We just experienced the final days of the 2017 legislative session. Back in January, we started with a discussion on road and bridge maintenance, and we ended it the same way.
The House Republican long-term road funding plan will provide immediate and substantial funding increases for state and local roads and bridges. Beginning in July of this year the legislation will provide an additional $357 million in state and $260 million in local road funding. These additional investments will continue to increase year-over-year, reaching $1.2 billion in 2024, with nearly $900 million expected in new state funding and an additional $340 million in new local road funding.
Our plan was built on restoring the user fee principle – those who use the roads, pay for the roads. Indiana’s current user fees are generating inadequate revenue to take care of what we have and finish projects we have started, let alone build additional capacity for the future. Indiana’s fuel excise taxes, which fund roads and only roads, have not been raised in decades. Our plan increased user fees on gasoline, special fuel and the motor vehicle surcharge by 10 cents per gallon. This was not an easy decision. In fact, it was a decision I considered throughout session. The plan will also shift the remainder of the sales tax on gasoline to the State Highway Fund over the next five years. Finally, our statewide road plan also instructs the Indiana Department of Transportation to study tolling and determine the best options.
To continue our efforts to help fund local roads, there will be a new, $15 annual fee on all vehicles registered in Indiana. And, though they use roads, but pay less or no fuel user fees, we also created a $50 fee on hybrids and $150 fee on electric vehicles. The money raised through these registration fees will fund the Community Crossings Matching Grant Fund, providing considerably more money for local road repairs.
The new biennial budget, which determines education funding, was the biggest bill we considered this session and was the last one to be voted on in the House and the Senate.
In general, the schools in our community received an increase in per-student funding under the new budget. Overall, K-12 education received a $345 million increase over the biennium. Unfortunately, there was not specific funding put in place for rural schools. While I am disappointed about this, I will continue to passionately advocate for rural schools.
Something I am very happy about is that an increase in the cigarette tax was not included in the budget. I am not in favor of a cigarette tax hike, just as I know many members of the community were against it.
One of my major accomplishments was passing legislation that grants immunity from prosecution to doctors and parents who choose to treat their child afflicted with treatment-resistant epilepsy using CBD oil. This bill sets standards for the product. A registry to protect the families along with other policies helpful to the victims of the condition would be established by the Indiana Department of Health. I’ve known that this is a necessary step to help children suffering from seizures. The House passed the bill 100-0, and I was honored by their support. Gov. Holcomb signed this bill into law this week.
To be clear, CBD oil is derived from industrial hemp. While it is a member of the Cannabis family, industrial hemp is not marijuana. The two plants are cousins but have very different characteristics. A similar comparison would be potatoes and tomatoes; both are nightshades, but as you know, they are very different plants producing very different products. Industrial hemp has a very low THC level in contrast to marijuana, so there is no chance that someone can use CBD oil as a recreational drug. Please don't believe some of the misinformation that is being presented.
The 2017 legislative session has now concluded, and I am proud of the House for adjourning Sine Die nearly a week ahead of schedule. I will write from time-to-time when issues arise to the level of needing some discussion or explanation.
Don't hesitate to write or call when you have a problem or issue. I appreciate your comments. You can call my office at 317-232-9981 or email at h23@iga.in.gov.
More later,
Bill
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Rep. Bill Friend (R-Macy) represents House District 23,
which includes portions of Cass, Fulton and Miami counties.
A high-resolution photo of Friend can be downloaded by clicking here.
