The Indiana General Assembly short session moves into a new month and already it has been busy in 2014 for general and agricultural legislative initiatives.
“We’re moving a great deal of bills focusing on growing our economy in the city and on the farm, improving our schools, strengthening the foundation underneath Indiana’s families, and I couldn’t be more encouraged at the progress we’re making on all these fronts,” Indiana Governor Mike Pence told HAT.
He said progress last week on property tax reform measures is encouraging.
“I’m just very encouraged that we’ve seen action in the House and Senate now on beginning a phase out of the business personal property tax. I continue to reiterate my commitment to legislative leaders that as we consider ways to end this tax on machinery and equipment here in a state that makes things and where manufacturing is so strong, we need to make 
sure that we do it in a way that doesn’t unduly burden local governments, and also doesn’t shift that tax to hard working Hoosiers.”
Pence added, “I’m very confident that we’re going to be able to reform our tax code in a way that’s going to encourage more investment and more good paying jobs in Indiana.”
An advance ag trespass law is again this session working its way through, and Pence believes there are significant improvements to what was proposed last session.
“From where I see it’s a careful balancing of the rights of individuals and the rights of property owners, but we’ll continue to work on that legislation and keep all of those rights in mind as we move that forward.”
In his latest ag law post attorney Todd Janzen explains this year’s trespass law.