Legislative Update with President and CEO Kristin Craig
March 27, 2025 - Chamber’s West Central Defense Network Advocates for Local Military Assets in D.C.
Earlier this year, the Chamber led a coalition of leaders from the West Central Defense Network (WCDN) on a trip to Washington D.C. The purpose was to advocate for our military assets in West Central Indiana, specifically the 181st Intelligence Wing, with our federal legislators. Meetings included the following legislators and members of their teams: Senator Jim Banks, Senator Todd Young, Representative Erin Houchin and Representative Mark Messmer.
Those attending the trip included:
David Templeton, WCDN Chair
Col Chuck Goad, 181st Intelligence Wing
Mayor Brandon Sakbun, City of Terre Haute
Commissioner Chris Switzer, Vigo County
Rachel Leslie, RJL Solutions
Ryan Ritchie, RJL Solutions
Kristin Craig, Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce
The West Central Indiana Defense Network was created in an effort to remain vigilant to the fast-moving and ever-changing defense dialogue and to advance the region's opportunities in defense development by addressing the needs of the military through creative problem-solving and industry development. In an effort to both support and elevate the military assets in West Central Indiana, community leaders are working collaboratively to create a plan of action to protect and develop the defense asset industry in Terre Haute and the entire West Central Indiana region.
The 181st Intelligence Wing is one of the leading intelligence organizations in the Air National Guard. Located at Hulman Field Air National Guard Base, Terre Haute, Indiana, the 181st IW supports contingencies around the world while ensuring readiness to support our local community and the great state of Indiana. Home of fighter aircraft for nearly 60 years, the 181st has a collaborative relationship with the community, as well as the Terre Haute Regional Airport. More information about the 181st and how their mission works with defense assets around the state, can be found here.
March 6, 2025
One of the well-known keys of advocacy is building relationships. If you don’t know the people that are making decisions, and if they don’t know you and your priorities… you won’t accomplish much. Over the past few years, with a great deal of collaboration from local elected officials and business leadership, the Chamber has led a Terre Haute-Vigo County Day at the Statehouse. While first and foremost, a good-will, relationship-building trip, it has created the foundation on which many of our community successes have been built, including: the Food and Beverage Tax, Casino and Goodwill Excel Center.
This week’s trip was another success, mainly because it included a solid cross-section of community leadership all advocating together for the same community priorities. Meetings throughout the day included House and Senate leadership, Indiana Department of Transportation, Governor Mike Braun’s team and the Lt Governor’s office.
Additionally, thank you to our local representatives who took time to meet with us yesterday. This included: Senator Greg Goode, Representative Tonya Pfaff, Representative Bob Heaton, Senator Spencer Deery and Representative Tim Yocum. Additional thanks to Jon Ford, Executive Director of the Indiana Office of Energy Development.
During these conversations, the groundwork for future development in our community was laid, including:
Addition of a third lane on I-70, primarily between the IL state line and Indianapolis
Support for our higher education institutions in terms of legislative funding, specifically including Ivy Tech Community College - Terre Haute campus and Indiana State University
Additional support and infrastructure funding for the 181st Intelligence Wing
Attendees for this trip included:
Mayor Brandon Sakbun
County Commissioners Mike Morris, Chris Switzer and Mark Clinkenbeard
County Council President David Thompson
As well as business leadership:
Scotty Scott, Chair of the Chamber Board and Sycamore Insurance Associates
Sara Smith, Chamber Advocacy Chair and Sycamore Engineering
John Collett, Garmong Construction
Craig Maschino, Terre Haute Regional Airport
David Templeton, Templeton Coal Co.
Additionally, the great teams of the Chamber, West Central Indiana Partnership and RJL Solutions joined as well:
Kristin Craig, President/CEO, Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce
Rachel Leslie, CEO, RJL Solutions
Josh Alsip, VP Regional Engagement, West Central Indiana Partnership
Jess Crawford, VP Strategic Marketing, Chamber and WCIP
Jonathan Eilbracht, Director of Strategic Programming, WCIP
Austen Leake, Director of Communications, Chamber
Ryan Ritchie, VP Government Relations, RJL Solutions
Danielle Isbell, VP of Strategic Initiatives, RJL Solutions
Derion Searcey, Government Relations Manager
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.
