INFB's 2024 Legislative Successes

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So much was accomplished for Indiana agriculture during this short legislative session. INFB’s public policy team not only helped protect Indiana farmers from harmful legislation, but also pushed through some positive issues that could improve Indiana’s rural communities. Members engaged by visiting their legislators at the Statehouse, attending Third House meetings and responding to action alerts.

A total of 739 bills were filed at the beginning of session and 172 bills made it through to the end. INFB went through each bill to make sure it was engaging in anything that might impact agriculture or rural communities.

INFB staff and members were instrumental in these significant legislative accomplishments from the 2024 Indiana General Assembly:

Food Security and Land Use

• HB 1183 - Bans the sale of ag land to our foreign adversaries.
  • This was a major priority for INFB this year as it would protect the safety of Hoosiers from banning the sale of land to foreign adversarial countries, it would help preserve Indiana farmland and it would protect our food security.
  • Adversarial countries included:
    • Russia
    • Cuba
    • China
    • Venezuela
    • Iran
    • North Korea
  • o Next year – INFB will focus on water legislation. More info needs to be gathered before we can create a water policy framework with certainty. We need to get it done right, not fast.
    

Rural Viability

• Some of the rural viability bills INFB was actively engaged in include:
  • HB1106 - Safety requirements for agritourism facilities.
    • It ends the Department of Homeland Security permits and inspections unless the facility has a reported problem at their location.
    • Always a win when regulations are relieved.
  • HB1277 - State administration of the federal BEAD program (Broadband Equity Access and Deployment).
    • This bill will set up the framework to administer $868 million in broadband federal grants to communities around the state.
  • HB 1093 – Youth employment.
    • This was a rural opportunity bill that adjusts the requirement for 14 to 16-year-olds to quit working at 7 pm. This was a problem for seasonal businesses, especially in summer with Daylight Savings Time.
    • This bill aligns rules with federal standards and allows 14 to 16-year-olds to get work experience, develop work ethic and maybe most importantly, help support themselves when needed.

Taxes

• Some of the tax bills INFB was actively engaged in include:
  • SB 256 – Farmland formula change.
    • The bill passed but the farmland formula language was taken out and added to HB 1120.
    • The Senate wasn’t ready to make the farmland change, so it’s now going to be a study topic for this summer.
  • HB 1120 - State and local administration.
    • Added topic of farmland formula for the continuing work of the State and Local Tax Review Taskforce preparing 2025 session.
    • There was a 17% increase for 2023 taxes, 27% for this year’s tax bills and will be another 20% in 2025. Farmers cannot sustain those attacks on their bottom line.
    • Also added study of growth of tax levies, school debt and review of the taxpayer petition/remonstrance process.
    • This included a retroactive fix to the homestead deduction for farmsteads held as part of an LLC or corporation. This correction was needed due to an error in HB 1499 last year.
    • Also includes important Medicaid oversight measures due to a $1 billion shortfall discovered at the end of last year.