The Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) is led by the Lt. Governor, who also serves as the state’s Secretary of Agriculture. Beginning Monday, the state’s new Lt. Governor will be Micah Beckwith.
However, there’s a bill that’s been introduced in the Indiana Senate that would not only strengthen ISDA, but it would also remove the Lt. Governor from overseeing the department.
First, Hoosier Ag Today spoke with State Senator Susan Glick (R-District 13), who co-authored the bill with State Senator James Buck (R-District 21).
“I think there is a lack of understanding,” says Glick. “People are seeing this as a power grab—taking it away. It is an elevation of the status of agriculture in the state of Indiana. That’s all we’re trying to do.”
Senate Bill 202 would make the ISDA an “executive agency” under the Governor with the Director reporting directly to the Governor.
Even though the bill specifically says the Lt. Governor would no longer serve as Secretary of Agriculture and “removes the requirement that the lieutenant governor is responsible for implementation of the department”, Glick says that Beckwith would be still involved with ISDA.
“He would still be in charge, under our bill, of the Office of Community and Rural Affairs (ORCA). He’d be helping with a lot of those grants and aids throughout the state of Indiana and some of the rural areas which we want to see continue and grow, and he was very much in favor of that.”
In fact, Glick told Hoosier Ag Today that the bill had Beckwith’s support.
“We talked with the lieutenant governor prior to dropping the bill,” according to Glick. “Senator Buck and I worked on this bill. We had been approached by a number of ag groups, such as Farm Bureau and others. It’s been a part of the policy of the Farm Bureau for a number of years [as a] legislative request to elevate the status of the [Indiana] Department of Agriculture.”
But, when Hoosier Ag Today spoke with Lt. Governor-elect Micah Beckwith (R-IN) about the bill, he says he neither Glick nor Buck spoke with him about it before it was introduced—nor does it have his approval.
“It’s a little bit of a nonsense bill,” says Beckwith. “I think people have kind of pointed out that it might be a slight towards me because again I was the grassroots pick and sometimes ‘The Establishment’—quote, unquote—doesn’t like what the grassroots do sometimes, and so is it a little petty? Maybe? I don’t want to read into the motives of the senators that that brought that bill up.”
Beckwith says that removing the Lt. Governor from overseeing ISDA would clog up the pipeline of communication between Indiana’s farmers and the Governor.
“I think [farmers] have the ear of the Executive Branch even more so this time around than they will ever have with the [Indiana] Department of Agriculture under the lieutenant governor’s office because not only will you have the full attention of lieutenant governor—anytime farmers need help, you’re going to have the ear of the Executive Branch. If you move that into what [Senate Bill] 202 is saying, you’re basically going to lose agriculture into the minutiae of other agencies. The governor has 30-plus agencies that he’s overseeing. He’s got secretaries over that. You won’t have the ear of the governor as much if you make this move.”
So, Hoosier Ag Today notified State Senator Glick that her bill did not have the support of Lt. Governor-elect Beckwith.
“He says he disagrees? Now, earlier today (Wednesday), I was told that he said that he was in favor of it, so maybe that’s changed, but he was not opposed to it earlier,” according to Glick. “So, then we’ll just have a discussion. That’s what the legislature is for and we’ll be glad to sit down with him anytime. [The bill] is not an attack on anybody.”
Beckwith adds he was told that Glick and Buck’s bill will not advance beyond the Senate Committee on Rules and Legislative Procedure.
“[Senate Pro Tempore] Rod Bray was very, very kind. He talked to me about it. He said, ‘I just won’t let you know, this is coming down the pike. It’s not going anywhere.’ He gave me his word it’s not going anywhere. I don’t think it has any traction.”
CLICK HERE to read the full text of Senate Bill 202.
CLICK BELOW to hear Hoosier Ag Today’s news report featuring our interviews with both Lt. Governor-elect Micah Beckwith, as well as Sen. Susan Glick, the co-author of Senate Bill 202.
RAW AUDIO: Hoosier Ag Today’s Eric Pfeiffer and his unedited conversation with State Senator Susan Glick:
RAW AUDIO: Hoosier Ag Today’s Eric Pfeiffer and his unedited conversation with Lieutenant Governor-elect Micah Beckwith:
