Sen. Chris Garten, R-Charlestown, speaks during a legislative committee meeting. Photo by Whitney Downard, Indiana Capital Chronicle.

By Tom Davies
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s roster of more than 250 state boards and commissions could get whacked if some legislators get their wish.

Leaders of the General Assembly’s Government Reform Task Force are planning to sponsor a bill in the upcoming session with the goal of eliminating or consolidating an undetermined number of those entities.

“We don’t have transparency or visibility on how some of these boards and commissions are spending taxpayer dollars,” Senate Majority Floor Leader Chris Garten, R-Charlestown, said during last week’s task force meeting. “This is unacceptable.”

Task force members last week endorsed broad guidelines for deciding whether to take action regarding a specific board — including its direct cost, whether it has a clear purpose and the frequency and substance of board meetings.

Garten, the task force’s chair, said the General Assembly has added an average of three boards and commissions a year over the past 50 years.

Such boards have a wide range of authority and activity.

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, for instance, meets dozens of times a year as it oversees electric, natural gas and water utilities around the state.

But the Advisory Council to the Office of the Utility Consumer Counselor has not met in the past three years and hasn’t had members appointed by any governor “for some time,” according to a Legislative Services Agency report on board and commission activity.

A top adviser to Gov. Mike Braun told the task force in August that “we have too many” boards,” at least 224 of which include a gubernatorial appointment.

Rep. Steve Bartels, R-Eckerty, introduced a bill during the 2025 session to eliminate or downsize a couple dozen boards, but no action was taken on his proposal.

What’s Next

Bartels, vice chair of the task force, is planning to sponsor a bill in the upcoming session for another attempt at shrinking the number of state boards.

Garten and Bartels haven’t publicly named any specific ones they will target for elimination. The task force recommendations also did not propose such a list — and just what entities are in the crosshairs could stir up defenders of some boards.

That was foreshadowed by Jason Shelley, executive director for Indiana Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, raising concerns last week over the suggestion of eliminating the Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission.

Shelley said he was concerned about building code decisions and changes being made by state agency staffers or lawmakers without the involvement of the commission, whose members include architects, professional engineers and others with construction experience.

“We worry about adding more expensive, bureaucratic hoops to jump through, with the potential of a decision being made regarding building life safety by someone who may, or may not, have the adequate experience to really make that call,” Shelley said.

Bartels, meanwhile, indicated frustration with several boards that haven’t responded to task force requests for information about their activities. That might put those boards on his list for possible elimination.

“From here, I think the right thing to do is just repeal it if they can’t justify their actions or their existence,” Bartels said.