Legislative Agenda & Priorities
"Those issues identified in the Chamber’s 2010 Legislative Agenda have the potential to impact our community either positively or negatively. The Chamber is committed to support those issues which preserve our community’s vitality and its ability to retain and create high quality jobs in our area. We are equally committed to step up our advocacy efforts to oppose any action that has the potential to do otherwise.,"
– Tom Hirons, Legislative Council Chair for The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce.
To download the complete 2010 Indiana Legislative Agenda – Click here.
To download the Chamber’s Legislative Priorities – Click here.
The Chamber is committed to support those issues which preserve our community’s vitality and its ability to retain and create high quality jobs in our area. We are equally committed to step up our advocacy efforts to oppose any action that has the potential to do otherwise.
Actions of the Indiana General Assembly dramatically impact our community, the vitality of the local economy, and the ability of our local employers to retain and create high quality jobs. For those reasons, the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce’s Legislative Council and Board of Directors have adopted a comprehensive legislative agenda. We have selected the following key issues based on local relevance, overall impact, and our ability to affect outcomes. These will serve as our priorities during the 2010
legislative session.
Local Priorities
Indiana University:
We strongly support substantial funding directed to the Indiana Innovation Alliance, a strategic partnership between IU and Purdue University that join the efforts of academia, business, and government to strengthen Indiana’s assets in biosciences and life sciences…
IVY TECH Community College of Indiana – Bloomington:
As a statewide, open‐access community
college, Ivy Tech Community College provides residents of Indiana with professional, technical, transfer and
lifelong education for successful careers, personal development and citizenship. Through its affordable,
quality educational programs and services, the college strengthens Indiana’s economy and enhances its
cultural development. Support for Ivy Tech’s continued growth is essential.
K-12 School Funding Formula:
Various elements of school funding accounted for about 64% of the 2009‐2011 biennial budget. Because such a
significant portion of state funds are directed toward education, current funding formulas must be
reexamined to ensure that limited resources are directed where they are needed. We encourage the Interim
Study Committee on School Funding Formula to produce a new formula which has a primary goal of providing
the best possible education for all Indiana students.
The Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) provides a prime example of how the current
formula fails to provide school funding to corporations on an equitable basis. MCCSC’s per pupil funding has
ranked in the bottom 25% of all school corporations statewide for many years. In 2009, excluding categorical
grants, MCCSC ranked 240 out of 293 public school corporations in funding per pupil, placing MCCSC in the
bottom 20% in funding for Indiana school systems.
After freezing the maximum tax rate permitted to the General Fund in the early 70’s, the State adopted a
policy of approving guaranteed funding increases for school corporations based on the prior year’s funding
levels. For MCCSC, which had not adopted the maximum rate, this policy resulted in generating less additional
incremental funding each year than for corporations that had locked in at a higher tax rate.
With regard to the best interest of the students who comprise the future of Indiana, effective school funding
reforms must address inequities faced by MCCSC and other school corporations that have been repetitiously
disregarded by current funding standards.
State Road 45/46 Bypass:
The expansion of the State Road 45/46 Bypass is the leading infrastructure improvement need for this
community. While the project temporarily made INDOT’s 18‐month letting list in 2009, cooperation between local
and state officials and is essential to ensure the project can move forward in early 2010. In addition, the expansion
of the 45/46 Bypass is a crucial element in the growth of commerce and 21st century jobs at the
IU‐Bloomington Technology Park at 10th and the Bypass.
State-wide Initiatives
Kernan-Shepard Report Recommendations - Bipartisan Commission on Local Government Reform:
We support Legislative action on the recommendations in the Kernan-Shepard Report on Local Government Reform. We intend to be fully engaged in legislative actions that improve efficiency in local government ...
Taxation:
Tax policies are crucial elements that drive economic prosperity for our state and our communities. The Chamber opposes a constitutional amendment that caps property taxes. Such a constitutional amendment would severely limit the ability of Indiana to react to changes in the structure of its economy and to tap potential sources of revenue when needed. …
Further, we support continuing to provide local communities the option of designating zones where property taxes may be directed for redevelopment….