As the Indiana General Assembly continues to move forward, Indiana Farm Bureau President Randy Kron tells Hoosier Ag Today that in his 20+ years advocating for agriculture to the state legislature, this is the most unique session he can remember. Losing two weeks to the redistricting conversation during an already short session played a big part in that, and now they’re moving bills through at a very rapid pace.
“I guess what bothers me a little bit, I’ve heard a dozen plus times, ‘Well, we’re just going to pass it out of this chamber, the House or the Senate, the other side can fix it.’ And you know, it gets us worried. If it’s bad legislation, we don’t like it moving anywhere. So, it means we’re working double time. We need our members; we need farmers advocating at the Statehouse to slow some of this down. Sometimes killing a bill is more important than getting some passed, because if you pass bad legislation, that’s a problem.”
One bill where that’s the case is controversial House Bill 1333 that is described as a land use and development bill. As we previously reported, this bill was actually authored by State Representative Kendell Culp, who is also Indiana Farm Bureau’s vice president.
The original bill started with good intentions: to preserve prime farmland. After amendments that added data center language, it turned into a bad bill.
“It is. Kendell knows that and he’s working with us. We’re trying to kill it or change it. We’ve got commitments in the Senate Utilities Committee from the chairman that the bad sections, he’s committed to us, will be pulled out. And so, the question is, does the whole bill die or do they try to advance parts or do you move those parts somewhere else? Because when you say 1333, that number’s toxic right now everywhere. So, we’re just trying to sort through it.”
Kron encourages Farm Bureau members to show up at the Statehouse to share their story with legislators.
“Because if not, somebody else is going to be there advocating on your behalf or on behalf of agriculture and I promise you, they’re not looking out for your and my best interest.”
