Indiana

Lieutenant governor candidates debate water policy, property tax • Indiana Capital Chronicle

Published

5 months ago

August 13, 2024

Lieutenant governor candidates debate water policy, property tax • Indiana Capital Chronicle

A trio of Indiana lieutenant governor nominees promised to champion farmers and rural residents — albeit through different means — during a Tuesday agriculture-themed debate.

Republican pastor Micah Beckwith, Democrat and former rural development officer Terry Goodin and Libertarian real estate broker Tonya Hudson took on water policy, property tax relief and more before a crowded room of Hoosiers.

Danville-based agricultural advocacy group Agriinstitute hosted the debate, which took place at the Indiana State Fair. Inside INdiana Business host Gerry Dick moderated.

Water policy took center stage.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp.’s (IEDC) plan to pump 100 million gallons of water daily from Tippecanoe County to a massive planned industrial park in Boone County has sparked sustained backlash.

Asked how they’d balance agricultural water needs with economic development, the candidates took different tacks.

Democrat lieutenant governor candidate Terry Goodin speaks on the debate stage on Tuesday, August 13, 2024. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

Beckwith called the turmoil a “transparency issue” stemming from the IEDC, which he dubbed a “shadow government.”

He said the Republican ticket would involve locals in the water debate, but indicated an interest in the project.

“But I think we’ve got the resources,” Beckwith said. “It’s more just: how are we going to get those resources into the right place?”

Goodin said that although oil has motivated many past wars, he believes the next wars will be fought over water.

He called for development of a detailed water policy.

“Indiana needs to get together. We need to put together a policy of all those folks who are impacted by the use of water, and make sure that we put the right process together moving forward,” Goodin said.

Indiana has few restrictions on large water withdrawals. Several water policy proposals motivated by the IEDC’s plan died in the most recent legislative session, even those with GOP authors.

Hudson, meanwhile, emphasized “balance” but said she’d “work with” lawmakers on clean water and air.

“Water shouldn’t have to be a commodity, because it’s a necessary thing we all (need) in our lives,” she said.

Easing the property tax burden

Candidates also fielded questions on property taxes, with a journalist on the panel asking questions noting that farming simply require more land than others professions.

Libertarian lieutenant governor candidate Tonya Hudson speaks on the debate stage on Tuesday, August 13, 2024. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

Indiana uses recent sales to assess most property types, but farmland is different.

The Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) instead determines a “base rate,” a rolling average with six years of capitalized net cash rent and net operating income. DLGF drops the highest value of the six and averages the remaining five years.

“Farmers have seen an increase from last year to this year: (a) 26.2% increase in property taxes. That’s insane,” Beckwith said. “That’s absolutely out of control. And farmers need the relief.”

He and running mate Mike Braun, he said, would deliver.

The duo released a proposal last month that would increase the state’s homeowner deduction and cap property tax bill increases to just 3%.

“Ultimately, though, it’s the Legislature’s job to fix it,” Beckwith added. “What Mike Braun has done with casting vision — he’s given the legislature cover, finally, to fix this issue.”

Hudson went further.

Her ticket’s plan would abolish the property tax altogether.

“You should not be paying property taxes on a home that you already own,” Hudson said.

Farmers ask for property tax ‘intervention’ as communities, schools talk challenges

“We have this mafia-style tactic where, through a Sheriff’s sale or whatever, if you can’t pay your property taxes, you get kicked out of the home that you own. We should not be doing that.”

Running mate Donald Rainwater’s plan would replace the property tax with a 7% sales tax on home purchases. Hoosiers could pay it upfront or over seven years.

Goodin, however, accused his opponents of cutting funding for police and other emergency services.

“It’s very simple. If you want to have good quality services you have to pay for them,” he said.

He and running mate Jennifer McCormick have yet to release a property tax plan. But he asserted that his party’s approach would push the state to “grow” rather than “cut” its way out of the “property tax crisis.” And he said state government should replace lost property tax revenue if needed.

“We’ve got to repair the property tax system,” Goodin said. “We’ve got to put … all those taxes together, we come out (and) we figure out what is the most important priorities that we have in the state of Indiana.”

The role sought

Indiana’s lieutenant governor is first in line to lead the state if a sitting governor can’t fulfill the top spot’s duties. The lieutenant governor also presides over the Senate, and casts tie-breaking votes.

Indiana Code also gives the officeholder 26 additional roles, according to the National Lieutenant Governor’s Association. That includes overseeing the State Department of Agriculture, the Office of Community & Rural Affairs and more.

The lieutenant governor separately chairs the Indiana Mental Health Roundtable, the Intellectual and Development Disabilities Task Force, and the Civics Education Commission.

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Indiana

New Gov. Braun outlines his agenda and his vision for Indiana

Published

2 hours ago

January 13, 2025

Press Room

New Gov. Braun outlines his agenda and his vision for Indiana

Braun has officially started his term, and reiterated his priorities and vision for the state.

INDIANAPOLIS — It’s a new era for Indiana as the state’s 52nd governor, Mike Braun, was sworn into office. Surrounded by his family, supporters and other leaders in state government, Braun took the oath of office Monday morning downtown at the Hilbert Circle Theatre.

In his inauguration speech, Braun called on Hoosiers to use an entrepreneurial drive within themselves to face the challenges of today.

“I am committed to be a governor of not just words, but action as we create a prosperous future for all Hoosiers,” Braun told those gathered, saying part of that action will be addressing the cost of property taxes, an issue already at the top of the new governor’s agenda this legislative session.

“We can accept rising property taxes as an unfortunate fact of life, or explore every avenue to reduce the burden on hard-working Hoosier families and businesses,” Braun said in his speech.

Republican lawmakers have already said a complete overhaul of the state’s property tax system could take several sessions beyond the current one.

But Senate Republicans say they’ll treat property tax reform this session like they will the budget, making it a priority, using Braun’s ideas for reform in the first version of their main property tax bill.

“I guarantee you that we’re going to give it one good shot at getting that back in place where it needs to be,” Braun said. He also spoke about tackling the cost of healthcare.

“We can accept high healthcare costs as inevitable or take on the opaque system to lower costs and increase transparency for all Hoosier families, like I did in my own business 16 years ago,” Braun said.

The 13News political team recaps the first week of the 2025 Indiana legislative session.

In his recently released agenda, Indiana’s new governor said he wants to reform the prior authorization process patients need from their insurance companies before they can get care.

The governor also wants to regulate pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen who negotiate drug prices and prescription coverage. Braun said Indiana is at a crossroads and the leaders of the state can be risk takers and trailblazers or maintain the status quo.

“We can let government inefficiencies impede our success or reshape government to sincerely serve the people. How about that?” Braun asked.

Building on an oft-referenced theme of an entrepreneurial drive, Braun also said he intends to make Indiana the standard bearer for small business growth, something he knows about personally through his own business.

In a 13News Exclusive, 13News anchor Dustin Grove sat down with Mike and Maureen Braun at their home in Jasper to discuss their life, politics and legacy.

Braun also told those gathered he was committed to being a governor of not just words, but action and that it was time to get to work.

Braun also addressed education. In his recently released agenda, Indiana’s new governor said he wants to implement universal school choice for all Indiana families regardless of their income. He’s also called for a new Office of School Safety as part of his cabinet structure and increasing the starting pay for teachers, along with performance-based compensation.

“We can settle for complacency in our education system or empower parents and prepare our students for the jobs that will power the future,” Braun said.

Republican lawmakers have also voiced support for universal school choice. Democrats have said state money should be used to expand pre-K and help families who need help with childcare, not give more state money to vouchers. As he settles into his new job and office, Braun will be returning to a place he’s certainly knows well.

A decade ago, he served as a state representative before becoming a U.S. senator. Now he returns to a different office, a much bigger one, as Indiana’s 52nd governor.

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Indiana

Republican Mike Braun sworn in as 52nd Indiana governor alongside Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith

Published

10 hours ago

January 13, 2025

Press Room

Republican Mike Braun sworn in as 52nd Indiana governor alongside Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith

Indiana’s 52nd governor, Republican Mike Braun, was sworn into office today.

On both a family Bible and Hoosier President Benjamin Harrison’s inaugural Bible, Braun took the oath of office before a packed theater of public servants and politicos at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown Indianapolis. Outgoing Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb watched from the front row, as did former Democratic Gov. Evan Bayh; Indiana’s two U.S. Senators Todd Young and Jim Banks were also in attendance.

Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush administered the oaths of office for Braun, Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith and Attorney General Todd Rokita.

In his first remarks as governor, Braun reflected on Indiana’s settler roots and said he wants to help Hoosiers continue to chart new paths.

“In the face of any challenge, Hoosiers have stepped up to take our state to unprecedented heights, and we’re not going to stop doing it,” he said. “Today, we face a new crossroads. We find ourselves seeking the same freedom and opportunity for which our ancestors journey here, and this time, we don’t have to travel far to achieve it.”

The ceremony was peppered with biographical odes to Braun: the national anthem sung by a glee club from his alma mater Wabash College, the Pledge of Allegiance recited by three of his seven grandchildren, and of course, a rendition of Back Home Again in Indiana by the Indiana National Guard’s 38th Infantry Division Band.

The Jasper businessman can officially say he’s occupied nearly every rank of government, from local school board to state representative, U.S. Senator and now, governor.

Most Hoosiers got to know Braun though his longshot bid for Senate in 2018, during which he bested two better-known candidates in the primary and defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly in the general. One of those primary opponents was Rokita, who on Monday stood beaming on the same stage as Braun, getting sworn in as Braun’s attorney general.

Before Braun’s Senate run, he served in the Statehouse as a representative for one term. His calling card is having led Meyer Distributing in Jasper as CEO for many years.

Braun’s first term as governor coincides with the inauguration of a second Donald Trump presidency ― to whom Braun owes some thanks, since Trump’s endorsement helped him rise above a competitive six-way primary last spring.

He won the November election with about 54% of the vote, 13 percentage points above his Democratic opponent, Jennifer McCormick.

Braun has promised to focus on kitchen-table issues such as addressing property taxes, reducing the costs of health care and growing the small-business economy during his time in office.

Along the theme of charting new paths, each of these issues made an appearance in Braun’s inauguration speech: Rather than “accepting high health care costs as inevitable,” for example, he wants to “take on the opaque system.”

Some of his loudest applause came at the mention of the upcoming inauguration of Trump.

“I am optimistic that the next four years see not only a change of leadership at the state and federal levels, but also a transfer of assumed power from the federal government back to the states,” Braun said.

Micah Beckwith is sworn in as lieutenant governor

Beckwith, the ticket-partner Braun didn’t choose, is likely to keep the culture wars in the conversation, even if Braun would rather not.

The two are inheriting an Indiana that’s made strides in attracting global investment but continues to lag the nation in quality of life measures like health and working wages. And they’ll lead a party that has fissures between moderate, establishment wing and a populist, anti-establishment wing that Trump helped cultivate.

How Beckwith ascended to power encapsulates that split: The delegates at the state convention chose him over Braun’s endorsed candidate. One big question of this administration will be whether these competing viewpoints will impact Braun’s execution of his agenda.

Beckwith is also a staunch believer in Christian nationalism, the idea that the workings of government should be inspired by Christian principles. He quoted lengthily from Christian scripture throughout his remarks following his oath of office, specifically a long passage from the book of Deuteronomy that lists the blessings God would bestow to people who obey him.

He used his limited time, though, mostly to preach a message of unity. Afterward, he received a standing ovation.

“In today’s polarized world, it’s easy to forget that we all share the same dreams for our families, for our communities,” Beckwith said. “We all want to see Indiana thrive.”

Rokita, too, is a willing front-line soldier in the culture wars. His remarks following his inauguration started off soberly, acknowledging the importance of serving justice blindly and fairly. It evolved into a stump speech ticking through the headline-grabbing fights.

“We will make Indiana a truly free state,” Rokita said, rattling off a list of topics that were met with applause: DEI and wokism, transgender participation in sports, immigration, mask and vaccine mandates, “where we can speak our own opinion, especially when it’s not politically correct or establishment-approved, without fear of losing our livelihood.”

This story will be updated.

Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17.

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