Delivering common sense policy that drives government efficiency is a critical focus of mine as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives. One of many reasons I am honored to serve as a state representative is because it enables me to act upon the belief that Hoosier families and businesses should not feel weighed down by unnecessary government.
My promise is to strive for efficiency, accountability and respect for the taxpayers' dollars.
This year I supported our new two-year balanced budget that cuts taxes while maintaining essential services and upholding our AAA credit rating. The budget prioritized government efficiency and living within our means. I also supported property tax cuts for Hoosier homeowners, encouraging local units of government to hold the line on spending and keep taxes low for residents.
Additionally, we advanced a major education reform bill, reducing regulations on K-12 schools by 10 percent and giving local communities a greater say in education. This law removed nearly 35,000 words of code, including lingering COVID-19 requirements, irrelevant and redundant statutes and dozens of unnecessary mandates.
On top of that, we looked at one of the biggest expenses for the state and taxpayers – health care. We made improvements to healthcare cost transparency to reduce costs and require ownership to be more transparent. We also advanced significant Medicaid reforms to curb fraud and abuse at taxpayer expense.
These new laws and policies continue upon my commitment to reign in government spending and keep taxes low. However, our work does not end upon adjournment of session.
During the interim, I serve as vice chair of the Government Reform Task Force. The task force is charged with reviewing external policies and standards implemented by agencies and making recommendations regarding the efficiency and effectiveness of the various state boards, commissions and councils. We emphasize looking at areas for reduction with a responsible and thoughtful approach.
We met in August to discuss reforming boards and commissions that are redundant, outdated or inactive. The task force identified 224 boards and commissions currently in Indiana. The General Assembly is adding to this number by a rate of 3.5 new boards and commissions each year.
To increase government efficiency and combat wasteful spending, our job as legislators is to identify areas for savings. Reducing the number of boards and commissions in Indiana is potentially one of those areas. The various boards and commissions in our state do important work, however, some of them serve similar professions and have similar goals. Those could be combined, reformed or eliminated to better serve Hoosiers.
I will also support further deregulation in other policy areas to streamline efforts and reduce the burden of government on everyday Hoosiers, small businesses and families.
These are just a few of the ideas being discussed during the interim to inform our policy making for the next session. Alongside my colleagues in the Indiana House of Representatives, I hope to ensure that effective reforms are made at the Statehouse which lead to our government working more efficiently for the constituents we serve.
Additionally, I always encourage constituents to contact me and share their own ideas and thoughts on how government can better serve you.
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State Rep. Stephen Bartels (R-Eckerty) represents House District 74, which includes
all of Crawford, Perry and Spencer counties, and portions of Dubois and Orange counties.
Click here for a high resolution photo.
