The second week of the legislative session moved quickly, as more committees begin their work and bills begin to move through the process. On Tuesday evening, Gov. Eric Holcomb outlined his 2019 goals during the annual State of the State address. I look forward to working with the governor to accomplish our shared goal of taking Indiana to the Next Level. I also attended the Association of Soil and Water Conservation District’s breakfast with several good friends from Miami County. Our SWCD’s provides valuable resources and programs to the local agriculture community and I am proud to support their work.
Recently, one of the nine bills I filed this session has drawn some positive attention, but I’m not the only driving force behind it. Sen. Randy Head and I have been working on a recommendation to create a health workforce student loan repayment program. House Bill 1218 would provide some level of student loan repayment for providers who work in medically underserved areas, which are mostly rural areas like our community. As long as a doctor, nurse, counselor or other healthcare provider works in one of these shortage areas and meets the requirements, they will receive funds to pay off their student loans. The best part is that it will not require taxpayer dollars! Instead, the practitioners have agreed to increase the fee they pay to renew their licenses in order to collect funds to operate this program. Sen. Head and I have met with the committee chairman overseeing this bill and we will continue to make adjustments to ensure it is the most effective program possible to bring more medical providers to rural Indiana.
Additionally, my proposal, House Bill 1056, unanimously passed the House Local Government Committee this week with a vote of 10-0. This bill simply clarifies the process for appealing a county auditor’s decision on a real property deduction. If you, as the property owner, disagree with the auditor’s decision on removing your homestead, you can appeal to the Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals and make your case. It also allows you and the auditor to appeal the board’s decision to the Indiana Board of Tax Review. I worked with many auditors, assessors and the Association of Indiana Counties to come up with the right solution to streamline this process. As a former county council member, I appreciate the opportunity to help local governments whenever possible and hope this legislation will help establish some clarity in these situations.
That’s all for this week! Thanks for reading. If you are following a piece of legislation I have not yet covered, please reach out. I would love the opportunity to talk with you and learn about the issue. Remember, it’s your state government, so participate in it!
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Rep. Ethan Manning (R-Denver) represents House District 23,
which includes portions of Cass, Fulton and Miami counties.
Click here to download a high-resolution photo.
