Lawmakers will convene for a legislative session beginning Monday, Jan. 8 and required to end it by March 14. Rural interest groups will be pushing a number of key issues.

News Release

INDIANAPOLIS — Rural interest groups will be advocating for more local control of water supplies, expanded broadband internet access and more medical personnel in rural hospitals at January’s Indiana General Assembly session.

Control of water sources has been debated since the introduction of a controversial proposal to pump water from Wabash River aquifers around Lafayette 35 miles away to a state-built advanced manufacturing park in Boone County.

Lawmakers will convene for a legislative session beginning Monday, Jan. 8 and required to end it by March 14. Rural interest groups will be pushing a number of other key issues.

Indiana Farm Bureau

Indiana Farm Bureau will be working to convince the Legislature to consider the application of water rights. Since the proposal to pump water from Wabash River aquifers to the LEAP Innovation and Research District — as much as 100 million gallons per day — Lafayette area officials have been after more local control of water.

As of now, Indiana has no comprehensive regulatory system that would review large water withdrawals like these before they can happen.

According to Andy Tauer, Farm Bureau’s executive director of public policy, members see this as something that could be a statewide issue and requires some regulation. While Tauer said that what rules or regulations would look like is unclear, his group is focused primarily on local control.

Farm Bureau has already established a task force to research a policy that would hold local control and property rights as a priority. Tauer stated that the goal of this is to shield communities from outside investors, protecting local authority and farmland.

Another issue, which will also be discussed at the Legislature’s budget-writing session in 2025, is how to contain the rising cost of property taxes.

According to a Purdue Extension report, farmland property assessments increased, leading to a 16% rise in property tax bills. Tauer will be opening the topic of conversation with lawmakers ahead of time to prime change.

Farm Bureau, working with the Legislature’s land use task force this summer, is not sure if any related legislation will come in for the 2024 session.

A soon-to-be-completed study from the state Department of Agriculture on the loss of farmland over the past 10 years, among several other studies, should provide some guidance on the front. Tauer said Farm Bureau will mostly focus on preserving farmland and land use and property rights affected by residential and commercial development.

In addition, the group would like more state money going to rural roads, bridges and water infrastructure. It also supports building on the scholarship program created earlier this year to give high school student work-based learning experiences.

Indiana Rural Health Association

The Indiana Rural Health Association is mainly focused on building up the rural healthcare workforce, adding more rural doctors and nurses through residency and nursing school expansions.

According to Dan Hardesty, IRHA’s director of governmental affairs, workforce shortages are a major rural healthcare problem.

An association advocacy document suggests that part of the solution could be increasing the number of physician residency placements in rural areas by expanding a program for medical funding.

Another solution proposes increasing the number of nursing instructors by letting four-year colleges use part-time faculty in nursing programs, which could in turn bring up student-instructor ratios and enrollment.

IRHA also supports reducing or even eliminating a hospital assessment fee for rural healthcare providers, passing that savings on to the patients. The fee, introduced in 2011, is set to expire in June 2025. The purpose is to pay part of Indiana’s Medicare costs and increase reimbursements. According to the Indiana Capital Chronicle, the fee brought in $344 million last fiscal year, much more than the $270 million that was estimated.

Indiana Small and Rural Schools Association

This organization, along with several partners, is working with lawmakers on a bill that would allow undocumented student born in other countries to qualify for in-state tuition at Indiana colleges.

About 8,550 Indiana residents are protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. According to the Higher Ed Immigration Portal, about 1,645 of those are attending a higher education institution.

Members also want more control and flexibility over teacher salaries in contract negotiations. Lagoni stated that some districts are limited by funding and salary mandates, leading to experienced teaches leaving for higher pay in larger districts.

Teachers must be paid a minimum salary of $40,000, leaving some districts to focus on getting to that the threshold, instead of increasing salaries across the board. The group wants mandates loosened so that market demand for teacher can determine their salaries.

This association also desires a new law that will require a school board member to be appointed to redevelopment commissions for residential increment financing districts.

Indiana Rural Broadband Association

President Alan Terrel stated that he is working with lawmakers to build a system for receiving and disbursing federal broadband funding, $868.1 million of which will be coming to Indiana next year.

The goal, according to Terrell, is to make sure that the program includes small broadband providers, giving them a fair chance.

Farm Bureau is also in works with partners and lawmakers to see that the money will not be sent to overlapping areas and will reach the places that need it most.

The White House reports that about 12.4% of Indiana residents lack access to adequate broadband service.