Stay Informed

During the 2023 legislative session, Indiana Farm Bureau will be focusing on four priority topic areas, including rural viability, energy, budget and taxes, and food security.

Rural viability – Finding ways to improve Indiana’s local public health system as well as its public safety and emergency services will be a major focus for INFB. These also are the focus of the recently released report of the Governor’s Public Health Commission.

“Indiana’s local health care systems are poorly funded, particularly when it comes to preventive health care,” said Jeff Cummins, INFB director of state government relations.

Another concern is rural hospitals. There are currently 54 rural hospitals in Indiana, according to a July 2022 report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. The report said that due to financial losses and low financial reserves, 12 of Indiana’s rural hospitals are at risk of closure and seven are at immediate risk.

Expanding workforce opportunities is another facet of this priority, Cummins added.

Energy – Carbon sequestration became a hot topic during the 2022 session, with INFB and its allies joining forces to protect landowner subsurface property rights. It’s unclear whether subsurface property rights will become an issue again in 2023, but INFB will be paying close attention, just in case, Cummins said.

“We’re going to potentially be playing defense here,” he said.

Wetlands and drainage also are of great interest to INFB, as are wind and solar power.

“We need to maintain local control of siting for wind and solar projects,” said Andy Tauer, INFB executive director of public policy.

Taxes – The main concern with property taxes, noted Tauer and Cummins, is that there could be an effort to relieve homeowners’ property tax concerns by shifting the burden from homes to farms.

INFB also is supporting various budget requests from state agencies, including the Indiana Warehouse Licensing Agency.

“We shouldn’t take for granted that all these will be a go,” Cummins said. Legislators are worried about the economy and many could be protective of the state’s current budget surplus, he added.

Food security – Agriculture faces pressures from several directions from continuous urban and suburban sprawl to federal rules on greenhouse gas emissions reporting that jeopardize members’ ability to farm and produce food for the world. “INFB’s mission is to keep farmers farming, and we’ll work on priority issues that ensure they can,” Cummins said.

2023 Statehouse Priorities

Rural viability

• Local public health system.
• Public safety and emergency services.
• Expanded workforce opportunities.
  

Energy

• Carbon markets.
• Carbon sequestration.
• Wetlands.
• Drainage.
• Wind and solar.
  

Taxes

• Property taxes.
• State budget, including broadband grants, the Indiana State Fair, Purdue Extension, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture and the Board of Animal Health.
  

Food security

• Making sure farmers can continue to farm despite factors such as urban and suburban sprawl and regulation.