayers should be able to know who is lobbying for what purposes, and how tax dollars are being used.

For more on matters in the Iowa Senate as the Spring Session begins to wind down, tune in to today’s edition of Let’s Talk Knoxville.