Friday, January 16, 2009
Volume 09, Issue 1
The Public Policy Dispatch is designed to keep Farm Bureau members up to date on action in the General Assembly during the past week. This publication will keep you advised of activities at the Statehouse and help you be a more informed participant in third house sessions and other meetings with legislators when they are home over the weekend. Because many Farm Bureau members do not have the computer technology needed to display more sophisticated Internet publication formats, we will format the email version of the Dispatch as text embedded in the message of the email. If you no longer wish to receive the Dispatch on a regular basis during the legislative session, please email Wanda Hunter at whunter@infarmbureau.org.
FARM BUREAU SETS LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR 2009 The Farm Bureau Board of Directors has sorted through the Farm Bureau policy book and identified the organization’s priorities for the upcoming session of the General Assembly. The priorities can be found on the Public Policy Homepage on the Farm Bureau website, www.infarmbureau.org. Among the priorities that have been identified by the board are: delaying the process to amend the Constitution to make the property tax caps permanent until the consequences of the caps are more fully understood; re-examining the extent to which the supplemental deduction will shift the property tax burden away from homeowners and onto other taxpayers, especially farmers; and revisiting the formula by which farmland is assessed to see if a more equitable form of assessment can be developed. We will also oppose any legislation that would seriously impair the development of a healthy animal agriculture industry in Indiana. Recognizing that immigration is a federal issue, we will work to prevent unilateral action by Indiana that would disadvantage our farmers and agricultural product processors vis-à-vis our competitors in others states. We will also seek legislation clarifying the notice requirements of unwritten leases of agricultural land and delineating that public entities are responsible for line fences on the perimeters of their rural properties.
FARM BUREAU DRAWS THE ATTENTION OF LEGISLATORS ON OPENING DAY On January 7, the day the General Assembly came back into session, nearly or more than 130 Farm Bureau members from across the state travelled to Indianapolis to meet with their legislators and share with them Farm Bureau’s position on a number of priority issues. After a luncheon which was attended by 69 of the state’s 150 legislators, Farm Bureau volunteers crossed Washington Street and met with more legislators at the Statehouse. Altogether, at least two-thirds of the members of the legislature met with their Farm Bureau constituents. A Farm Bureau presence of this size was particularly important this year because it demonstrated to legislators, especially the 23 newcomers, the extent of Farm Bureau’s strength.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY RETURNS TO WORK WITH NEW MEMBERS The Indiana General Assembly returned to Indianapolis last week to begin its budget-setting long session. Although the party in control of neither the House nor the Senate changed, there are a number of new legislators in each chamber. New senators are: Republicans Jim Buck (Kokomo), Randy Head (Logansport), Travis Holdman (Markle), Jean Leising (Oldenburg), Marlin Stutzman (Howe), and Carlin Yoder (Middlebury); and Democrats Lonnie Randolph (East Chicago) and Greg Taylor (Indianapolis). New representatives are: Republicans Jacque Clements (Frankfort), Ed Clere (New Albany), Wes Culver (Goshen)’ Matthew Lehman (Berne), Mark Messmer (Jasper), Randy Truitt (Lafayette), David Yarde (Garrett); and Democrats John Barnes (Indianapolis), Ed Delaney (Indianapolis), Charles Moseley (Portage), Dennie Oxley (English) – the father of his predecessor Dennie Oxley who was the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, Joe Pearson (Hartford City), Cherish Pryor (Indianapolis), Gail Riecken (Evansville), and Mary Ann Sullivan (Indianapolis).
The Senate has re-elected David Long (R-Fort Wayne) as president pro tempore and the House has again chosen Rep. Pat Bauer (D-South Bend) as its speaker. Rep. Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis) will continue as House Republican leader and Sen. Vi Simpson (D-Bloomington) is the new leader of the Senate Democrats. With so many new members in each house, there has been a significant realignment of committee assignments. Perhaps most significant is the shift of Sen. Luke Kenley (R-Noblesville) to the chairmanship of the Senate Appropriations Committee where he replaces Sen. Bob Meeks (R-LaGrange) who retired because of poor health. Sen. Brandt Hershman (R-Wheatfield) has assumed Kenley’s former role as chair of the Tax & Fiscal Policy Committee.
COURT OF APPEALS UPHOLDS INDIANA RIGHT-TO-FARM LAW In its first opportunity to review the Indiana Right-to-Farm law, the Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld the application of the law as an affirmative defense in a nuisance case. The bottom line of the Court’s decision in Lindsey v. DeGroot is that neighbors have no legal basis to compel normal, non-negligent farm operations to stop their operation on the grounds they are a nuisance. The Indiana Agricultural Law Foundation, which is affiliated with Farm Bureau, filed an amicus curiae brief in this precedent-setting case.
GOVERNOR BEGINS NEW TERM, ASSESSES THE STATE OF THE STATE Mitch Daniels was sworn in for his second term as Governor of the Hoosier State on Monday along with his Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and a pair of newly elected statewide officials, Attorney General Greg Zoeller and Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett. The next evening he delivered the annual State of the State address to the Indiana General Assembly and the citizens of Indiana. In his speech the Governor made it clear that the state, like many of its citizens, was facing difficult financial times because of the world economy. He told legislators that the budget proposal he had submitted to them “meets the test of honest balance, by spending no more than it takes in.” He said his budget is full of hard decisions and unwelcome choices and reiterated that he did not feel it was appropriate to tap the state’s rainy day fund when we don’t know if the economy will get even worse over the next few years. He pledged that there would be no new taxes and said that the budget must avoid gimmickry to appear balanced.
He addressed his concern for K-12 education by stating that education dollars must be used more efficiently by spending them on classroom instruction rather than “back office,” as he termed it. He also called on the General Assembly to pass legislation that would “to re-establish complete, unquestioned discipline in the schools of our state.” He stated he was reluctantly postponing both the funding of full-time kindergarten in Indiana and his proposal for guaranteed college tuition. With the respect to the latter, he criticized a federal court decision that prevented the dedication of Hoosier Lottery proceeds for that purpose.
He also used the speech to ask for support of a couple of his non-budget priorities: The passage, for the second time, of the resolution for amendment to the state Constitution to legitimize the three-tiered property tax cap system enacted a year ago; and the implementation of the local government reforms recommended in the Kernan-Shepard Report.
LEGISLATURE BEGINS TO PONDER BIENNIAL BUDGET The House Ways & Means Committee began its deliberation over the budget for the 2009-2011 biennium on Tuesday with a presentation from the administration on the Governor’s budget proposal. While there will be a lengthy discussion over many of the particular line items in the budget over the next three months, it is clear that a major point of contention between the parties will be whether we are now experiencing the rainy day for which we have established a rainy day fund. The Governor argues that the rainy day fund should not be touched now because we don’t know how bad the recession is going to get before it gets better. House Speaker Pat Bauer has countered that it is raining now and the state should use the fund that has been established for situations such as this.
STATEHOUSE VISITS Several county Farm Bureaus have already scheduled a date to visit the Statehouse during the legislative session, and we appreciate their commitment to policy implementation. Additional visits are needed, however, to assure that our collective voice is heard at the General Assembly. The best dates for visits are Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays starting February 3rd and ending March 19th. The most effective visits fall between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., allowing volunteers to meet with legislators, invite them to lunch and discuss policy issues. A Farm Bureau staff member will meet you at the Statehouse and help to facilitate your visit. Volunteers should plan to contact their legislators prior to the visit so that they are aware you are coming. To schedule a Statehouse visit, contact Pete Hanebutt of the Public Policy Team, (317) 692-7811, or phanebutt@infarmbureau.org. Visits at home are also effective lobbying tools, and we encourage those as well. Please report your 3rd House or Cracker Barrel sessions to Pete.
FARM BUREAU LOBBY TEAM READY FOR SESSION Farm Bureau’s lobby team will remain the same as it was last year. Spending most of their time at the Statehouse will be Katrina Hall, Bob Kraft and Wayne Dillman. Joining them on occasion will be Kent Yeager, Pete Hanebutt, Mark Thornburg and Justin Schneider. Farm Bureau President Don Villwock is also registered as a lobbyist. Wanda Hunter will serve as editor of the Dispatch and will usually be able to track your lobbyists down. Wanda can be reached at (317) 692-7812 or whunter@infarmbureau.org.
HPR SPOTS VILLWOCK IN ITS POWER 50 The prestigious Howey Political Reports has included Farm Bureau President Don Villwock in its annual listing of the state’s 50 most powerful individuals in Indiana politics. This year Villwock was ranked at number 39 with the comment, “Heading the state’s largest agriculture organization places Villwock at the nexus of feeding the world as well as fueling it as the U.S. enters into an era where bio-fuels will gradually replace oil.” In addition to the “Power 50”, HPI also identified a dozen of the state’s most influential lobbyists and included Farm Bureau’s Bob Kraft.