No Rest for the Weary

Legislative Updates Archive

Schools across the Hoosier State have let out for summer vacation, your advocates at the Indy Chamber are preparing for a full summer at the Statehouse as legislators begin to convene Summer Study Committees.

Many of our priority issues are being debated in committee, including early childhood education, water resource management and local government fiscal policy. Your Indy Chamber advocacy team will be closely monitoring these issues and will be a voice for business as we work to ensure policies and legislation that positively impact our economy continue to move forward. Let's take a look into what we'll be monitoring at the Statehouse over the next few months.

Interim Study Committee on Education
Legislators will begin an in-depth study of funding sources for pre-kindergarten and early childhood education. Earlier this year, the Indy Chamber, at the request of Mayor Greg Ballard, embarked upon a statewide economic impact study of early childhood education. The Indy Chamber and our partners at the United Way of Central Indiana will study how improvements to our current system affects our economic viability and competitiveness for jobs and talent. We plan to use our study to help inform and influence law makers throughout the summer study committee process.

Interim Study Committees on Fiscal Policy and
Business Personal Property and Business Taxation
Additionally, a committee of legislators will dive into a comprehensive study regarding the state's tax code - specifically, tax equity, property and income tax and the business personal property tax. This past legislative session, the Indy Chamber advocated in support of the elimination of personal property taxes throughout the state only if sufficient, equitable, non-local income tax replacement revenue was identified and passed by the General Assembly. We will continue to monitor these issues in study committee to ensure we maintain a strong, stable tax climate for business, local government and public education.

Interim Study Committee on Energy, Energy& Telecommunications
Finally, the Study Committee on Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications will study the management and existing resources of our water systems on a state, regional and local level. Our water resources play a major role in our economic sustainability and we have and will continue to advocate for responsible use and allocation of water resources and the creation of a single-source regulatory process for their management.

Stay tuned for more updates throughout the summer on these and other issues as they make their way through committee. You can also follow the conversation on Twitter by following us at @IndyChamber, and as always, feel free to reach out to your advocacy team with any questions, comments and/or ideas.