STATEHOUSE— “In reflecting back on this legislative session, we can all remember the contentious issues, but it is important to remember the positive advancements that have been made for Hoosiers across the state as well. “A highlight from this year will be approving over 80 million dollars for full-day kindergarten. This is a huge step forward to improve education for our youngest students. We implemented a statewide smoking ban, which was a major concern for many. Most importantly this bill will help Hoosier workers avoid the harmful effects of second hand smoke. An issue that is constantly evolving is the use of synthetic drugs; the General Assembly took additional steps to remove these dangerous and illegal substances from our store shelves. “House Bill 1376 improves the automatic taxpayer refund and will send a large portion of any excess reserves to the Retired Teacher Pension Stabilization Fund. We focused on local government reform by addressing nepotism and conflict of interest, both matters of concern to Hoosiers for years. We also dealt with the burdensome inheritance tax by phasing it out over the next decade. Indiana was one of only eight states that continued to have the death tax. Many retirees have left our state to avoid this unfair double tax. Eliminating this will also help small businesses and family farms. “We have made definite progress for our state this year and I will continue to work on constituent matters and welcome legislative suggestions for next session. We faced many challenges this session, but looking back we were able to end the year in a productive manner. I will continue to work toward serving our district’s collective interest in a bi-partisan fashion.” |
