Elizabeth is a city councilwoman and Gary is a fourth- generation farmer. They live near the rivers despite the constant threat of flooding. State Senator Steve Ehlman has proposed a bill to limit floodplain development. But he doesn't want to put farmers off their land. The St. Charles Republican first proposed the bill five years ago.
Soil conservation is at the root of the opposition.
Merle Doughty, a farmer in northern Missouri, says that the bill will take money away from efforts to prevent soil erosion. In the early 1980's, Missouri voters passed a one-tenth of one percent sales tax to fund state parks and soil conservation. Senator Ehlman says that the state has taken money from soil conservation before. In the mid-80's the government needed money to repair levees after a flood. They took the money from the sales tax revenues normally used for soil conservation.