Legislative Update with President and CEO Kristin Craig
February 27, 2025
As we reach the midpoint of the Indiana legislative session, it's always good to remember that advocacy and legislative efforts are usually a marathon, not a sprint. Over the past several years, the Chamber has rallied on behalf of the Terre Haute and Vigo County community in many ways, including the following issues:
The addition of a Food and Beverage Tax for Vigo County, which provided funding for the building of the Terre Haute Convention Center which bring tens of thousands of visitors to our community annually and now supports ongoing tourism opportunities.
The Terre Haute Casino, which is now fully operational and providing critical funding to our county, city, school corporation and regionalism efforts. And with the Terre Haute Casino Resort Foundation coming online later this year, transformational projects for our community are within reach.
And the Goodwill Excel Center, which is close to welcoming the first graduates of this tuition-free, adult-focused high school.
Of course, there is more work to be done when the session restarts in early March.
One priority will be continuing to push for Union Health and Regional Hospital to be given the opportunity for a regulated, community-focused merger via a Certificate of Public Advantage. The COPA would allow hundreds of high-paying jobs to be retained in our community. The Indiana Department of Health has now opened the COPA application for public comments, and it is critical our community stands behind this opportunity. The document and comment submission details are available by clicking here on the state's website.
As always, advocating for our members and the business community is one of the central tenants of the Chamber’s mission. If you have any questions, or would like to get more involved, please feel free to contact me directly at kcraig@terrehautechamber.com.
January 23, 2025
Advocating for our members and the business community is one of the central tenets of the Chamber’s mission. As such, we closely monitor and stay engaged with each state legislative session, helping educate our legislators and guide their efforts as they work tirelessly to carefully craft legislation to move our state forward.
The 2025 session marks the 124th General Assembly of our state legislators and has already been a busy start to the new year. The easiest way to access information about this session is via the General Assembly website. This includes hearing schedules, video links, complete bill details and information on all legislators. It’s an easy way to keep updated through the quickly-changing session.
Late last year, the Chamber’s Advocacy Committee and Board of Directors came together to finalize a list of legislative priorities to help guide our efforts. The full document can be found here. These priorities are broad enough to allow additional issues to be discussed, but also focus on the key aspects of the Chamber agenda, advancing the needs of the business community and ensuring the Terre Haute/Vigo County/West Central region are well-positioned for success. We work closely with the Vigo County Commissioners, the Mayor of Terre Haute, and many other elected officials to help represent and advocate for our community when needed.
A few bills we are currently tracking include the following:
SB 377: Funding for regional economic development (Goode) - We applaud Senator Greg Goode for this bill which continues to advance regional funding mechanisms while keeping appropriate guardrails in place for transparency and focused efforts.
HB 1087: Lane extension of I-70 (Pfaff) - As the Chamber continues to push the Indiana Department of Transportation to consider lane expansions and other safety improvements along the I-70 corridor, we support Representative Tonya Pfaff’s bill which continues to push the issue from the statehouse perspective. This is the second year she has introduced this bill and we will continue to closely follow its progress.
HB 1008: Indiana-Illinois boundary adjustment commission (Huston) - In one of the more interesting bills of the session, Speaker Todd Huston has introduced a priority bill that would take a close look at our border with Illinois. As a border community, we will follow this closely.
I will provide regular updates throughout the session via this blog and newsletter. In addition, we host Advocacy Forums throughout the session, an exclusive chance for Chamber members to connect with our state legislators and learn more about specific bills.
