The third and final Legislative Breakfast was held Saturday at the morning at Prairie Creek Park. It also was the last breakfast for State Senator Jim Buck and State Representative Don Lehe.
“This is their last one,” said Clinton County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Shan Sheridan. “We’re sad to see them go. They have been fantastic people to work with. Jim is being redistricted and Don is retiring. We’re going to miss them both.”
A couple of things that became law during this year’s shortened session concerned schools. One bill that passed dealt with school funding ability for quarantined students. During the fall semester, many Hoosier students were forced to quarantine and learn virtually due to COVID-19. This bill would ensure schools that had students who were forced to learn virtually due to COVID-19 at the start of the semester receive full funding if the students spent at least half of the total semester learning at school.
Another bill dealt with school board transparency. Due to rising concerns regarding a lack of public input at school board meetings during the pandemic, this bill would would require the school boards to take public comments from community members at all regular board meetings.
Hoosiers will also be the beneficiary of a taxpayer refund. State Senator Brian Buchanan said it should be coming out in six to eight weeks.
Indiana is fortunate to be in a healthy financial position where the state can pay down its existing debt and put Hoosiers’ hard-earned money back in their pockets. Constituents will benefit directly from phasing in an income-tax cut to 2.9 percent, tied for the lowest in the nation, and from repealing the utility receipts tax, which will help combat rising utility costs.
Sheridan also brought up how well attended these events have been.
“The legislators are always telling us that this is the event is the most well attended of the places they go,” said Sheridan. “Today is a day where it’s the first day of spring break, it’s kind of rainy outside and we still had 40 people show up.”