Government

State legislators discuss upcoming session

Pictured, from left, are state officeholders, Brian Buchanan, Jeff Thompson, Beau Baird, Spencer Deery and Matt Commons.
Pictured, from left, are state officeholders, Brian Buchanan, Jeff Thompson, Beau Baird, Spencer Deery and Matt Commons.
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State legislators covered an array of topics Saturday during a Legislative Breakfast sponsored by the Crawfordsville-Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce and the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County.

The biggest hurdles for the upcoming legislature, which convenes Feb. 4, 2025, are high property taxes and funding Medicaid.

Speaking at the meeting were State Senator Brian Buchanon and State Representatives Beau Baird, Matt Commons, Spencer Deery and Jeff Thompson.

All legislators in attendance agreed Indiana residents are paying too high property taxes. But, on the other hand, legislators need to increase funding for the ever-increasing recipients of Medicaid.

Thompson, who is the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said the balancing act between revenue and paying for services is complicated.

Thompson believes Indiana system of tax rates and revenues needs corrected. However, he is quick to point out that depending on whether a tax rate goes up or down does not necessarily mean a change for taxpayers.

“In our system in Indiana you would think if a tax rate decreases, then what the taxpayer pays would be less and when a tax rate increases, the you would expect that taxpayer would have to pay more,” Thompson said. “But in Indiana when rates change it changes how tax dollars are distributed and they do not always result in affecting what the taxpayer pays.  I am going to work on changing that but I know it is going to take a lot of time to correct that problem.”

Buchanon spoke about the need for legislators to deal with the problems of revenue and high real estate taxes. One problem facing legislators is how to fund Medicaid which has seen an increase of 30% recipients in the last few years. He believes the stress on the increase of Medicaid recipients in Indiana must be addressed. But the money needed will have to come from other funded areas, which is a complex procedure.

In a nutshell if more  tax dollars are needed to go to Medicaid, where do the additional dollars come from? The largest use for tax dollars in Indiana is for education. Legislators provided a chart saying 47% of the state budget goes to K-12 education.

State Representative Spencer Deery will be working on rural economic development and help the Indiana Economic Development Corporation improve its transparency. He said the recent debate over use of the Wabash River aquifer and development in Boone County is an example of current problems with the IEDC.

Newly-elected representative Matt Commons believes there needs to be more ground water data available before any development continues at the Boone County site.

Legislators also discussed financing K through 12 and higher education; protecting soil and water; funding roads; and retaining Community Crossroads and REDI grants.


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