Woman veteran. And so that’s what I wanted to bring to the attention of the committee and to the BMV today of having that conversation of is there a possibility instead of doing a specialty plate for women veterans, which we see in 19 other states, currently have specialty plates for women veterans, there’s also 16 states that just do it as part of their military plates. And so if we could look at that, that’s what I’m here to talk to you about and answer any questions of, to why we would want a special tea plate. The last thing I’ll leave you with, license plates educate people. I don’t know if when you travel, I look to see where the plates are from, and I live in Westfield, and right now we have plates from all over the country that I see in Westfield. But seeing a woman veteran plate also educates people that women proudly serve. We’ve been serving in the military since we had to pretend to be men. The War Integration act was signed in 1948. That gave us the ability to serve outside of the nursing corps. And we’ve had the ability to serve in combat since 2015. And so here in Indiana, we have an Indiana military veterans hall of Fame. It’s been around for eleven years now. This body has honored that organization many times. We have 148 inductees into the Indiana military family, or, excuse me, military hall of Fame. Eight of those are women. This year, in 2023, the most recent inductees, we had our first woman inducted for valor. We’ll see that more often now. And so that’s what I wanted to leave this body with. And I would entertain any questions. Thank you for your time. Are there any questions of the committee seeing that? Lisa, thanks for doing it. Thanks for putting us on notice in the request. So, Cody with BMV, can I trust that you will get together and see if that’s a possibility and keep myself and Senator crider in the loop with that. Thanks. All right, we’re going to jump right into the new applications. First up will be the milk bank. And I’m not sure who’s presenting on the milk bank. I do have one, two signed up to testify, so we will jump right in. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you, chairman, committee, and a special thanks to Cody and the BMV. My name is Freedom Kolb. I’m the CEO of the milk bank, and I’m here to represent hoosier babies and families from all around the state. I see several maternal and infant health champions in this room. So I want to thank you all for your service and the chance to present this application, I’m very excited to share a little bit more about the impact of the milk bank. Similar to blood banks or organ donations, we are a statewide life saving organization, but we’re just not as publicly known as our big sisters and brothers in those tissue banks. We exist to urgently reduce infant mortality across the state. Widely recognized as the leading public health indicator, Indiana outpaces the national average in terms of infant loss. Indiana currently ranks 43rd in the country. And similar to other states across our nation, we are seeing infant mortality rates climb. The milk bank believes every baby deserves their best chance to survive and thrive through access to human milk. Our organization, similar to other tissue banks, is the only comprehensive nonprofit milk bank exclusively dedicating to serving hoosier infants and families from all around the state. We are a nonprofit registered with the FDA and accredited by the Human Milk Banking association of North America, and we’re dedicated to saving infant lives and decreasing poor health outcomes, as well as healthcare expenditures for medically fragile infants. A diet that consists exclusively of human milk provides powerful and unparalleled protection against serious complications that lead to longer hospital stays, multiple procedures, readmission, lifelong disability, and even death. Human milk is not simply nutrition, it’s a medical intervention. Necrotizing entercolitis, which you may have heard of in the recent national lawsuits, occurs in as many as 12% of very low birth weight infants and has a devastating mortality rate of up to 30% of all infant deaths. But we know human milk reduces an infant’s chance of contracting neck bye. Upwards of 50% to 77% based on these incredible life saving outcomes. The use of donor milk is recommended by all major medical associations, so the milk bank is proud to serve the tiniest humans and the tiniest Hoosiers. We know that more than 70% of the donor milk goes to the most medically vulnerable babies, those that have no other options, and we supply that on an inpatient basis to to more than 66 hospitals across Indiana. The remaining milk we distribute goes to infants that can be treated at home and is supported by a network of 51 community based locations where families can drop off milk or pick up milk because we know babies don’t have emergencies 08:00 to 05:00 Monday through Friday since our inception in 2005, we are proud to have dispensed more than 3 millionoz that represents 12.5 million feedings to the most fragile babies. We know that more than 7500 milk donors have stepped up to provide a safety net for families they have never met and will never meet. And while our primary role is to ensure all babies have their best chance to celebrate the most magical milestone of a first birthday, we are also proud of our wraparound services which include bereavement care, crisis response like the formula shortage, support and education for healthcare providers, including support groups for burnout, support for small businesses and helping educate around the Pump act. So we are super excited about the potential to leverage the power of the plate. Each license plate would allow us to provide up to 25 feedings for age critical ill infantin. But more importantly, the visibility of the plate will help us in attracting the 181 new milk donors we need every month just to meet the supply of current hoosier infants. We also believe it will provide some attention and gratitude to healthcare providers, public health workers, milk donors and all of us in the room that already uplift infant and maternal health. So on behalf of all babies, families and mothers across the state, but especially those that are born too small, too sick and too soon, and those that love them, thank you for this opportunity to make an even greater difference for Hoosier families. Thank you. Any questions? I’m happy to take questions to the committee. Representative Lauer, thank you. Mister chairman. Could you just briefly talk about your reach in Indiana and where you serve hoosiers across the state? Absolutely. So the majority of our milk is dispensed on an inpatient basis. If we were ever to experience a shortage in Indiana, which, knock on wood, we have not, we would have to triage to the most medically vulnerable. And so I believe of all the birthing hospitals in Indiana, we serve currently all of them except two. So if there is a hospital in your district, we are in your district. And keep in mind, because of how nicus are leveled, if you have a critically ill infant or a family in need in your district, they might be going out of district. Many of you are familiar with Riley or the level four nicus that a family may be transferred to, so we serve those as well. Our board is representative. We have board members from all around the states, and we have those 51 specific locations in all the districts as well, that family members can drop off milk, pick up milk, if there is not a location in your district. Although when I listen to the roll, I think I have a location in all your districts. If there is not, we also provide direct shipping so that we can receive the milk from milk donors or distribute milk back to recipients. And we do that at our cost. Thank you. Any other questions from the committee, Senator Alexander? Thank you, Chairman Pressell. The requirement for the application requires a number of signatures. Yeah. Is that right? 500, minimum. Is that number available, or do you know what that number is in your case? Yeah, we submitted in excess of the required 500. I can’t remember the exact amount of signatures we submitted, but it was in excess of the requirement, roughly. I mean, was it? I think we stopped our outreach at one point. We were about. I remember we looked at a number that was 637 when we stopped communicating to our stakeholders. But of those, I think there may have been some duplicates in there, so we weeded those out. Okay, thank you. Cody, can you help us out with that? Do you remember? I want to say they were over 600, but the application is 312 pages. Yeah, that’s what I. They definitely meet the criteria, plus a little bit. So to your point, right? At some point, once you hit that 500. Yeah, we don’t know. Yeah. Yeah. I want to point that out for people that are viewing at home because I’m getting some text messages on what we’re actually up to here, which I have no idea how they got my cell phone, but we are doing this. So thanks, Representative Gore. We’ll have a conversation a little later. So these applications, like I mentioned in the very beginning of it, they’re lengthy, this 1312 pages, I think on norm, these are about 300 page applications. The committee receives these about a week in advance. If it wasn’t for bmv vetting a lot of this stuff and making sure that everybody’s hit those marks, we may be here until session starts in January trying to get through all the applications. Bear with us on some of the questions. They are in the packet, so. So thank you. Any other questions of the committee? Is there anybody else here that would like to testify on the milk bank? Milk bank. Going once, twice. All right, we’re moving on. Next up will be the Alzheimer’s association. Good afternoon, chairman and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to share with you the work of the Alzheimer’s Association, Greater Indiana chapter. My name is Natalie Sutton, and I serve as the executive director for the Alzheimer’s Association, Greater Indiana chapter. Right now, there are 7 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease, and this includes more than 121,000 Hoosiers and more than 11 million Americans and 216,000 Hoosiers are providing unpaid care for a loved one with the disease. Unfortunately, these numbers are growing and the deaths due to Alzheimer’s are on the rise, while at the same time we see decreases in other disease related causes of deaths. And at the Alzheimer’s association, our mission is to lead the way to end Alzheimer’s and all other dementia by accelerating research, driving risk reduction and early detection, and maximizing quality care and support. The Greater Indiana chapter is one of 75 association chapters. We are led by a local volunteer board that helps us set our strategic vision and build relationships in communities to best serve Hoosiers living with the disease, their caregivers, and those who need us, either now or in the future. My goal today is to share information that will exemplify the reach of our organization in Indiana to ensure the success of the specialty plate. I also hope to share the impact that the specialty license plate, by generating awareness and revenue we’ll have on our mission and the Hoosiers who we serve. Our ultimate vision at the Alzheimer’s association is a world without Alzheimer’s and all other dementia. And we know that this vision will come about because of research. So we fund research. We also, as an organization, convene researchers and lead in the global research community. Right now, the Alzheimer’s association is funding $5.7 million in 18 grants to Indiana institutions. Indiana is very much leading the way in Alzheimer’s research and in the advancements that are happening in our field. And because of that, we now have better ways to detect and diagnose Alzheimer’s disease. Plus multiple FDA approved treatments that can now slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease when it is diagnosed in the early stages. And these are recent advancements that provide us with a lot of hope in what has historically been a very devastating disease condition. But these treatments also won’t work for everyone at all stages of the disease. And with all forms of dementia, awareness and early detection are more important now than they have ever been. And so is our work to provide and enhance the care and support across the continuum of care. So throughout the state, our volunteers, who are the backbone of our organization, partner with community organizations to deliver public awareness, presentations and education programs that help communities to understand Alzheimer’s and dementia. How to provide better care for those with the disease and increase early detection and risk reduction. We partner with volunteer facilitators to host more than 50 caregiver support groups, and these support groups provide caregivers the opportunity to learn from their peers and work through their struggles together. We also connect Hoosiers to the Alzheimer’s Association’s 24/7 helpline and a wide variety of online resources, information and digital tools. Dementia does not surface during normal business hours and that’s why our helpline is available around the clock, 365 days per year to provide information and referral, as well as an evidence based intervention that we call care consultation. In a care consultation, dementia experts meet constituents where they are and they develop an action plan. This has been proven to result in caregivers taking action to improve the circumstances for their loved ones with the disease and to reduce caregiver burden and caregiver stress. While this is a national service and the quality is incredible when it’s implemented by the Alzheimer’s Association Home Office, but our chapter directly funds the helpline calls from Indiana. In fiscal year 24, which ended on June 30, we reached 10,600 Hoosiers through our education programs, awareness presentations, support groups and the helpline, and this was a 46% increase over the prior year. Now, growing awareness of Alzheimer’s and all of their dementia, as well as the need for early detection and the available resources to support people on the journey, are a very important strategic priority for our organization, and we believe that a specialty license plate will significantly help raise awareness in Indiana. In addition to raising funds for the research and care and support that I mentioned, everything that we do as an organization is powered by volunteers, and that base of very dedicated volunteers will be eager to show their pride and leadership in the mission to end alls with a specialty license plate. These volunteers advance our mission in many ways, including our chapter board, educating, facilitating, support groups, advocating for policy change. You may have heard from several of our advocates before today, sharing their stories and finally donating and raising funds for our mission through campaigns like the Walk to end Alzheimer’s and the longest day. The Walk to end Alzheimer’s is the largest gathering in many Indiana communities for our mission. We have 16 walks throughout the state. The walk is considered the front door to many of our resources and also referred to as our largest support group, where families and individuals who have lived this journey can recognize that they are not alone. In 2023, more than 8000 Hoosiers participated in one of our walk to end Alzheimer’s events. I thank you for the opportunity to share about our mission and our work in Indiana. We know our volunteers and constituents are eager to show their pride, raise awareness and contribute financially with a specialty license plate. And we hope that you can see how the funds raised would make a difference for so many Hoosiers. Thank you to the bureau for the support of the application process and to all of you for your consideration. Thank you so much. Any questions of the committee seeing? None. Thank you. I’m just going to point out for the viewers at home, 417 pages was this application. That’s a lot. Okay, next up is going to be the little red door and they will be followed by the teamsters while they’re making their way to the front. Anybody from the little red door that’s wanting to testify? No. Other than the presenter? Yeah. Nope, you’re fine. Come on in. Just saving a little time. Thank you. Good afternoon. Thank you for allowing us to be in front of you today to talk about a little place that’s near and dear to my heart. My name is Mandy Pietrokowski and I’m the director and CEO at Little Red Door. I stepped into my role a year ago, but I stepped into the little red door six years ago. I am here today to share our why with you all. Little red Door cancer agency has been making the most of life in the least of cancer since 1945. We are Indiana’s oldest cancer agency and the only strategically focused on eliminating the burden of cancer for medically undecided. Underserved and medically underinsured Hoosiers. Cancer does not discriminate, nor do we. We support Hoosiers of all ages. Currently 1678 to be exact of as an hour ago when I pulled our data. Of those, they range from eight months old to 94 right now. They come from all over the state. We are an independent nonprofit with no national affiliations nor chapters or charters. Hoosiers founded us 80 years ago to fill a gap in Cancer care here in Marion county. Over the years, we have expanded. We continue to be led by Hoosiers, funded by Hoosiers, and supporting Hoosiers from all 92 counties. One of the most impactful solutions we provide to the cancer community is our transportation. I thought you would like to hear about transportation today being its your committee. Transportation at Little Red Door is called rides of hope because that’s what we do. We provide a lot of hope to a lot of hoosiers. Through it, we’re on track to provide 28,000 rides, getting hoosiers to and from critical cancer appointments and treatment. We provide rides to both adults and kids. A donation of dollar 25, which happens to be the amount of a specialty plate, can provide four rides to Michael from Anderson, Indiana, who is a self described colon cancer fighter. He is getting his treatment from Ascension St. Vincent. Or it can provide three rides or three plates. I’m sorry? Three plates can provide Riley, age three, from Lakeland, Indiana, diagnosed with neuroblastoma rides to and from Riley. Why Indianapolis? Because here in the state of Indiana, if you’re a child with cancer, there’s only two hospitals in the state of Indiana that can treat a child with cancer. Why? We want every kiddo to be treated in their hometown and their community, because we know that’s the best. We’re just not there yet. In this state, every child is going to have to either come to Riley or to Peyton Manning in Indianapolis, and little red door gets them there. We are fortunate to have incredible physicians, nurses, pharma, and so many researchers in this state truly, truly blessed. But if you cannot get to those people, it doesn’t matter that we have them here. I am proud of our transportation program. A literador license plate that can provide miles of miracles to your constituents. Anyone going through treatment or anyone that has been a caregiver knows how critical nutrition is when you’re in the thick of it. Litterador provided 97,000 meals last year to hoosiers. For adults, it’s insure, for kids, it’s pediasure. So through those, if anyone’s ever taken it. It’s a protein drink. Just to give you some background, your oncologists are going to prescribe to you two to three of those per day. If you go to your local grocery store right now, it’s going to be about $36 a case. For those, you can do the math pretty quick. It adds up. For our clients, that’s a deal breaker. It’s unattainable and unaffordable. Most of our clients are living on grocery budgets that are tighten. They are forced to choose from feeding their kids or feeding their loved one with cancer, helping them fight cancer or getting their basic needs met. Harnessing the power of our buying. A donation of $25 from one license plate can provide 192 meals. That’s 64 days of feeding a fellow hoosier through their darkest days of cancer. That’s the power of a license plate. And because cancer is a continuum, we have expanded our services and reach over the years. We now include wellness programs such as yoga, massage, fitness classes and more. We offer this to help you through treatment, to help you heal post treatment, and to help you reduce your recurrence of cancer coming back into your life. But for our kids, we take it to the next level. We provide Camp Little Red Door camp Little red Door and turn 43 years old this year. 43 years of hosting a fully adaptive medical camp for kids with cancer in the state of Indiana. This is something that every hoosier should be fiercely proud of. Camp is a place where a kiddo can just be a kid for the first time. They’re not the kid with cancer. They go there because they have cancer. We don’t talk about the cancer. We don’t talk about their scars. They don’t have to explain their hair or lack of hair. They don’t have to explain their sick days. They can just be a kid there. We put kids up on a 60 foot alpine tower and soar them across the air in a zipline. It’s truly magical. Camp is the second oldest camp for kids with cancer in the country and the only one in the state of Indiana. Hundreds of kids from all 92 counties have called camp a home. I’ll leave you this note of impact from Hazel, age eight. Hazel was diagnosed with leukemia when she was four years old, far too young to be given that diagnosis. We supported her and her family through treatments with nutrition, connecting them to other families so that they weren’t alone. On average, only about 350 kiddos are going to be diagnosed this year with cancer. Most of the kids in your areas, they’re going to be the only child in their school district with cancer. So that connectivity is critically important to these kids. So on Hazel’s 8th birthday, she woke up to eight shiny balloons and pancakes in the shape of a number eight. But what she was most excited for was at age eight, she can register for Camp Little red Door. She quickly registered for camp. One of her mom said she did it within the first 30 minutes of her waking up. Got registered for camp. Hazel went to camp overnight camp for the first time this year. She made friendship bracelets, she sang songs. She met her bestie, I’m told, and she soared through the sky. She left cancer behind this summer because of camp Little red Door. Cancer takes so much, particularly from our pediatric kids, their families and the caregivers. But together, we can give. I hope you will strongly consider joining us and making the most of life in the least of cancer today. For 80 years, Little Red Door has pivoted to meet the ever changing needs of cancer community. We can only do this because for 80 years, Hoosiers have stepped up and answered the call for us. I am confident, if selected, we will not let you down. We have a strong community of donors, board, supporters, clients, you name it, they are here. They are ready to rally, and so are we. If we are awarded a plate, we will stretch it to its fullest to make the most of life and the least of cancer. Thank you for your time, thank you for consideration, and thank you to the bmv for this opportunity. Thank you. Questions from the committee. So how, how broad is your reach? You talked about it a little bit, that you’re, you’re starting to expand. You don’t cover the whole state right now for pediatrics, we cover all 92 counties because of that number. So with 350 and every one of those kiddos having to come to Marion county, we have some incredible donors that support it. And so we can take care of all 92 of those counties. For adults, we are limited for some of our programming just due to budget, to be completely honest with you. So those more expensive things we have to limit to the 14 counties right now, we have hopes of expanding, but for navigation. So many of people will call us from all over the state in different counties to just get help. They don’t know how to pay their electricity bill. Our clients are not the clients that have ever really had government support or assistance. They don’t know how to navigate it. And so our tiny team of 19, very strong bench, very proud of them, knows how to connect them with local resources. We’re only 80 because we’re smart enough to know how to depend on other community partners. Close to an organization, Laporte, that is much smaller than you, and its inception was maybe ten years ago, so they’re pretty new. It’s called the New Day foundation. Are you familiar with them at all? Yes, we’ve had calls with them before, so. Okay, so you kind of partner with other organizations? We do. If we can’t provide those services, then we will find the services in your community. We love nothing better than when we are introduced to a local nonprofit like. Like us doing the work. Grassroots, in the trenches. So there’s a lot of partnerships that happen throughout the state. Thank you. Seeing no other questions. Thank you for your testimony. Thank you so much. Is there anybody here else that would like to testify for a little red door? All right. Seeing none. Moving on to the teamsters, I believe. Good morning. Thank you, chairman and the committee, for allowing us here today. When I found out the date of this meeting, I was going to come in and thank you for this date because I was supposed to spend the day with my wife and me going to lunch and dinner and stuff, because today is my birthday and her birthday today. So she told me this morning when I left that I’m not out of it, that I got to take you to a Saturday dinner. If any of you have ever gone to a Thursday night dinner versus a Saturday dinner, the Saturday dinner is going to cost me more. So we’re here to help. Thanks. So let’s see. I’m here today. That represent about 24,000 teamsters in the state of Indiana. I’m the chairman of the board of trustees for the Teamsters union, local number 142 training Apprentice Fund, and I’m also secretary treasurer of the Teamster Local there in Gary. The training fund exists to train drivers there in northwest Indiana to get their cdls to work in any other construction equipment that we might run on a construction site. And why does the fund want the special recognition license plate? Quite honestly, recognition. Previously, the Teamsters partnered with the Indiana FOP foundation in a similar arrangement. The fund wants to continue the partnership as the partnership with the local resulted in over about $16,000 in additional income to the FOP foundation in about two and a half years that we had our license plate back then. The FOP Indian FOP foundation chairman, William Owensbee. He’s unable to be here today, but he gave me some information to share with you. The funds went to the Indiana FOP foundation where the primary function is to take care of our members and their families when an align duty death occurs. When the unfortunate occurs, we suffer a line of duty loss. We immediately launch a team of officers from all over the state to help with the agency and the family that suffers a loss. Plan. Excuse me, the honors and funeral. Usually it’s a team of nine or ten in the area for a week or more doing the planning. Additionally, we provide family of the FOP member with emergency funds to help pay for unforeseen expenses. Typical costs for what described is about $20,000 per occurrence. Obviously, if we have two or three line of duty deaths in a calendar year, it becomes very costly. But it’s what we do and what we continue to do for our membership in order to ensure proper respect and honor is paid to our fallen. If you can imagine what an additional influx of funds would do towards the foundation, we also help with the expenses associated with sudden serious illness and injury to a member. On to a member case by case basis, it may mean paying for some copays or medications that a member needs. Everybody came in with big long stuff. You said you were in a hurry, so I cut mine down. Basically, to sum it up, while the fund gets the recognition, the teamsters in the state, our members were proud to have the license plate before when we had it. But the winner in all this is the FOP foundation with the extra funds that they get to help if an unfortunate event happens. Many questions. Senator Hunsdon, thank you. Thanks for being here today, and I appreciate so much the apprenticeship work that you all do as the Teamsters. And so I was just hoping you could explain a little bit more of why the funds wouldn’t all be used for the apprenticeship and that some would go to FOP. I think it’s a requirement that it has to go to a charity in the state of Indiana, and so that would be the chosen charity. Okay. That’s what our chosen charity was before, so. Got it. Got it. And just for committee members, do you know that three specialty license plates currently provide funds for police support? So Fop has their own plate, and then the chief of police foundation has a plate, and then, of course, the state police has their own plate. And so I’m just kind of naming that as we’re trying to. To decide what to do with, you know, with our limited number that we can assign for this year. But, again, appreciate all the work that the Teamsters do. Thank you. Thank you. So I’m curious about what happened back in. Was it 2014 when you guys lost the plate or didn’t? Yeah, 2015, the number that we had to maintain was 500, and we had 496. So, for short, did you guys do the probationary period also? Yes. And still couldn’t get it up to the 500. How do I say? The Teamsters at times are a dysfunctional brotherhood, and at that time, some of the locals in the state weren’t getting it along, as they say. And so since it wasn’t somebody else’s idea, they weren’t actually pushing. Sitting next to me is Dustin Roach. He actually is the principal officer for the local here in Indianapolis, which represents, what, 13,014. Members and he’s committed to help push the sell of the plates and stuff for us. So even though it’s Local 142, there is a benefit to the entire state through the Teamsters organization and the FOP, is that right? Correct. It’s not just going to benefit Local 142. We’re just the avenue to get it presented. Okay, fair enough, Representative Gore. And then we’ll go to Senator Ford. Thank you, Mister chairman. I’m excited by the prospect because you guys have had some great wins lately, ups as an example. And I’m excited at the prospect because we all want Hoosiers to get into really good paying jobs. And of course, we all appreciate the trades and the way you guys keep the state and the nation moving. So the advertisement that would be out there with a Teamsters plate, kind of reminding people that, you know, there’s an avenue in a career as a teamster, I think is interesting. And of course, as I’ve experienced the FOP memorial team firsthand recently, and they do incredible work too. So to me it seems like a really kind of interesting arrangement and one that I think could work really well. Senator. Thank you, mister Chairman. Just want to echo my colleague’s sentiments about the good work the Teamsters are doing. But just curious to know what is the plan for you all to ensure that you don’t come up short for those other four you plan to monitor and reached out. Can you talk a little bit about that? Well, like I said, we’re a happy bunch of folks now and working together in the state again. Our bureaucracy is just kind of crazy when you look at it. Our higher levels, there’s actually our locals, and then there’s three joint councils that touched Indiana. And us locals have decided to cut out all the stuff and work together the state to get things done for our members. And so, yeah, better monitoring, better push. And again, I didn’t have the biggest local in the state helping us last time. And Dustin sitting here to say he’s going to push it. Got it. All right. Thank you, mister chairman. May I follow up on that, Mister chairman? Sure. So as Harvey stated, in the past, we may have had some differences throughout locals. We were nominated and then took office in January 1, 2023. Since then we have been boots on the ground, getting involved actively in our communities in ways that we haven’t in the past, and then reaching basically across the aisle to our partners in different cities. And I actually am the vice president on the joint council that Harvey mentioned. And then within our joint council alone, we represent over 19,000 members. So we are working hard to try to get our member involvement and engagement and then work together as officers of our union. So you absolutely have our commitment to do that. We’ve been doing it since January 1, 2023, since we took office here locally. Any other questions of the committee? Seeing? None. Thank you for being here. Thank you. Thanks for the opportunity. And you guys have a great day and I’ll send my dinner check to someone. No, thank you very much. Thank you, guys. All right, Eagle Creek, if you want to come make a presentation next we will have UAW following Eagle Creek and then the Indianapolis Library. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you, chairman and committee members. I am going to give the cliff notes version of our application because I think we should all get out of here and get comfortable clothes and go to a park or a trail. So Eagle Creek park is one of the largest municipal parks in the entire United States with over 5000 acres of land and water. Some towns in Alaska keep buying up land, but that’s all it is, is land. And Eagle Creek park boast a lot more amenities. Eagle Creek hosts two nature centers, including a world renowned ornithology center, over 25 miles of hiking trails, ziplining course, boating, sailing, fishing, rowing club hosts national competitions for rowing. That brings in a lot of tourism to Indiana. Basically, if you want to do it in the outdoors, Eagle Creek park will probably have you out there. Most people think that we are a state park and we have more visitors than many national parks. About one and a quarter million visitors a year. We are proud to be an indie park that serves the entire state, but a city park that has city funding, which is where the foundation comes in. Eagle Creek Park foundation has a board of 21 members. And three full time staff. We have a board member in the audience today. We work to preserve and enhance the park and the user experience of all the people that come out there. We build bridges on trails. We funded a bilingual naturalist this year and many other programs and special events. We have a current membership base of nearly 2000 households, many of which live outside Marion county due to the amenities and the proximity to I 65. In addition, another over 5000 households purchase the Indy park’s annual pass. These Indiana residents come to the park multiple times a year, sometimes every day, for physical, mental and social benefits. Many of these park goers will proudly display an Eagle Creek park license plate as an identity piece and to give back to the park. I don’t have to explain to this committee the economic benefits of parks and open spaces to Indiana, but one benefit we know is that employers showcase Eagle Creek park as a recruitment tool not only inside Indianapolis, but also to the surrounding areas like the new Leap district in Lebanon. Eagle Creek Park foundation has been in existence for 50 years. We continue to grow our advocates every year who identify strongly with the park and are looking for more ways to give back. Several of them have already told us what personalization they would like on their license plate. We are prepared to have a successful license plate campaign with our full time marketing manager ready to let our followers know of this initiative. We look forward to working with the state and thank you for your time and consideration. You getting some texts? I’m sorry. Yes, I am way above my pay grade, so we’re going to deal with this. 1 second. Sorry about that. Questions from the committee. So a couple from me seems very specific to the Indianapolis area, and you had to have anticipated this question coming out there. Sell me on how this will impact Stark county. How do they participate in the generation of funds from the specialty plate here? The one thing we know is that visitors are coming from outside of Indianapolis. Even when we were getting people to sign our signatures, it’s about 30% of people from inside the park were coming from outside of Marion county. And that’s due to how large the park is and how many things are happening within the park. So the benefit if they come to visit would be, yeah, okay. That people are coming there. Most people think it is a state park. People think their state park pass gets them into Eagle Creek park. We get calls. People come to our website all the time thinking it’s a state park. It’s absolutely a beautiful park. When I’ve been there, it’s a great place to go visit. I’m just, you know, part of the application is that it has to benefit the state. So just kind of throwing that out there, giving you an opportunity to really sell us. Yeah. I mean, we do know that people are coming from all over the state to visit Eagle Creek park. Okay. Questions of the committee? Any others? Thank you. Yeah, thanks. Uaw, you are up. Hello. Thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to be here to speak with all of you. It’s a true honor. My name is Amy Rudd. I’m a proud UAW member of local 2209. I work at the General Motors Fort Wayne assembly plant. I proudly build the full size pickup trucks. There are 50,000 members that we have here in Indiana. Also are proud of the products that they build and the services that they provide to. And we would love to be able to showcase that pride with a license plate on our vehicles. 100% of the funds raised from this license plate will go directly to the Gasser scholarship. And that would be an amazing opportunity for us to expand our program. The Gasser scholarship was established in 1962, and since then, we have awarded over 600 scholarships. To students totaling near $3.5 million. The scholarship program right now is fully. Is fully funded by our membership. And this would be another way that we could expand our program so we can provide more life changing opportunities for our youth. Last year alone, we awarded twelve students with the $10,000 scholarship. So you can imagine how life changing that was for them. And the scholarship also allows the students to choose the course of study that they want, so they don’t have to go into a specific field or anything. So. And I’m here on behalf of the 50,000 active and 75,000 retired UAW members here in Indiana. And we were asking for your support for the approval of our license plate. And thank you again for allowing me the opportunity to be here. Absolutely. Questions of the committee. So I’ll admit I’ve been a little bit distracted with a little stuff going on behind the scenes here. So tell me how this benefits the whole state. All of your members will participate? Yes, it benefits all of the UAW members and their families. Even, like, retired members, grandchildren, children. So, yeah, it would benefit every single member. Perfect. And I’ve seen, you know, like I said, I’ve seen how it’s been life changing for people. I’ve actually seen recipients that received the scholarships. I believe in scholarships. I do like those opportunities. Senior. Oh, Senator Ford. Yeah. Thank you, mister chairman. So, twelve scholarships, six go to Indiana students. And can you tell us again how much those scholarships would be to those Indiana students? $10,000 each. Great. Thank you so much. Yeah, you’re welcome. Very generous scholarship, too. Any other questions? Seeing none. Thank you. All right. Thank you so much. Okay. Indie library, where you at? There we go. Good afternoon, chairman and committee members and staff from the legislative services Agency, and also especially to the staff of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. We’re very honored to be with you today to testify in favor of the Indianapolis public library Foundation’s application for a specialty group license plate. We do have some materials going around, a short PowerPoint presentation, which I’ll walk us through, as well as our annual report. So the first thing that we would like to do is share a little bit about us. But before we do that, I want to introduce my colleague, Mike Williams, who’s also with us today. And he has a very important leadership role on the project that would receive the funding. And we also have two individuals, Mary Barr and Maureen Kesterson Yates, who are here with the library’s community communications department. So the library’s mission is to enrich everyone and strengthen communities by inspiring lifelong learning. We have 150 years of public service, and we do that from central library, 24 branch libraries, several bookmobiles. And we also have a shared system, which is a network of schools and libraries that share our system. We have 289,000 cardholders, 8.8 million items borrowed last year, 2.5 million visitors to our physical locations last year, 6.9 million website visitors, which we consider a virtual branch library. And also, as I said, our bookmobile and our network of schools and museums that share collections. Now, the library foundation might be new to you. We are the not for profit partner of the Indianapolis Public Library. We’ve been in existence since 1960, and we elevate the Indianapolis Public Library by activating the community’s generosity. And we provide, through our generous donors, about 2 million a year for targeted initiatives that extend the library’s impact. And we have an example of that here, which has a statewide reach that we want to talk to you about. So the three points we want to hit today are that, yes, indeed, the funds we are requesting through the license plate will have a statewide impact. We are confident that we can sell the plates. And also, we just think this is an opportunity to lift up all libraries in Indiana that improve Hoosier’s quality of life and want to talk about a few other ways in which the Indianapolis public Library has a statewide impact. And so to move on, to share how the funds would be used, I’d like to ask my colleague Mike Williams to speak up at this time. We’re going to talk about the Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, the next page in your PowerPoint, indiancyclopedia.org. Is the website for that unique free online resource where people can learn about places, events, people, organizations that have made Indianapolis. And that is the Indianapolis metropolitan statistical area. That is not just Marion county. And it fits in with the timeline of our state all the way from when the stagecoach came up from Corydon carrying the gold to the new capital of Indianapolis. It is access to accurate historical information which we know is essential to a strong and civil society in our state. We have twelve statewide partners, including cultural heritage institutions and universities, that contribute electronically to the encyclopedia. They have digital archives. The encyclopedia draws from those digital archives and presents them to users. Let’s talk about users. Obviously, the Cimmerian county contingent knows great things that the library foundation does, that the library does, and that the encyclopedia does. But if you will look at this lovely little map of Indiana, you can see it is quite blue. We have users in every corner of the state, so that for all the folks who are not in central Indiana, you have users in your district. Unquestionably 168,562 total users among our population, and that’s Indiana users across the world. Since our launch, and we’re a fairly new entity, we launched in late November of 2021, we have already amassed 489,000 users. Indianapolis sees 95,000 users, but that means that users outside of Indianapolis total more than 73,000 folks. So lots of hoosiers are using this resource, and that is where the license plate funding would go through the generosity of the Indianapolis Public Library foundation. So there’s some statewide impact for you, mister chair. We also want to clarify or add to that that we have about 1300 entries that have Indiana state as a search term in them. So there is substantial content that pertains to state history. Okay, so we collected 570 plus signatures, and the library and library foundation would join forces to promote these book the opportunity to sell these license plates. So our opportunities are pretty numerous. First of all, we have about 289,611 active card holders. We have 600 employees, 600 volunteers, and 24 board members. Between the two organizations, we have throughout the city, we have 25 buildings where we can display posters and flyers and digital displays. The library and foundation also have a combined 7 million visitor a year reach to our website. We have a patron newsletter to which patrons can opt in, and that has 200,000 subscribers per month. We have 25,000 followers on our combined social media accounts. And the library is going to be launching a magazine in Q four of 2024. So we have numerous opportunities to reach very large numbers of people to sell these plates. And then a couple final points we want to remind with is that we know we are primarily focused on Indianapolis, but there are libraries in every single county, and this is a reminder to everybody about the power of the public library. Public libraries address critical needs in Indiana children’s literacy how many of you are concerned about the iread scores mental health? I was so heartened when we read through your background. How many of you are advocating for mental health? You are my heroes, my personal heroes for doing that. And we have the library has a critical role in the mental health needs of our community. We have a social work program. We are talking to other libraries about them expanding their own social work program. We worked with a university person at IU Indianapolis who developed our social work program, and now she was a worldwide expert in social work programs and public libraries with clients all over the world. And that started here in Indianapolis with her technology and access and workforce development. How many of us are concerned about the digital dividend, people needing to be able to apply for jobs but not being able to get to a computer? Public libraries across the state of Indiana solve that problem for us. We also provide numerous opportunities for workforce development and small business development by providing classes on the information you need to do that successfully. And then, in addition to the Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, which is a very strong illustration of our worldwide reach and our statewide reach, we also have about 1540 Indiana. Of residents who access through a public library access card. A public library access card is sold by the state library for about $65. And once you have one of those, you can use any library in the state. And as we move to more e materials, we have the largest e material collection in the state. So you don’t actually even have to be traveling to Indianapolis to use our public library. If you have a plaque card, you can use the online resources we have. And then the other point I wanted to make about our statewide impact is that we also have what’s called a shared system. And this is a complicated arrangement, but the easiest way to explain it is that it’s school libraries, museum libraries, and the public library sharing materials to increase students access to materials. And one of our members is the Indiana school for the Deaf. So children come from throughout Indiana to be educated there, and we provide them with library service. So those are our points that we have. We are going to make a statewide impact. We’re confident we can sell the plates. And public libraries are awesome, and they’re doing great things in every single one of your communities. So, with that said, again, I want to open the floor for questions. And again, thank you to the committee members, the LSA staff, the BMV staff, and also, if you’re in town and need a place to crash and have a little break, please come to a public library, or please come to a public library in your own community. Thank you so much. Thank you. Questions, questions of the committee. Representative Johnson. Thank you, mister chairman. This question is actually from Mike. It’s a tough one. So one of the purposes of the encyclopedia is to highlight the people who make Indianapolis what it is today, who have made. I think something’s wrong with the site. I looked up both Mitch and I, and there’s no entries. So what do you make of that, Mike? Honestly, that’s a very, very good thing, because you only get a personal entry after you have passed and after you’ve been gone for like five years, right? Yes. Five years dead, perhaps. That’s the only reason I asked the question. I’m sure Mitchell get there first. You might be a timeline entry, though, someday. We do occasionally put living people in a timeline. Depending on what happens, some Indianapolis metropolitan area wins a Nobel prize. We’ll pop them in the timeline for sure. Okay, so I do have a question, and I’m not. I’m treading very cautiously here, but it’s in the brochure that you handed to me about your financial statement, so not picking on you. So I’m just asking the question. So your 23 statement of financial position says that you have a total of $24 million in assets and liabilities. And then it shows, basically, from your revenue and expenses in 23, that you had a net profit of $1.5 million. So, if that being true, and I’m assuming that it is, the question that I’m posing you is, why should we pick you over the smaller units that don’t have those assets or that revenue? Fair question. Representative. Is he talking about. I’m trying to look for our library financial. Page 1313. Okay, well, this is regarding the library foundation. So, basically, what I would say to that is that the majority of our funding is restricted for a specific purpose, and a lot of the money that we have is actually there to make income for us. So that’s what I would say in response to that. And even when you look at. You know, so a lot of. So that. That is why I would say that just a lot of the income is restricted for other purposes. Okay. That’s fair. And the application does say library foundation, so I’m assuming it’s the same. Right. So we’re with two organizations. We’re the official applicant, and we’re the Indianapolis Public Library foundation, and we’re the not for profit fundraising arm of the public library. All right. So are your financials different, then? Yes, the library’s. These are the foundation’s financials. Okay. And then the library has different financials. Is that in your brochure, too? It should be. That’s what I was looking for. I think your application is another one that is, like, hundreds of pages long. So I haven’t got that far into it. Let’s see. Oh, yes. If you look at. If you look on page ten, you can see the library. So their revenues were 78.3 and expenses were 87.5. And I would suspect that probably some of this has to. This is more than just the operating budget. This also includes bond money for construction projects. So that probably. It’s probably a timing issue in terms of why expenses are higher than revenues. It would have been a good argument why you need the plate. Well, you can. You can argue that one both ways. I think so, but no, I think that we. This. This is. Even though we do have a. Substantial assets at the foundation. Most of that is restricted for something specific. And this would create a new revenue stream for a relatively new initiative. That encyclopedia has only been alive since 2021, and it relies heavily on private support to make it happen. So this is an example of how we come along and partner with the library to increase the library’s margin of excellence. And so we need, we’re still working that Runway of developing that sustainable, diversified base of funding for the encyclopedia specifically. Fair enough. Thank you. Thank you for the question. Thank you for being here. And thank you for coming. Thank you. Okay, that’ll bring me to not showing any bias here, but I’m going to say my favorite presentation because it is the Laporte county meals on wheels. And I represent Laporte county, so obviously it’s going to be my favorite. Well, soon I’m going to be everybody in this room’s favorite person. And I do mean that. I would like to just start off with thanking the committee for allowing us to be here today. I’d like to thank my board of directors, our staff, our priceless volunteers for always working together to make our program possible. Helen Keller said it best alone. We can only do a little. Together. We can do so much. Let me introduce myself. My name is Amanda Fowler. I’m the assistant director to Laporte County Meals on Wheels. I do believe that we are much more than a meal, and I mean that full heartedly. And I don’t need to read my notes to believe in it. Since becoming part of meals on wheels, I’ve seen the value and the richness of our volunteers have to offer our clients firsthand. For 50 years, we have strived to be so much more than a meal. We are a friendly, familiar face at their door. We offer medically tailored meals to ensure our clients are getting the nutrition that they need and that they deserve. We are there to offer a hand to get the mail from the mailbox. We are a conversation. We go above the need of a basic meal and send water to clients when they need it or a can of ginger ale when they have an upset stomach. We cry with them. We laugh with them. Our clients are our family, and as long as they can remain in their homes with some help from meals on wheels, they get to stay there. Our mission is to nourish and to enrich the lives of homebound seniors, disabled persons, and providing the nutritious hot meals delivered daily by the caring community volunteers. Even during COVID we didn’t miss a day. We didn’t miss a meal. We got creative. Like so many others, we provided masks, hand sanitizers and even clean plastic bags so we can hang the meal, put the meal in the bag, hang it on the doorknob safely, just separate from each other so we could check on each other and see each other from a safe distance. To this day, few clients are even still scared to make human contact. They’re still afraid of what could happen to them. We still talk to them through the door. We make phone calls to them just so they can have a conversation. Did you know 70% of our clients statewide only come in contact with a volunteer for meals on wheels? Other than talking to their family on the phone, we’re their people. We’re their family. Many of our clients live either alone or with their spouses. Their children and their family don’t live close enough, so they’re not able to visit them often. These daily wellness checks are very viable to our clients and to their families. We are here to provide that lifeline, health, wellness information, nutrition, and most of all, to offer the love and the support of their community. We become like family, and they wouldn’t have that. They wouldn’t have without programs like, like ours across the state. Caring for individuals who are unable to leave their homes or access healthy nutrition. Well, I just kind of left that hook right there. Our clients can’t access grocery stores. They can’t get out of their homes. They don’t know how to use technology to have a grocery store delivered to their door. We are that lifeline to them. We have rural areas where there’s not a grocery store. And we have communities right in Laporte county and across the state where they don’t want a grocery store because that means we’re going to bring in the outsiders. They want to stay farming. They want their property. They want their independence. That’s what that was trying to say. We are always striving to create and to build relationships. We have been recently able to add a pet program due to the generosity of donations and the partnership with Humane Society. We have also been able to eliminate our waiting list because we have a wonderful partnership with Doordash. We are looking forward. To better help and to support veterans in our community across the state by helping find ways to bring them hot meals or even by creating congregate dining sites. In Indiana, we currently have over 1.6 million individuals who are over the age of 60. Most of them qualify for title three funding. This number is going to be on the rise in continuing rate of eight to 15% over the next six years. Currently, my program is servicing 298 clients daily. We are faced with the growth that we need in our community and with on a low end. I’m projected by 2030 to have 480 clients in Laporte county alone. Of these individuals, 12.7% of them are threatened or experience hunger. Indiana is currently raked at the at number twelve for seniors who are facing hunger. So the state of Indiana is number twelve for seniors facing hunger. Meals and wheels programs like ours across the state are doing what we can do to eliminate the wait for food to put a stop to senior hunger. We are committed to service and to serve someone who had just had surgery and needs help for a few weeks. We are committed to the family who calls because they don’t know how they’re going to be able to work, take care of their parents and their children at the same time. What we do understand that the individuals in our community is literally okay, I can’t read this anymore. I can’t read this. After a senior goes into the hospital, we have a 15% readmission rate because they tried to take care of themselves too much or because they didn’t have access to nutrition. Programs like meals on wheels across the state will help eliminate and bring down that number. And not to sit there and say we’re going to save Medicare dollars or anything like that. We’re going to help them save from not breaking their hip because they just had a heart procedure or they just had the flu. 15% less readmission rate. We provide five hot meals Monday through Friday to our clients in Laporte county. And we plan on building and growing our state program so money will be available to programs just based on a bad day when the freezer goes out. I did the math. I would be out $1,800 between the cost of a new freezer and the cost of the frozen meals I stored in there. If I don’t have $1,800 in my budget to replace what I just lost as a program, my program might shut its doors. State association would have that money to sit there and I’m sorry, an oh, shit fund because I’m speaking frankly with you guys to where that program would not close that day. They would not have to worry about how they’re going to feed the individuals in that county in their community because they weren’t able to save it. Nearly 2 million meals were serviced last year alone in the state of Indiana. We did over 500. Don’t quote me on this. 526, 560,000 meals in northwest Indiana alone. Last year, 120 of those thousand, 120,000 meals were in Laporte county alone. The problem with Laporte county is we’re the second largest land state county in Indiana. It takes me 45 minutes to get from my office in Michigan City down to La Crosse. I’m not even in Stark county yet. That’s literally the stop sign on the corner. I have to keep food hot, I have to keep food cold, and I have to do it in a timely fashion so my clients know where we are. I appreciate you guys taking the time and really just listening to my heart today, because this license plate is going to allow Laporte county to grow so we can get in the south county, so we can expand, but it will also allow us to build up the state association so programs will not be dying in this state, that we will have that support system so we can put an end to senior hunger and end the wait for nutrition. Thank you. Thanks, Amanda. It’s pretty intimidating being in this room for the first time. So I applaud you on your efforts in speaking from the heart. Without reading from your notes, you presented very well. Thank you, Joe. Questions of the committee for amanda, please. I’m ready. Let’s go. Oh, yeah. I told you, y’all are gonna be my best friends by the time we leave here. I am not gonna show you any impartiality because you’re a constituent. Come on, let’s get it. Yeah, we’re doing it. So, like, I’ve asked everyone else that I felt necessary. So you are definitely Laporte county and you’re not? I’m definitely Laporte county. Right. So how does the state benefit? And through your application, I’ll already put it out there that once. If you’re given this opportunity, how much of it are you going to share with the state association? So, currently, based upon. On our application, Laporte county will receive half of the funds. Our kitchen will receive 25% of the funds. When they built their new kitchen, they outgrew it the day they moved in. So they need to be looking forward to that next move for them. They also service seven counties in Indiana out of that one kitchen. The remaining 25% is going to go directly to state association. Currently, Laporte county is asking for half of the money because as my payroll comes out of Laporte county, as we’re trying to get the state association growing, that is where we see that the money would be best serviced. Within a couple of years, we will go through and do a reassessment of where the needs are and how we can put more money directly into the state. I think it’s pretty admirable that one of the county, a chapter, I think that’s what you guys are as a chapter of the state organization, has done all the legwork, jumped through all of the hoops to not only benefit Laporte county and Stark county, and it sounds like northwest Indiana at given times when you’re called upon, but to help the whole state as an organization, you guys did all the heavy lifting. So I think that’s pretty admirable. I’m excited to see the state association grow in leaps and bounds. I think what we can do as a whole, like I start off with my quote, I’m only one person. We need to work together to make it happen. I’m one of few programs that offers hot meals and a choice menu at the same time. Some programs might send you liver and onions, and if you don’t like it, you’re forced to eat it that day. So I feel like as we grow, we can make everybody’s life better. Senator Bohacek would absolutely love that liver and onions. If you want to just send it to him. Chef Keith is an amazing cook. I think he would enjoy it. Taking a liver and onion. So you have takers. Any other questions from the committee? Seeing none. Thank you, Amanda, for traveling down here this morning. Thank you, everyone. I appreciate you. Okay, that’s going to bring us up to the last specialty license plate. And I do have two individuals signed up in opposition. So before I jump into getting the presentation going from humane Indiana, I just want to put out there that we’re going to keep this civil. A couple years ago, we got into some name calling. I remember that distinctly in the Senate chambers, and I am not going to allow that to happen. So state your case and in the opposition portion of it. There will be no name calling, no nothing. Just state your case and do a good job of it. I think you can do that and accomplish what you need to do. Fair enough. All right, Indiana humane, you’re up. Good afternoon. Thank you for allowing us to speak today on behalf of all of our plates that we’re trying to get pushed through. My name is Nicole Harmon, and I serve as the director for Humane Indiana’s wildlife rehabilitation center. Now, humane Indiana as a whole has been around for 80 years, but the wildlife rehabilitation center is the newest and has only been around for ten. And in that ten years time, our facility has become the largest wildlife rehabilitation center in the state. I cannot express enough that our efforts as wildlife rehabilitators in the state is really a cohesive group who must work together. And unlike other subsets who are trying to battle for funds, we have to use one another to achieve our goals of assisting wildlife throughout the state. So the goal of wildlife rehabilitation is not to keep, keep wild animals in captivity. It is to assist wildlife, common species, threatened species, endangered species in our own state who have been injured, who are ill, who are found orphans and return them back to the wild. And this is something that impacts every one of our counties, every one of our states, or every one of our cities within the state. Humane Indiana wildlife sits in Porter county, but we actually physically just. Our center takes in animals from over 33 counties. Laporte county, which I know has been mentioned a couple of times, we sit just adjacent to it, and about a third of our animals actually come from Laporte county. Wildlife rehabilitation, like I said, is not working in a silo. It’s working together. And I’m not here on behalf only of humane Indiana, but I am here on behalf of all the wildlife rehabilitators across the state, because it is such a unique subset of animal medicine. And up until about three decades ago, It was something that was not well managed and well restricted. But certain laws have been set in place for the betterment of our wildlife and of our environment. And I want to kind of explain to you a little bit of how that works. Now, if you want to be a wildlife rehabilitator, you have to work underneath veterinarians. You have to work under other wildlife rehabilitators, senior rehabilitators, for a number of years before you are allowed to take a test through Indiana’s department of Natural Resources. Once you are approved through that test, once you’ve passed your test, you are then inspected and allowed to take in birds, mammals, reptiles, or amphibians. And if you’re going to take in birds, then you have to work through us fish and wildlife, and you have to be approved through them, permitted through them. But then that becomes truly a nonprofit effort, as the care for those animals that do come into our facilities is strictly out of the pockets of the rehabilitators themselves. We do not get state or federal funding, though we are regulated by state and federal agencies. And so those wildlife rehabilitators, I would consider myself vastly lucky for what I do, because I do get paid for my job. But there are over 150 wildlife rehabilitators across the country or across the state of Indiana who do not get paid for what they do. And when we look at what $25 does, the cost, again, as others have mentioned, the cost of one wildlife license plate that feeds my bald eagle patient for two days. We’ve had that bald eagle for 79 days. Came into the rehabilitation center after bouncing off of the windshield of somebody on her way to work in Plymouth, suffered a fractured pelvis and a fractured scapula, his shoulder blade, and has been with us ever since. He’s one of six bald eagles that we have taken in. But again, I am one of the lucky ones because we have humane Indiana, who has been here for 80 years. And I am not looking right now at humane Indiana, but I am looking as an administrator of funds, as a representative of those other rehabilitators who are interspersed throughout the entire state, who are helping people who find these animals while they’re taking their children to school, when they’re late for a meeting and the person in front of them hit a hawk. Do you brush past it because you’re late, or do you stop and you help and you assist? We are so fortunate in our state to sit on one of the largest migratory flyways in the country, and we see animals who come here from all across the world. Last year, we had taken in a bird who was supposed to be in the Arctic in November, but he was blown into northwest Indiana by a hurricane, and he came to our facility. What we’re proposing is a license plate that focuses on our native wildlife and nothing else. We want that license plate to highlight Indiana’s most endangered bird of prey, our barn owl, a bird that birders come from all across the state to find. It’s not found in northern Indiana. It’s found in southern parts of Indiana. Now, because they’re gone from my part of the state, I will never see a barn owl in my county. Well, I hope to, right. But it’s the work of those wildlife rehabilitators. We want to highlight the idea of preserving and protecting our native wildlife. And that image in front of you as you’re sitting in traffic, as we all do, stuck in construction, that that’s a species that I can see in my state. And with around 150 barn owls left in our state, the idea that my children may never be able to find them here because they may be gone completely. And that’s why this is a whole state endeavor. And so what we’re proposing with the idea of getting this plate is to, is to help others, is to be an advocator of, or administrator of those funds to do a couple of key different things. When we do get our licensure from the state and federal government, us fish and Wildlife and Indiana DNR, we are required to have continuing education every three years. We have to have a certain number of credits right now that comes out of the pockets of those individuals who are doing wildlife rehabilitation. We would like to set up a scholarship fund so that this helps to send those rehabilitators to a national conference to get credits through different college programs and university programs to help those continuing education credits be accomplished. We want to be able to set up a conference here in the Midwest to bring in rehabilitators from Illinois, from Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, to bring them here to our state to not only see what our wildlife rehabilitators are doing, but to learn from our specialists as well. We want to help to sponsor the national conference here in the Midwest. We want to set up a program that is a reimbursement fund for rehabilitators who are paying for these animals out of pocket, these animals who are needing x rays and cts, animals who are needing services. Surgery to be able to return back to the wild animals who are having to battle against diseases that we become familiar with ourselves. Avian influenza has been something that has been in the media for months now. But as a wildlife rehabilitator, I heard about it about three years ago when we were told, our patients are going to be the ones who are hit first, the wildlife flying through our state. And you have to make sure you’re ready. Your PPE has to be. You must be prepared for this. And coming out of the pockets of individuals who say, how do I get PPE? For myself, this is something new. We are truly the canaries of the coal mine for our wildlife when we’re looking at things like West Nile, an epizonic hemorrhagic disease that is now going through our deer across the state, which then impacts the hunting seasons, it’s also interconnected, and wildlife rehabilitators sit at the very heart of that. Our data that comes from the animals that come into our care is turned over to universities and state and federal agencies to help better understand the medical needs of our wildlife, to better understand the health of our environment. And yet we sit here, and our wildlife rehabbers are paying for it out of their own pockets. We would also love to be able to expand the enclosures of other facilities. Right now, we work with rehabilitators across the state, where if you do not have the capacity to take in another family of foxes because the neighbor down the road killed mom and dad because they got their chickens, we’re going to send those foxes to another rehabilitator. We’re going to take in those foxes ourselves. If you don’t have the capacity to take in another turkey vulture or another red tail hawk who’s suffering from West Nile, we want to expand those enclosures for different facilities across the state. We also want to work with our other entities to increase the research capabilities that they have. And most importantly, at least for me, is that I want to increase a lead testing capacity throughout the state of Indiana. This is something that I’ve really grown a hold of within the past couple of years when I became director of the organization. And what we started doing was not only lead testing our birds of prey, which we’ve all heard about, our California condors across the country, our bald eagles, our turkey vultures, are all succumbing to lead toxicity, but it’s not just them. And so we started testing so many other different animals. Not only our birds of prey, but our small mammals, too, the ones who are residing in our very own backyards. And with confidence, I can say that it’s almost alarming for Laporte county. Specifically, 95% of the wildlife that I test solely out of Laporte county test positive for lead toxicity. But they are living in our backyard. So where is that coming from? We worked with a woman in Valparaiso, our own city, and discovered that the five animals that she brought to us, who all had toxicity, that led accumulation, was coming from a stream that was running through her backyard, the very same stream that her children and her dogs were playing in, that was coming from further upstream. So we, as wildlife rehabilitators, can help solve problems that is so much more than just the animals that come into our care. And so, by advocating for this license plate, we are really advocating for the members of our community, for the birding community who comes to see these wildlife all throughout the state and support them. But we’re here for one another, and I think that that’s vastly important. I more than welcome any sort of questions that may come my way or any opposition. I would love to be able to kind of squash any sort of misconceptions about what we are trying to achieve in this license plate. I am so excited for the excitement of the rehabilitators throughout our state and those who are lovers of our native wildlife and lovers of our environment, to highlight a species that is so important and can be lost. So, thank you. Thank you. So, since there is some opposing testimony, I’m going to ask the committee for questions of you. Now, if something comes up in that, the committee member says, hey, I want to verify this back and forth, or myself, or if you’re jumping out of your chair, try and restrain yourself, but I will call on you to allow you to kind of defend yourself. But I’m not going to get into a debate back and forth. That’s not going to happen. Fair. Okay, so my first question is very similar to where the library question was. So you didn’t hand me anything and disclose your financials, but I do have access to it in the packet. It’s very healthy. So why do you really think that we should award you this plate when I’m trying not to say what was in there? Because we did pull those off the website. And I believe that I know what you’re alluding to. So humane. It’s extremely healthy. So humane Indiana is divided up into multiple different subsets. And those funds that have been designated were designated for the use of spay neuter, for the use of low cost care for domestic pets across northwest Indiana were designated for the animal shelter. The funds that are within that humane Indiana line have nothing to do with the wildlife rehabilitation center because they were designated. And so the wildlife Rehabilitation center operates on an entirely separate budget and cannot touch those funds. And so we truly are grassroots. We are hosting things like a festival of owls, which is the largest owl festival in all of Indiana. We’re really trying to bolster education programming, but we do not have access to those funds. As the wildlife rehabilitation center, where do you receive the lying stay of your funds that you receive to operate right now? So we do operate at a loss every year, but it is through grants that are received. It is through education programming. Education programming is vastly important to what we do. We provide over 350 programs every year for counties north of Indianapolis to try to offset funds. In that case, most of those grants that we receive are also for education. And so we use that pillar of education to help fund the rest of the wildlife rehabilitation center. When an animal does come into care, I cannot ask you or I cannot charge you, and we are all supposed to not spare, specifically request a donation. If you choose to provide us with a donation, then that also goes to contribute to that. But I would say around half of the people who bring us animals do not provide a donation. And I understand that not everybody is at that capacity, but that is how the wildlife rehab center funds itself. Okay, so you receive no funding then from your parent organization? We do. And they provide, I mean, they do provide those funds, but it is nothing part of what you. It’s not part of that. That bulk sum that goes towards the cat and dog shelter. Okay, so where I’m really trying to get to is you’re going to hear some opposition. Sure. And I think it’s a legitimate piece of opposition and I’m trying not to be a spoiler here. Right. But I think that you would absolutely compete with statewide organization that already contributes to your underlying organization. Do you think that to be true? I don’t. And so I know what we’re referring to is the spay neuter certificates that go for the shelter and the shelter does support that. We have a sign out front on the reception desk that encourages people to purchase the license plates. The wildlife Rehabilitation center does not spay and neuter animals and we do not receive any sort of part of that licensure at all. We are strictly providing care for wildlife animals. I have never once had a cat or a dog enter my rehabilitation center for care and that is what those funds are designated for. Now I would, when I look at the license plates that have already been submitted and I look at the different environmental plates, those go towards habitat restoration. That again is not something that we do. We are providing medical care for injured and orphaned native wildlife, whether they are common, threatened or endangered species, to get them back into the wild. There is nothing in any of those license plate initiatives that support that endeavor, nothing that we can pull from. And I guess that’s my, to me it feels almost black and white. I spay, neuter nothing at our center. Okay, so just. This can be a very brief answer. So maybe I wasn’t really clear. So do you think that. So, and I’m just going to pick a number because I don’t have it in front of me. The pet friendly, they sell 1000 license plates. It’s more than that, but they sell a thousand license plates. If we were to give you a plate, would it, do you believe that it would not have a direct impact on what they get? Maybe they’re only going to sell 500 plates because of yours, which will impact the entire state and your underlying corporation that supports you. I don’t know that. I can’t say that for any of the license plates. It comes down to a personal preference, right? In a way. I am an environmentalist. Whose plate do I choose? The Turkey Federation. Do I choose the environmental plate? Do I choose the humane Indiana plate? But again, it’s not a humane Indiana plate, it’s a wildenhouse. Wildlife rehabilitation plate. And that logo that will be on there is not a cat and dog. When you look at that logo, it has nothing to do with domestic animals. It is an endangered barn owl, a species who, there are 150 of them in our state. We are preserving and protecting that. And so to me, it is vastly different. To me, it does not compete with that any more than it competes with any of the other license plates that are out there. The Indianapolis Zoo, the Eagle Creek foundation, who made their application today in so many ways, we help support so many of those other organizations and entities. Those animals that are at the Indianapolis zoo come from wildlife rehabilitators who paid for that out of their pocket. The Eagle Creek Ornithology center houses birds who come from wildlife rehabilitators. One of their own staff members is a wildlife rehabilitator, I believe. And so it is. It’s vastly different in my eyes, and that might not be the same for others who look at it, but it does really come down to preference. Do I believe that we will dramatically take away from that specific plate? I don’t, because it’s wildlife. It’s wildlife centric. I am looking to impact the birders, our community, who, when they look at their license plates, they have the eagle and the turkey. I’m looking for those environmentalists. I’m tapping into those groups of people. I’m not going after spay neuter, because, quite frankly, it’s spay neuter that we want to support, because about 19% of the animals that come into our care do come from outdoor pets. And so if we can have those cats that are outdoors be spayed and neutered, our wildlife are better for it. So we support that endeavor wholeheartedly, and we’ll continue to do so. Perfect. Thank you. I appreciate you with the testimony, of course, and especially me kind of grilling you just a little bit, but that sheds a lot of light on it for me and hopefully for the committee. Any questions at the committee, Representative Gore? Thank you, Mister chairman. So we’ve talked a lot about wildlife rehabilitation, sure. But the little blurb, which in our packet, which admittedly is not the hundreds of pages you’ve submitted that I haven’t had time to look at in its entirety, says that the plate will sustain general operations of humane Indiana. Yes, part of that will help with humane Indiana. Right now, what we are working to do is to expand our capacity to assist with other rehabilitators. And so by expanding our capacity, we can help offload some of the burden that does fall on those rehabilitators. Because throughout the state, we do have others who are reaching out to us and saying, I’m in Terre Haute and I have an animal who needs to come to you. I’m from Evansville and I can’t take on this animal and it needs to come to another facility. Can you take it in? And so part of that is the operations of our own center, because we work so diligently to help others again, because, because we do have that 80 year history and I feel a responsibility to help others, we do need to increase our own operations, as even our own personal intake has increased 33% every year. This year, we are on track to take in over 3500 animals just at our own center, many of those coming from others, other rehabilitators. Clarification, Mister chairman? I’m sorry. I meant, you know, it’s under the humane Indiana umbrella and it says the plate will aid in sustaining our general operations of humane Indiana, is how I take that to mean that the funds could be used for spay neuter or shelter operations. It would be designated strictly for wildlife. So humane Indiana and humane Indiana wildlife do share the same EIN number, the same nonprofit number. But internally you’ve decided to designate, correct? Absolutely. The funds are not strictly, and even in a majority going towards our organization, the focus is expanding this on others. We wanted to help with our own, you know, that sense of responsibility to assist other rehabilitators by providing them with medical care, by providing them with lead testing equipment, and by providing them with increased enclosure space. I have those things others do not. And so we want to be, because we are well suited to be able to assist with that. We want to be able to administer those funds in the same way that pet friendly services is able to administer funds for spay neuters throughout the state, as well to so many different entities. We want to be that administrator of funds for wildlife rehabilitation. There are so many entities that work for domestic pets that work for spay neuter. And again, we wholeheartedly support that as wildlife rehabilitation across the state, we know how important that is. But wildlife rehabilitation is also incredibly important as well. We find that the incidental takes from birds of prey, our own bald eagles, wildlife rehabilitators. And what we’re able to do to get populations back out and give them a second chance offsets what occurs through incidental takes through electrical companies and windmill farms. We are vastly important. But because of the history of wildlife rehab, there’s convincing we have to do. And so that is what part of this is. I am here to advocate for giving wildlife rehabilitation in the state of Indiana. That chance to really assist our wildlife with in no part, taking away from the domestic side of things. I love the shelter and what we do at humane Indiana. I have no idea what occurs within those walls. I am over an hour away. I am strictly focused on our native wildlife. Representative Lauer for a question. Thank you, mister chairman. I appreciate what you do. I think it’s important work. My parents are in your neck of the woods, right? Yes. So tell, help me out a little bit. I’m in Columbus Bartholomew county. And how would any of my residents use your services or benefit should this plate be approved? How would that translate to benefiting residents in my county or any county across the state? Yeah. So throughout the state, like I had said, there’s around 100 licensed wildlife rehabilitators who then have sub permities who sit underneath them. And when an animal, or when a person in our community finds an animal who is in distress, who is ill, who is orphaned, they have to turn to somebody to provide it care. And so if you were to call your veterinarian, because that seems like an obvious answer, they will say, we’re gonna call your wildlife rehabilitation center. Here’s the number for these entities, our state police, our local fire departments. If you call the Indiana DNR hotline for wildlife, it’ll all turn you over to these wildlife rehabilitators who are spread throughout our state. And so you’ll be provided with their number. And then the goal is to get that animal into that individual’s care. It is not wildlife rehabilitators themselves who are out finding the animals, but it is our community members who are doing that. It is our teachers, it is our gentleman taking his mom to the laundromat who finds a 40 pound beaver crossing the road in Gary, Indiana. He doesn’t belong there. Right. And it gets turned over to a wildlife rehabilitator. The wonderful thing about wildlife rehabilitation is you never know when it is going to impact you or if it will. But our community members are the ones who are finding them. And Bartholomew county individuals. Maybe you can’t find a wildlife rehabilitator around you because if you have a bird, there are only about 25 rehabilitators across the entire state who are permitted by the federal government to take in those birds. We are one of them. And so if you find a bird and you are decidedly needing to help this animal, you will likely wind up calling humane Indiana. And at humane Indiana wildlife, we will tell you we are going to work with you to get that animal to us. I have taken animals from Anderson, I’ve taken animals from Corydon. I’ve taken Indiana or animals from Marion county. It really does not matter where you are in the state. I transferred in an animal from Allen county yesterday from Fort Wayne, great blue heron. Because there was nobody else. We want to prevent that. I don’t want animals from calling all across my state. It’s a medical emergency. When they do come into us, driving 5 hours is not ideal. And so it does, it impacts every single community, every city, every county within our state comes across animals who are injured or orphaned. Thank you, Representative Lauer, for a follow up. And then we’re going to go to Senator Ford and then I am going to move along and I’m being very respectful here, but if we could shorten those answers up. Get to the point. Of course. Thank you. Thank you, mister chair. Very quickly, you mentioned you got a bald eagle. Where was that bald eagle from? We’ve got quite a few of those beautiful birds in my neck of the woods. Yeah. So northwest Indiana was pretty sparse on bald eagles until about ten years ago. The one we currently have was found in Plymouth. The one that I had gotten before that was actually found in Michigan City. He was found in a ditch sopping wet. We were able to release him. We’ve taken in bald eagles from Lake County, Porter county, and then recently one from Pulaski county as well. Great. Thank you. Of course, Senator Ford. Thank you, mister chairman. Thank you for your testimony, for being here today. During Representative Gore’s line of questioning, you mentioned that there are two entities, but you’re using the same taxpayer id number. Is that correct? It is. So humane Indiana and then humane Indiana wildlife? Yes. So why not just have humane Indiana wildlife? Be the one that actually applies for the special plate. I’m not sure if it was, so I did not do the submission. So that might be Christy who could better answer that. But I think because it is a parent organization and we are one of four subsidiaries within that, that it just went under the parent name as opposed to saying humane Indiana wildlife. Okay. And then just my follow up question, if I may, mister chairman. I’ll make it quick. So just to clarify, none of the plate money that you’ll be receiving will go to spare neuter services? Correct. Okay, thank you. All right, any other questions? See, none. Thank you. And I can definitely sense the passion in your presentation. So it’s been well received. Thank you. All right, first up we’re going to have Vicki Deisner, I believe Deesner, my apologies. From Columbus, representing Animal Welfare Institute. And then I have Joyce Lichett, maybe perfect. All right, you’ll be up next. And is there anybody else that wants to testify for or against perfect? Thank you. Floor shouting thank you so much, Chairman Pretzel and distinguished members of the Interim Study Committee for Roads and Transportation. I’m Vicki Deesner. I’m the state government affairs advisor for the Animal Welfare Institute. And on behalf of AWI, we ask that your committee oppose the application of Humane Indiana foreign Indiana specialty license plate based on their request as a statewide wildlife provider. Now, the application for specialty plates requires not only 500 signatures, but statewide public benefits. And Humane Indiana, which is in the far northwest corner of Indiana, does not provide wildlife protection across the entire state of Indiana at this time. If it were truly the intent to of humane Indiana as that parent organization to focus license plate revenue on wildlife efforts, they would not have stated in their application. As Representative Gore, you mentioned that the specialty plate adds in sustaining our general operations, but also facilitates our capacity expansion efforts to meet growing demand for our services. It would make more sense to Indiana license plate purchasers who are paying for statewide resources to have the coalition of wildlife rehabbers across the state apply for a wildlife license plate that would indeed distribute those resources across the strait to all 72. And it is 72 Indiana wildlife rehabbers who currently provide care for injured and orphaned wild animals out of their pocket. Similar to the model pet Friendly Services of Indiana has developed that has no conflict of interest. Now. Since 1977, pet Friendly Services of Indiana has partnered with vets across Indiana to provide low cost bay neuter surgeries from big cities to small towns. The organization is helping hoosier animals statewide in need. Now, pet Friendly Services of Indiana is the only statewide nonprofit animal welfare organization, but it’s not a clinic and it’s not a shelter, so there’s no conflict of interest. Instead, the organization addresses the root cause of shelter overpopulation by providing free spay neuter surgery certificates to hundreds of rescue groups and shelters and vouchers to those limited income families to ensure that they can afford to fix their pets. Pet friendly services in Indiana assists every animal welfare organization in Indiana, from the smallest rescue to the largest shelters, sharing their strategic programs with animal welfare organizations throughout Indiana in all 92 counties, pet Friendly services of Indiana has become a national model for the US on how to advance spay neuter statewide and reduce the homeless population and euthanasia of companion animals in our states. When I assisted the organization in advocating for a mandatory spay neuter law, it was based on the success of pet friendly services of Indiana in providing financial assistance at that time approximately to 85% of the state for spay neuter. Now that law phased in after five years because the calculation showed that in five years they were going to be able to cover 100% of needed costs across the state. That success was based on the focused marketing efforts of the organization because again, they weren’t a clinic, they weren’t a shelter. On supporting spay neuter statewide, showcasing the specialty plate and mission behind it, along with obtaining grant and corporate funding for this unique spay neuter effort, the revenue raised over the decades of the. Organization’s efforts has gone to fund spay neuter surgeries through the 300 plus rescue groups and shelters throughout Indiana, servicing all 92 counties. Attached to our written testimony is a map showing the services that pet friendly services of Indiana provide statewide. In fact, in 2016, pet Friendly services worked with representative Karakoff to pass that bill that received overwhelming support to mandate spay neuter. The bill requires that all shelters and rescues must spay and neuter before adoption. That law did not include a funding provision, but pet friendly services stepped up to the plate and has worked to help fill that financial gap. Pet Friendly services success in operating a truly neutral statewide spay neuter program has become a national model for other states. Every state I work with really looks up to Indiana as this being such a major success. It’s a model that is fair and equitable and helps all citizens of Indiana with spay neuter and other related services. We feel that allowing humane Indiana to obtain a specialty license plate would allow conflict and interest in that license plate purchasers would hear the name Humane Indiana Sumit’s statewide and the marketing statement that they are the largest provider of wildlife rehab in that state and believe they are funding the largest wildlife effort statewide. Yet the reality is in Indiana, the wildlife rehabbers licensed by Indiana DNR, living in the majority of counties throughout Indiana, are really the ones providing the statewide wildlife rehab efforts. The fact that humane Indiana would be receiving license plate funds for their companion animal general revenue, potentially hard to know how those figures would work out, and local wildlife efforts would be lost on the Indiana license plate purchasers. So for all of the aforementioned reasons, AWI respectfully urges the interim Study Committee on Roads and Transportation to oppose the application of humane Indiana for a specialty plate. And what we hope would be that actually the coalition of Wildlife rehabbers would step up to actually be the true statewide wildlife resource. Thank you for your time and consideration of this important issue, and I would be glad to answer any questions you may have. Thank you, Vicki. Any questions of the committee, Representative Lauer, thank you, mister chair. Thank you, Vicki. I saw you’re in Columbus, is that right? Columbus, Ohio? Columbus, Ohio. I cover the Midwest region. Very good. Well, just a very quick question. What do you think? Do you think our state is served well enough on wildlife rehab today, or is there anything briefly that we could do better? There’s always room for improvement. I mean, some of the things that actually Indiana humane identified, I’m sorry, humane Indiana. But you know, definitely there’s always more opportunities for conferences for the wildlife rehabbers. But I know in Ohio and other states, those are happening, and I would have assumed they were happening in Indiana. You know, the idea of bringing, you know, the Midwest folks to Indiana, they do come to the other states in the conferences and that these are opportunities, obviously, to exchange ideas and ways that you do things. But the r1 key, as we mentioned, is the wildlife rehabbers, these 72 across Indiana, they fund this out of their pockets. They fund the food, they fund the emergency care until they can get that animal to a better place. But the thing is, right now, from what I understand, humane Indiana is working with 26 other counties, but that’s 26 and not 92. What really needs to happen is for this to be a statewide effort out of an operation that, if anything, would maybe be more centrally located. Because the transportation, as what was described, of taking an animal from, you know, the Ohio river way up to the northwest corner of Indiana doesn’t really make sense, especially if it’s really a medical challenged animal. Thank you, senator. Good. If, if the application was, I’m following up on Senator Ford’s point. If the application was humane Indiana wildlife, what would your, would your testimony be the same as it is now if it had a separate EIN number? I mean, technically, it’s, you know, it seems like it’s a, it’s a name of a program underneath the parent company, but indeed, it’s not a separate organization. I’m saying that as a lawyer who has actually helped a number of organizations. Set up their, you know, incorporation, get their ein number, and file for their c three s. So, may I follow up? So human development continues to encroach on wildlife? Absolutely. Your testimony is, if I understand correctly, your concern that people will be confused, that they’re supporting spay and neuter services, but what happens to the barn owl that gets injured? Are you saying that the. That there’s already some services that are caring for that animal? Sir, what I think actually would behoove the committee is to actually, and I’m sorry we don’t have this research for you right now. And we could do it if you wanted it. And we only knew about this a few days ago. But in reality, they are not the only wildlife rehab center in the state of Indiana. What would be the wildlife rehab centers that would be along the Ohio river border or on the edge of Illinois or wherever else. Why a particular wildlife rehab center that is not centrally located in the northwest corner and does work with a number of wildlife rehabbers around the state, but not the 72. You know, if you benefit certain ones above the others, this is truly a statewide effort. Does that help? Thank you. Representative Gore, this is a question that I think is timed appropriately, but perhaps not for you, ma’am. Maybe a question for the committee or the bureau. Are there safeguards in place to ensure that the funding from these plates is allocated in the way that the applicant indicates in their application? Does anybody know? Cody, you want to take that one? Do you know? Thank you, Mister Chairman. The funding is provided for. Ingest the statute that we covered that covers this SGR. So you can look. I think it’s under section twelve, but I can verify that for you and get back to you on that. Yeah, so, I mean, it’s kind of the part of the process is they have to say this is what we’re going to do with it. If they are approved, then they sell 500 plates and it moves on. But the next time that this body would look at them would be ten years. Is that correct? Yes. And I’ll take a look at the statute and get that. I’ll direct that towards you. Okay. That probably doesn’t help representative Gore, but there are guardrails on the get go to make the application. But I don’t know that there is parameters that we double. We check this, except for the ten years like we just did. Okay. Any other questions of the committee seeing? None. Thank you for your testimony. Joyce, you’re up. Please keep in mind that this is my first time in this room, too, and I’ll probably babble a bit. You’ll be fine. It’s a little intimidating, but we are just happy that you’re here today. If you could move that microphone right over next to you, make sure the light’s on. It’s on. All yours. I’m sorry, all yours. Thank you. My name is Joyce Luckett and I’m a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by Indiana DNR and US Fish and Wildlife Service. I’m also the founder of Animal Care Alliance, a nonprofit veterinary hospital in Richmond whose mission is to reduce the numbers of homeless pets through affordable spay neuter. We also serve as a small shelter and are the only wildlife rehabbers within a multi county area. Humane Indiana seems to be an organization much like our own. My concern is that if only one of 300 shelters and rescue groups in Indiana is awarded the license plate, that it will be at the expense of many others. In your packet you will see the humane Indiana’s application specifically states that for the past decade, humane Indiana has been dedicated to the field of wildlife rehabilitation. Over time, we have evolved into Indiana’s foremost wildlife rehabilitation center through grassroots initiatives. The introduction of this specialty plate not only aids in sustaining our general operations, but also facilitates our capacity expansion efforts to meet growing demand of our services. This application is specifically for their own programs. It has also come to our attention that in order to apply for a specialty license plate, An organization is required to obtain 500 signatures from supporters. I’m concerned that as a key stakeholder, we were not contacted to sign in as support as I would assume humane Indiana would have contacted all 72 wildlife rehabilitators. I hadn’t heard of humane Indiana prior to a few days ago, but it sounds like they’re doing great things for many species and lots of animals. I still don’t believe that a plate should be awarded to one organization when there are so many in need. There are 72 permitted wildlifers in 43 counties in the state, and those numbers are dwindling. And a big reason for this is lack of funding. As I mentioned, Animal Care alliance has a wildlife rehabilitation program. We work closely with rehabbers in Bartholomew, Brown, Hamilton, Hancock, Henry, Madison, Randolph, and Shelby counties, and these organizations are all doing great work. The rehabber in Shelby county, for example, has assistance throughout Indiana that collectively care for 50% of the orphaned and injured fawns in the state. It is vital that the wildlife rehabilitators are included in the planning process for a specialty license plate so we can determine how the funding will be allocated. Most rehabilitators simply need help with the cost of food and veterinary care in the meantime, because humane Indiana is not a statewide program, we request that you deny the specialty flight application submitted by Humane Indiana. Thank you. Questions? Senator Ford, just real quick. Mister Chairman, thank you very much for your testimony. Is there a statewide wildlife rehabilitation program? Not as yet. Not one that could apply for a plate of its own, but that is in the works. There’s something called Indiana Wildlife Rehabilitators association. And incidentally, we have our state annual meeting at Eagle Creek park. Okay. Thank you very much. You’re welcome. Any other questions of the committee? Thank you. You did fine, too. Thank you. So I’m going to give you, if you’d like, I’ll give you a minute to close. Two minutes. Yeah. If you want to rebut anything, give us one last attempt. So, I’m not sure how drastically it matters, but yes, if you look on the Indiana DNR website that does list 72 rehabilitators, there is a private list as well. Those are the individuals who do not want to be receiving phone calls constantly like the rest of us do. And that also does not include the sub permittees underneath there. So once we include the 72, plus the list that is not published, plus the list that is sub permeates, this is well over 100 individuals. Yes. Indiana has a Indiana wildlife association. It does not have its nonprofit status. And so we are trying to go ahead. We are trying to take it upon ourselves to start initiatives to assist others, Joyce Lookett included individuals all throughout the state. So that we just want to try. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Hundley. Thank you, mister chairman. So you all are certified or permitted DNR, Wildlife rehabilitator, correct? Yes. And does DNR provide you all with funding to support your services? They do not. So there’s no funding that comes from DNR and not for any of us? Not for any of you? No. Okay. Any other questions of the committee? See? None. Thank you. All right, as mentioned before, we are not going to vote on any of these plates today because they are very complex. All very good causes, all very good presentations today. So I’d like to give the committee members the opportunity to think through these, ask questions amongst ourselves, and we will vote on these individually when we reconvene for our final report. LSA is looking at me and I can do that, right? All right, cool. Because I’d love to see your lovely face and committee again. Oh, I thought you said why? There you go. All right. That’s going to move us into road naming resolutions. Eleven road naming resolutions. We are going to get through today. We are definitely not voting on these today. We are going to go through the process. I’m going to explain the process just a little bit. There’s an application that must be made by the legislator. Has to be done by July 1. Endot then verifies the location of where we’re going to rename the road or the bridge that has not been named already comes to summer study committee for a final recommendation to go to the body when. When we go into session. So if it’s not included in the final report, then it’s my understanding, Senator Kreider, correct me if I’m wrong, that it’s not going to move in either chamber if it’s not included in the report. All right, so I’m going to point out just maybe a couple things before we get started. This year. We have 1111. Pretty good road naming applications. Right? This is the most road naming resolutions we’ve seen since 20:14 a.m. i. Right. Aaron? Aaron’s within that. This is almost double what we seen last year. So just wanted to point that out for the members. All right, Senator Buchanan, you’re up. Okay. Do you have the applications as people seen or just you or. We do. They’re not in a order that I’m calling them, so we’re kind of shuffling through them. But we do have the application that you checked all the boxes, and yours includes an approval letter, I believe. All right, well, you may go ahead and present. There you go. Great. All right, well, thank you, mister chairman. Members of the committee present to you a road renaming application for consideration for Deputy Jake Pickett, who was a member of the Boone County Sheriff’s office who was tragically killed in the line of duty on Friday morning, March 2, 2018. Deputy Pickett and several other officers are trying to apprehend some individuals who had a warrant. Chase followed it, and I know there was gunfire, and Deputy Pickett unfortunately did not survive his injuries. Recently, Boone County Sheriff Tony Harris asked me about doing a road renaming resolution along I 65 around the mile marker 137 138 as you come northbound towards Lebanon, which is also real close to the sheriff’s office. You get off that exit and the sheriff’s office is less than a mile up the road. With that, I’d be happy to answer any questions regarding the application. Would appreciate your support. I also want to say thank you to Senator Ford for joining me. Also represents part of Boone county and then representatives Genda and representative cash. We’re also joining the resolution as well. So would appreciate your consideration and your support of this resolution to rename part of I 65 in memory of Deputy Pickett. And I will say no one else is here to testify today. Somehow with schedules, we didn’t realize this meeting was happening today. And I called the sheriff yesterday and he sends his full support but has some opportunities that could not be moved today. So that is why I’m here testifying on this without any, any other testifiers, committee questions. So as I’m looking through here, and this is more for the benefit of people that may be viewing or view this in the future. So one of the, one of the check the boxes on the application is, does this road exists in your district, right? Yes, it does. Perfect. Yes. Yes, it’s, it’s right. Yeah, yeah. Right in the middle of my district. And then we’re trying to see who exactly represent cash Regan. That’s almost right on their line. Whoever it falls on that will be the sponsor. The other one will be the second sponsor. Perfect. Good thinking. This has met all the NDAC qualifications. Very good. There are no questions of the committee, Senator Ford? No questions. But I just want to thank Senator Buchanan for this. And the Pickett family actually does like a celebration of his life every year, and they bring in local law enforcement officers, members of the family, members of the community to really celebrate. So I just wanted to mention that as well. Thank you very much. Thanks for your patience and getting to you, too. Senator Buck, you are up next. Thank you, mister chair. Ladies and gentlemen, the committee. The resolution that I bring to you today is with Senator Donato, and I’ll explain how Senator Donald was involved with the resolution. I’m fortunate to sit on. On the transportation committee, Veterans affairs committee, and also a member of the Motorsports caucus. One thing that I’ve learned is Indiana has a huge industry in the motorsports. There’s over 100 different businesses in Indiana that contribute directly to the motorsports, from the manufacturing of cars to the racetrack, to the retail and so on. The gentleman before you is named Lynn Reed. Candidly, he’s a friend of both Senator Donato and myself. He passed away this April. He was a veteran of Vietnam. He had had cancer and was doing well. And then Agent Orange was the final thing that got him. But nonetheless, Lynn has a history of one of the pioneers in racing. What got him into it is still a mystery, except he loved being around it. He started out just as wanting to be in gasoline alley and got a job driving the cars all around the country. That led to many things, but fast forward, he ended up being a chief mechanic to many famous people. You would know AJ Foyt, Roger Pinsky, just to name a couple. One of the cars, if you have ever watched the movie winning the car that Paul Newman drove, Lin built that car, and he had conversation with Paul Newman afterwards. Paul Newman is an antidote to Paul Newman’s career. I wanted to know, Lynn, is this as fast as that car will go? And he said, well, we had to govern it back to let you out on the track. He made a deal with Lynn, and Lynn cranked it up, and he drove around at a much higher speed than he was supposed to. But that time is what led Paul newman into the racing venture, because he fell in love with it. Having driven around the track, Lin was not only a veteran, but he was an entrepreneur. He was fascinated with the auto industry. He also then ventured into. As a result of that, he heard a lot about the Honda engine, if you remember from the champion car circuit, the open wheel racing, where they ran on all kinds of tracks. They went into then more of the rear engines on cars. He opened his own franchise for Honda motorcycles, and he was fascinated by how well engineered they were and are. And the reason I bring this to you is not only did Lynn have a ten year experience in the racing as an individual, making the cars, the chassis, and so on, but he was a great encourager to others to get into the field. Tony Stewart, many of you know, he was friends with his father. They made those micro midgets, sold them all over the world. And Lynn, that’s where Stacy Donato, Senator Donato, comes in. They had a club, still do, where it’s pre 74 open wheel racing, and he raced with Senator Nado’s team and competitors. But then later in Lynn’s life, he got to thinking about, about his life. And across the creek from his Honda shop, there’s a church there that he visited. And he understood after visiting with them, his need for the Lord. And when Lynn died, he had told me prior, he said, that church has been so much to me in my life. And so he has a sizable state, and he’s left that money to them. The bridge, if you look it up, it’s on Highway 26 and 931 coming into the south end of Kokomo. It’s about a block, block and a half at the most east. That bridge is between his Honda shop and that church. And I think it’s a fitting tribute to him as a member. Of what he pioneered in the racing industry. We don’t recognize that many people in the racing industry, and yet it’s such a revenue enhancer for the state. And so this is in my way of saying these people contributed a lot to the motorsports industry, and I’d like to see that. And Stacy and I would like to see. Senator Donato would like to see that bridge named after Lynn. So if you have any questions, feel free. Questions of the committee for Senator Bach. Do you have anybody with you that wanted to speak on this? No. No. If you need to have any information about Lynn, google him. You can find all kinds of pictures and interviews from him when they had the hundredth anniversary running, he was interviewed by a lot of different media outlets. And so you can get a good insight just on how many people pictures with AJ Foyt shoving a car out of the pits, and AJ’s on the right tire, Lynn’s on the left tire. Quite a stories. Perfect. Thank you. Representative Johnson. I don’t know if this is a question for the senator, but maybe it’s more for the chairman and vice chairman. In my time on this committee, which has only been four or so years, it seems that the majority of the time, if not all of the time so far, that these renamings have been for acts of service, often that have resulted in a tragic death. Just as this is the first one sort of like this, that I’ve seen. Is there any sort of precedent for titans of industry and other folks to receive this recognition, just even today? I mean, this is the only one that isn’t an act of sacrifice and service. So last year, I believe it was last year. So, honestly, we’ve done quite a few of these. Even in your tenure? My tenure? In four years, we did one for a jazz player here in Indianapolis. Yeah, just last year, sorta, you know, and the application it does state that must have given significant contributions to the state of Indiana. So I get where you’re going with this. So that’s why I want to give us all an opportunity to think about these, to make sure we’re all on the same page before we do these, because every time we name a road or a bridge in Indiana, it should be significant. Right. It should mean something to that individual. It should mean something to that individual’s family in the community. It should stand for something. So I think the last thing that we want to do is just put something out there that nobody can 100% get behind. Senator, Representative Johnson, on the east side, probably right on the edge of your district, in 465, we named section of 465 for James Cummings, who was outstanding african american businessman. Indy, we named one in my district for mister Maxwell. He was the originator of what now is Stellantis Chrysler. Chrysler bought him out. He was going bankrupt. And so there’s many different. Fortunately, not all of them have meant tragic ends to their lives. Some of them suffered at the end of their life, but nonetheless. Appreciate your consideration. Absolutely. Thank you. Senator Buck, I did ask for questions from the committee, right? No. All good. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Okay, that’s going to bring us to Senator Bush. I don’t believe Senator Bush is here. If you recall, I called you and said he had a back issue. There you go. So we are going to hang on to that. Yeah, and I appreciate the back issue. Mine’s kind of giving me a little fit this morning too. So we are going to hold that one. And when we reconvene in our future meeting to adopt, we’ll allow him to present there because that is one of the. One of the qualifications. It has to come through summer study. So we will readdress that one. Okay, that’ll bring me to Senator Maxwell. Mister Chairman, Senator Maxwell asked me to pinch hit for him this morning as well. I am a co author of the or co sponsor of the proposed resolution. Floor is yours, Representative Zimmerman. Thank you. Mister Chairman. Members of the committee, I’m here on behalf of Senator Maxwell to present a resolution honoring Corporal Barry Lynn Brinegarhe. Mister chairman, to your earlier question, do, Sen. Buchanan, this bridge is not in my district. This is actually in Representative Linus’s district. It is in Senator Maxwell’s district. The intent is for Representative Linus’s successor to carry this in the house should it go through. But again, I am co sponsoring the resolution if it gets through. Corporal Barry Lynn Brunegar was born in Patriot, Indiana, on October 22, 1951, and he enlisted in the United States army on July 13 of 1970. And he was a native of Patriot, Indiana, which is in Switzerland county. And tragically, Corporal Briniger lost his life on February 8 of 1971, was killed in action in Vietnam. His unit came under fire and an explosive device detonated, causing his death. He’s currently, he’s buried in Patriot at the East View cemetery, and the bridge that we’re proposing to rename is the bridge spanning Wade Creek east of the town of Patriot on State Road 156, which is a few hundred yards away from where Corporal Brunegger is interredd. So happy to answer any questions if I can, but would appreciate your consideration of the resolution. Thank you. Any questions of the committee? Seeing none. Is anybody here that wants to speak on this resolution? I see in the notes here in the application, 24 guests plan to be in the gallery. I get that that’s going to be for session, but that’s a pretty big number. Big number. All right, since there’s no questions now, you can present as representative Zimmerman. Oh, thank you, mister chairman. Mister Chairman, members of the committee, I’m here to present a resolution honoring Lance Corporal Jackie Koenig, junior from United States Marine Corps. Lance Corporal Koenig was born in 1996 in Bakersfield, California, and he moved to Indiana, grew up in north Vernon, which is in my district, and he graduated from Jennings County High School in 2014. He was a member of the track cross country wrestling team, and he, as a member of the cross country team, would run along the Muscatituck river, which runs through my district for practice and meets as well. Following his graduation from high school, he joined the United States Marine Corps in 2015. He was stationed at Camp Pendleton in California and then was deployed to Camp Butler in Okinawa, Japan. And tragically, at the young age of 20 years old on April 9 of 2017, he passed away in a training exercise while deployed in Okinawa, Japan. The bridge that we’re seeking to rename, it crosses the Muscatotuck river on Highway State Road seven and three just south of the town of Vernon. The significance of this, as I mentioned a moment ago, is Lance Corporal Koenig would run along the Muscatotuck river, would cross over this bridge quite often. And his family and the community thinks this is an appropriate bridge to honor Lance Corporal Koenig’s sacrifice for our nation and his dedication to our country. So we appreciate your consideration of this resolution. Thank you. Any questions for Representative Zimmerman on this one? Do you have anybody that wants to speak on yours? No, it was short notice. The families in Wyoming on vacation, Mister Chairman. Very good. Well, thank you for being here today. Sure. Thank you, Representative Haggard. And then we will have Representative Davis on deck. Sorry. No, no, you’re the chairman. Do what you want. The floor is yours. All right, mister chairman, members of the committee, today I’m bringing a resolution forward to honor the late Sheriff Jim Ball. What we’re looking to rename is the bridge over Walnut Creek North Us Highway 231, as the Jane Ball Memorial Bridge. I’ll tell you a little bit about the sheriff, and then I have someone here to testify who can really tell you about the sheriff. Captain Ball, while responding to a call, lost control of his sheriff’s vehicle. Wet pavement, had skidded into the river. He was pulled from the river. He passed away, unfortunately, about 5 hours later. He served his community for 36 years as a police officer. For four years with the Green Castle Police Department, 32 years with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department. Captain Ball was a firearms adjutant staff instructor at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy for over 20 years. He achieved the governor’s 20 status and was named one of the top 20 pistol shooters among police officers in the state. Captain Ball’s passion for firearm safety and training was instrumental in the creation and development of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department pistol range that is now called the Captain Jim Ball firearms range. And you know, he gave his life in service, basically his entire life was committed to law enforcement in the state and before pass it over, prior to my. It was interesting, prior to my service at the state House, I ran the state of Indiana’s not for profit NRA committees across the state. And I had one that still exists down in Greencastle. And even at that point, all I ever heard about was Sheriff Ball, Sheriff Bond. It was nothing short of almost at a heroic status. I mean, just he was somebody that left a mark on his community, the people that he knew. I have not heard one negative across word and I never. I feel like I knew the gentleman. But anyway, it was an honor to finally meet and when you want to hear from him, his son, the current Putnam county sheriff, Sheriff Jared Ball. So if you have any questions, Sheriff Baugh, chairman, representatives and senators, appreciate the time. I know we’ve got an anniversary to get to tonight, so I’ll be brief, but appreciate this opportunity to represent my family and this request for renaming of this bridge. It’s anytime that we have someone reach out to us to try to help honor the memory of Captain Ball and my father. We always do and we’re very resilient in that. Just as he was as a sheriff’s deputy after being done with the sheriff for eight years, the legislators had passed a law that said if you were a merit deputy before you were sheriff and there was a position open when you left, then you were to take that position. And so he did that, but had to fight for a year and a half to get his job back because he got fired at midnight. So we’re resilient and we take advantage of anybody who likes representative that reaches out to try to help honor the name of my father and his service to Putnam county. And we will continue to do that and answer any questions that you have. But it’s an excellent opportunity to talk a little bit about him and his resilience. So not only did he have to spend what we had to get his job back, now, with hiring and retention being a major issue with law enforcement agencies, he also spent other family members money to hire attorneys to go back to work for a guy who fired him, you know. So we’re very resilient when it comes to coming back and asking and trying to get things done for the family. So here we are again and appreciate the opportunity. Well, thank you for being here. Questions of the committee, seeing that. I just want to point out one box that’s not checked on here, but I did do my due diligence. Aaron is with Indot. This one is available. Okay, perfect. All right. Very good. Seeing no questions. Thank you for being here. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Representative Davis, you’re up. And then on deck, we will have Chris May, but we will have Representative Lauer pinch hitting for representative. I apologize, Representative Davis, we’re ready to go now. All right. Thank you, mister chairman and members of the committee, I want to take a second to recognize the Indiana State police troopers who are here today with us also. They won’t be speaking, but they’re here in support as well. Superintendent Carter couldn’t make it today. He already had other arrangements. And I will be speaking on state Trooper Aaron Smith. And I do have his father here, Gary, with me, who can say a few words at the end. Okay. I’m going to read a few things. I appreciate the opportunity. To come before this committee and discuss the possibility of renaming a section of US 31 in Johnson county from Smith Valley Road up to county line road after state Trooper Aaron Smith, who was tragically killed while assisting fellow troopers who were in pursuit of a stolen vehicle on Ronald Reagan Parkway just north of I 70 in Plainfield on June 28, 2023. Trooper Smith was born in 1990 in Franklin, Indiana and graduated from Whiteland High School in 2008. He wrestled and he played football for Whiteland High School. Aaron also held a private pilot’s license and studied aviation management and graduated from Indiana State University in 2014. He was a graduate of the 78th Indiana State Police Recruit Academy and was a member of the Indiana State Police Alliance. Aaron served the community as an Indiana State police trooper for nearly five years and was part of the state police crash reconstruction team. He had been awarded two life saving awards for his heroism. He proudly served in the Indiana national guard since 2011, where he achieved the rank of sergeant. He had served as a utilities equipment repairer for the 38th Infantry Division, 38th Sustainment Brigade, 190th Transportation Battalion 100. How did I say that? 100? 6866 38th Division, thank you division thank you. Aaron had earned the following military awards as well are the Army Achievement Award, the Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, second award, the National Defense Service Medal, a non commissioned officer developmental ribbon, the second award, an army service ribbon. He was a member of the Emanuel Church of Greenwood, where he and his wife Megan served as the children’s ministry. Trooper Aaron Smith desired to go above and beyond in any duty to which he was called. His selfless acts are commendable and are an example of a true public servant. I thank you for your time and consideration, and I’ll let his father speak if he wants to. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today and rename a section of the road that would mean a lot to our family. Aaron grew up born and raised in Johnson county, and Aaron went above and beyond with his duties as an Indiana state trooper. We had two tornadoes in Johnson County a couple of years ago. Aaron and Meganeh, he’d get off duty, he’d go get Megan and load up the car with some food and water and went all through Whiteland just serving the community off duty. Did the same thing. A couple of weeks later, the second tornado came through a family in Bargersville. Megan had just had back surgery. She had a brace on. The two of them went over to that house and helped clean, clean up that yard. Megan and Aaron were just great examples of true, well, heroes and I would appreciate and the opportunity to get that rogue renamed. He served that way in the military, too. I found out that he not only saved two lives as a state trooper, but while, while in formation at one of his military events, somebody dropped out, fell down to their death and he brought them back to life. Aaron just jumped into action whenever it was necessary. What’s great about the state police is they’re here, they’ve got our backs and I think they respected my son. Thank you. Questions of the committee. I just want to point out I did notice the state police here all day. I thought we were at a heightened security for some reason. But I think it means a lot to everyone in the committee and I’m sure to the family and Representative Davis that you guys took the time to be. You’re off? Day off. I’m assuming to be here all afternoon. It speaks volumes. Speaks absolute volumes. Thank you, sir. Thank you for your testimony. Thank you, Representative Lauer. Pinch hitting for Representative May. Floor is yours. Thank you, mister chairman, members of the committee, it’s my honor today to present this road naming request on behalf of Representative Chris May. I’m a co author on this resolution. And Senator Eric Cook. We respectfully request that a portion of State Road 56 that runs near French Lake, Indiana, be renamed to honor former french lick chief of police Verne Irvin. Chief Ervin lived a life of service serving in the United States military during World War two and then as an officer with the French Lick Police department for over 15 years. Chief Ervin also briefly served with the Orange County Sheriff’s office. On the morning of Sunday, September 10, 1972, Chief Irvin tragically lost his life after being shot in the line of duty while responding to a domestic disturbance at the French Lick Police department. Chief Ervin paid the ultimate sacrifice that fateful morning, and we are eternally grateful for his service. We want to honor his legacy, honor our communities and surviving family members whose lives were forever changed that night. That morning. Excuse me, I’d like to read a brief passage from the Orange county commissioners that was submitted. Chief Irwin’s contributions to the safety and well being of Orange county through his service with the French Lick Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, as well as his bravery as a United States World War two Army veteran, deserved to be commemorated and remembered for generations to come. The idea of renaming a section of State Road 56 in French Lick after Chief Ervin is not only a fitting tribute, but also a way to ensure that his legacy remains a permanent part of Orange county history. OrAnge County, Indiana fully supports renaming the mile stretch where the police station once stood on State Road 56 in French Lick, Indiana as Chief Verne Irvine Memorial Mile. It’s my hope that the renaming of State Route 56 serves as a reminder of Chief Irvin’s sacrifice to his community. And Representative may and I respectfully submit this request to honor Chief Irvin and his family. I ask for your thoughtful consideration in this matter, and I am happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you, mister chairman and committee members. Thank you, Representative Lauer, any questions of the committee? Is there anybody that would like to speak on the resolution? Seeing none. Thank you for your presentation. Thank you. Representative Prescott, good to see you and welcome. Thank you, mister chairman and members of the committee. I’m here before you today to honor Lance Corporal Andrew Whitaker of Bryant, Indiana. We’re asking to have a a bridge renamed on State Road 67 just outside of Portland by the high school. I would like to point out that Andrew Whitaker and his family are actually from Representative Lehman’s district, so he is going to be on the resolution as well. But the bridge is in my district. We split up Jay county and then Senator Holdman is the Senate sponsor. I know on our House side, Chairman Pressell wants to have a member of Rhodes as an author as well. I don’t know if that’s the same on the Senate side. I just have one now if anyone wants to be on as a Senate sponsor on the roads committee. And this request is also brought forward by Donald Glitzby. He’s an advocate for veteran services in Jay county, and he works with Indiana’s run for the fallen organization. So some of you may know him. Andrew Whitaker passed away tragically in 2008 on duty. He’s from Bryan, Indiana. In 2005, he graduated from Jake County High School. He was indecisive about certain issues when it came to the Marines, but when it came to the Marines, his commitment never wavered. Andrew wanted to be a Marine since he was 14. The decision to join the Brotherhood he admired since he was 14 year old. 14 years old was a long time in the making. He was first brought forward the idea to his parents, and they soon thought he’d move on to something else. To their surprise, the dream stuck with him, and Andrew signed up for the Marines before he graduated from high school. In hindsight, the move made sense. Andrew always fought for the little guy. In junior high and high school, he would be the first to stand up to the bullies, even when that meant getting in trouble himself. He took advantage of the early enlistment program, deciding to become a marine in 2005 when, at the age of 17, Andrew left for boot camp. In July of 2005, he was a member of the Bryant Westland Church. Andrew was engaged to be married, and the couple had planned their wedding on a future date. He died conducting combat operations in the Farha province in Afghanistan at the age of 21. The late Lance corporal Andrew Whitaker was killed on July 19, 2008, during a combat operations in the Farah providence of Afghanistan. His family was given the Purple Heart Medal at his funeral services. He served as a rifleman in the second platoon, Company G, second battalion and the Marines. He was killed while fighting as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. According to the citation, Whitaker and his squad were pursuing enemy fighters when they were ambushed. Whitaker rushed over 30 meters of open ground and began firing on the enemy, allowing his comrades to seek cover. When a member of his squad was killed, he left the small berm he was behind and continued to fire so his fellow marines could reach his fallen comrade. He remained exposed to the enemy and continued to fire until they lost their. Until he lost his life. Whitaker joined the Marines in June of 2005, served in Iraq in 2006, and was sent to Afghanistan in 2008. In March, the Hoosier Heartland chapter of American Red Cross named Whitaker a hero of the Heartland, and the Jay County School Corporation honored Whitaker with a character and motion award as well. With that, I humbly ask for your consideration for this road numbing resolution. I think it’s overdue for Lance Corporal Whitaker. Thanks, Representative Prescott. Is there anybody here that wants to speak on behalf of the resolution? No. The family is going to speak during session if the this proceeds forward. Thanks. Any questions of the committee? Seeing none. Thank you for your presentation today. Thank you. Representative Goss Reeves. Thank you, mister Chairman and members of the committee, I really thank you for the opportunity to come before you today to share about the late Ralph Duckwallen, Senator Andy Zay, Representative Ethan Manning, and Representative Corey Criswell. And I respectfully request that the newest section of State road five from State Road 218 to State Road 22 on the outskirts of Upland, Indiana, be renamed after the late former state representative Ralph Duckwall, Sr. Ralph Duckwall dedicated his life to the Van Buren, Indiana community, carrying on his family’s farming tradition while also making significant contributions in public service. Born and raised near Van Buren, Ralph married Lois Green in 1951 and they raised four children. In the 1960s, Ralph ventured into politics, serving as a precinct committeeman, grant county council member and served on the Van Buren Town Council and the Eastbrook school board. He also drove a school bus and actively participated in the Van Buren Methodist Church. Mister Duckwall joined the Grant County Fair board and became president of the Grant County Farm Bureau and played a crucial role in establishing Eastbrook High School as a part of the newly consolidated school district. Ralph’s commitment to the community extended to his ten years in the state legislature, where he tirelessly advocated for farm legislation and local improvements, earning him the sagamore of the Wabash award in 1984. One of Mister Duckwall’s most persistent efforts was to have the old state Road 221, which ran through Van Buren, reinstated as part of the state highway system. Although the road had been turned over to the county, Ralph continued to push for its recognition due to its importance to the community, particularly Taylor University and Weaver popcorn, which are both major employers in that area. In 2001, His efforts were finally realized when the road was renamed and incorporated into State Road five to honor his legacy. We believe that it would be fitting for that stretch of the highway to be designated the Ralph Duckwall Memorial Highway, a tribute to his lifelong dedication to improving the lives of those in his community, which is also my community. I appreciate your consideration of this request. I have with me a letter written by an 87 year old man by the name of Harry Pearson, who is a retired state president of Indiana Farm Bureau. And I would like to read just a section of that, if that’s okay, to the members of the Roads and Transportation Interim Study committee. This letter is to request that serious consideration be given to naming state road five from upland, Indiana, to State Road 218, the Ralph Duckwall Memorial Highway. Mister Duckwall was a friend of mine and a highly recognized agricultural and community leader in the Van Buren area. Ralph was never one to step back and let someone else do the work, but was always at the forefront, helping neighbors and friends when help was needed. Ralph was a community leader serving on the Eastbrook school board in the Van Buren town council. He goes on and on and ends by saying this. When Indoc completed I 69 and abandoned State Road 221, Ralph recognized the need that a portion of 221 from Taylor University north through Upland to the new Eastbrook high School and through Van Buren to Warren, Indiana, really needed to be returned to a state highway. He was very instrumental in making that happen. Ralph Duckwall’s son presented this idea to representative Manning. I know it will mean a lot to that family for this renaming of this road to be done in his father’s honor. He and I have been in communication. He had to be at a wedding, so he’s out of town, but wanted me to send his thanks to you as well. Thank you. The questions of the committee. All right, so I’m going to ask it, right. And you got to know that it’s coming. It says right here on the application. Yes, sir. Five lines down. Honoree cannot be a formal legislator, but yet this is a former legislator. Yes, sir. I’m approaching this with caution. Right. Yeah. So tell the committee why we should look the other way, possibly. Yeah. To make this a reality. Yeah. Thank you. So, last year I was elected as a state representative May 25. And so after that, I want to say it was in the summer. Mister Duckwall’s son, Ralph Duckwall junior, called me. I do not know him at all. I do remember when Mister Duckwall served and he had talked to Ethan Manning. Or maybe Ethan Manning contacted me. I don’t know the order of that. But his request was that we consider this because of his dad’s tireless work to get this road to become a state highway. And I can tell you if you have been to upland, Indiana recently, the new Taylor University president recently received a lilly gift. They are now doing what’s called the main street mile. And so upland, Indiana is going to look a whole lot different a year from now than what it looks today. Taylor University is booming. Their student, they have an incoming freshman class that’s record breaking for them. And so I just think as we look back, I think our history matters. And I think Mister Duckwall’s history with his tireless work to make that estate highway is now, all these years later, benefiting not only weaver popcorn, which is a large popcorn manufacturing company, but Taylor University, which is really one of the, I think, bright spots in our state. Governor Holcomb was just there as a part of this whole main street mile. And so I think what matters is that Mister Duckwell did a whole lot more than just serve as a state representative. And so I really tried to highlight that. I have a copy for all of you from Harry Pearson. He is 87 years old and he took the time to write this letter, which to me speaks volume regarding Mister Duckwall’s impact on his life. He emailed it today. I actually got it today. And so that is why I think it’s because Mister Duckwall’s contributions went way beyond his ten years as a state representative. And I think it’s those other things that are what, what has led to the need to rename that highway after him. Because that, that’s really his, his most greatest work outside of being a husband and father and a man of God. Thank you. Still no questions. All right. Can I leave this letter for someone? Absolutely. I’ve got a copy for all of you. Perfect. If you want to give it to Senator Bohacek, you can pass it down this way. Thank you very much for your time. Thanks, Lori. Our representative. My bad. All right. Representative Van Attter, you’re the last thing on my agenda. Take us home. Thank you, mister chairman, members of the committee, I will be brief. In the early morning hours of January 29, 2022, Carroll County Sheriff’s deputy Noah Rainey was on duty in responding to a call for service. When en route to the call, Deputy Rainey was involved in a single vehicle crash resulting in his death. Deputy Rainey was he left behind his wife, two sons, and a community that he loved. Deputy Rainey’s last action on this earth was responding to a call for service with the intent to serve and protect his community. Deputy Rainey’s last traveled mile in Carroll county was on State Road 75 from 700 south to 800 South. I would respectfully ask that this portion of State Road 75 in Carroll county be named in his honor. I’ve got Deputy Kachuk with me to say a few words as well. Thank you all for letting me be here. I’ve been with the Carroll County Sheriff’s office for ten years now. I had the honor of seeing Deputy Rainey get hired on back in 2019, and he absolutely was the most dedicated, professional, charismatic, and ethical police officer I’ve ever had the honor to meet, which is another reason why it’s so tragic his career ended so soon. It would mean a great deal to our agency, to his family, to his friends to be able to see his name on the last stretch of road he was alive on when he was going to protect those that needed his help. I think that’s all I need to say. Thanks. Thank you. All right, so here’s what we’re going to do. Sometime maybe late September, last week, first couple weeks of October, I’ll circulate some dates, possibly, and see if we can get something set up for our last meeting. We’ll talk about, and we’ll take votes on the license plates. So I’m sure you’re going to get lobbied on the license plate issue. Four applications are not going to make it through the road. Naming resolutions. I think we’re going to have those conversations, whether by caucus or by however, and determine what’s going to go into that report. Right. So I think that’s going to be good. Now, something I want to throw out there and we can discuss now, but we’re, we’re only 1 minute over where I projected we’d finished, so not bad. But I will ask this at the next meeting unless we start talking about it tonight, which I’m happy to do. I am concerned at some point that we are double and sometimes triple naming roads because Laporte County, I got a lot of state highway because we’re the second geographical largest county. But Representative Davis, we had to really do some searching, and I think, Aaron, did we not double name a road for hers? There were two different roads. Right. So in the smaller districts, we’re starting to double and sometimes triple name roads. So I’m going to pose a few things with you. Should these expire at 20 years, should future general assemblies have an opportunity to maybe redo these if they mean to the community and to those family members and do them again? Maybe that’s a terrible idea. It’s something I want the community to think about. Maybe it’s 30 years. I have nothing particular in mind, but I think it’s worthy of a conversation. Another thing, so for four years, I’ve been handling these, and, you know, there is so much passion in these, and they become so personal. They’re very personal to the legislator and to the constituents that they present them for. I just wonder, should the General assembly be doing these, or should it be maybe the governor’s office, like a sagamore, like a corydon? Are we the right body? And I’m not saying that we are or that we’re not. I’m just saying maybe we should have that conversation. So with that, I’m happy to have the conversation. Or I’m happy to adjourn your choice. Motion to adjourn. Senator Crider, do you have any comments that you’d like to make on these before we adjourn? No. I agree with your assessment. I will tell you that at times these become really difficult people become pretty unreasonable. And I, and so there’s been considerable hard feelings in the past over them, one person or another wanting somebody to be recognized, the other person representing the same area may not. And we’ve really tried to narrow down, make sure that the resolution was presented by the person who resided in that community, because we had a couple of those really go sideways. And so I kind of like the idea of having somebody present the argument to some other entity other than legislature and let them kind of decide what happens or not. And we just had an example. And actually, I agree with the representative’s argument that naming, just saying that it cannot be a former legislator discounts all the other activity the person was involved in the rest of their life other than the time that they served. Right. And so maybe your legislative service is the least of what you’ve contributed to your community. And there are plenty of really valid reasons why you should have a particular section, especially if we’re going to name after a jazz musician or a businessman or some other, not discounting that, that’s, that they presented a contribution to society. And so from my perspective, I mean, I kind of like the idea. We have had chairmen in the past, both sides, who had, like, their arbitrary rules that they would only hear if you died in the line of duty and military or law enforcement service. That’s the only thing they were going to entertain kind of thing. And those really leave out some of the conversations we’ve had with other really deserving people. And so it’s that balancing act. And where do you draw the line? And if there’s a line, somebody always disagrees with the line, and that’s the problem. Problem. Agreed. So I guess what Senator Crider and myself are saying is be prepared to have that conversation when we meet at the next time. All right. With that, we’ll stand and adjourn.

I hail from the north end of the state. And before we get started, I just want to point out that we have sign up forms for testimony here on the podium. So if you’re gonna be testifying, we’d like you to sign up, please. And we will start off this afternoon with introduction of committee members. And to my left, we’ll start with Representative May, and we’ll work our way around the table. Thank you. Okay. Good afternoon. Representative Chris Mays. House District 65, which is all of Lawrence county, most of Orange, and parts of Jackson and Washington County. Justin Mow at House District 97, which is downtown Indianapolis, the near south side and southwest side of the city. David Nazgotsky. State Senate ten South Bend, in parts of St. Joseph County. Greg Taylor. State senator, District 33, west side of Indianapolis. Dandron Ellis. Senate District one. Senator Daniel. Senate District one, which is the middle of Lake County. Indiana. State Senator Jim Buck. District 21, populated area of Howard county, all of Tipton and the northwest of Hamilton. Chris Baker, with LSA, Reagan Hatcher, district three. Gary Hobart, Lake Station, New Chicago. Larissa Sweet. District 50, representative all of Huntington County, Wabash, Wells, and Miami. Karen Engelman. District 70. Olive Harrison, part of Clark, part of Floyd, part of Washington. Steve Bartel is District 74, representing Orange, Perry, Crawford, Dubois, and Spencer counties. Excellent. And as I said, Doug Miller, my district’s House 48, and I represent about a third of Elkhart county. So this afternoon, we’ve been tasked with looking at compacts, commissions, and other items that are current in code, and I’m going to have LSA talk about our charge. Thank you, mister chairman. So, the Legislative Council has charged this committee to do the following things in 2024, in each even numbered year, to determine whether a group has met in the immediate preceding two years. Identify all interstate compacts that have been fully operational for at least two years to which the state is a party to consider whether to remain a party to or withdraw from each interstate impact. If the committee determines that the state should withdraw from the interstate compact, identify the steps needed to withdraw from the compact and the definition for group under this resolution is. Refers to any authority board, commission, committee, a council delegate, foundation, panel, task force that is established by statute, has at least one legislator assigned to it, and is not staffed by legislative service agencies, and the source on that is Indiana code to five. 1.313. Great. Thank you. Senator Bohacic, would you like to introduce yourself? Check district eight. All are parts of St. Joe, Laporte, Marshall, and Star counties. Great, thank you. As we move down the agenda, I asked LSA to look at all of the compacts, commissions, as per the charge from legislative services. And the items that are on the agenda, we believe are those items that are those entities that have not met or have not been working to fulfill their charge. I would like to stress today that today and our next meeting will be fact finding. We’re not going to be judgmental. We’re going to look at anything pertaining to the viability of each entity and make sure that they’re carrying out the charge if they are or if they’re not, why they’re not. If there’s individuals here to speak to that. And we want to make sure, moving forward, that the state of Indiana is properly allocating resources. If those entities need to be staffed and individuals need to be attended, that they’re doing so. But if they’re not performing their function, or if they’ve reached obsolescence, that we address that as well. So I just wanted to lay that groundwork at the outset. The first item on the agenda is the child Services Oversight committee. Is there anyone here to speak on that? Okay, so we have Hannah Joy Alte. Thank you, mister chair. My name is Hannah Drayalty. I’m the recent executive director of Iarca. Can’t speak as to why the oversight committee hasn’t met in the past, but can say I would be in support of moving it so that there is more statutory oversight and authority that goes with the committee and would say, appreciate being considered for that, would support a move to have statutory oversight. And that’s about it for right now. Great. Thank you. Does anyone on our committee have any questions for Hannah Joye? Yes, mister chairman. What’s the purpose of the child services Oversight committee, if you could explain? So Mark Fairchild, with the commission for improving the status of children is here, and he’d probably be the best one to answer that. Yeah, I can take a stab at it, but he’s the expert. Sarah, would you like to address that? Yeah. Okay. I actually received an email from Mark Fairchild with the commission, and he explained that the child services oversight committee was replaced. It was repealed in 2014 and replaced by our interim study committee on child services that’s staffed by LSA and meets during the interim. So this committee did the same thing that like reviewing DC’s reports on child fatalities, and I believe they also looked at DC’s policies that were in practices that were in place just to oversee the department. So it continued to meet for a couple of years after being repealed without the statutory authority. But Mark indicated that he was in agreement to remove this from our list of appointments and the IGA website because it’s no longer active. Senator Buck. Thank you, mister chair. So to be clear, then, you’re in favor of removing this committee? Mark Fairchild is. And then. So, yeah, Mark is back there, but as the director. Because if it hadn’t met in two years, and that’s what this committee is trying to determine, if there’s something that’s significant, that’s one thing. But not having met for two years, if there’s justification. Like to hear it. Thank you, Sarah. Appreciate it. More. Just who are you again? Who are you? So I understand your role in this. I’m Sarah Doggett with LSA. Thank you very much. I apologize, Senator Nieskotsky. Thanks. Mister chair. I think probably would be the same question that I have for everyone. Just to try to get a better idea. When was this first established? How many years ago has it been established? I didn’t get that information. I don’t know if Mark would be a better person to answer. Mister chair, is it okay if Mark swaps? Yeah, we’ll recognize Mark Fairchild to speak. All right. Thanks for the opportunity to speak on this. Hopefully I can give a little bit more context. So the Child Services Oversight committee was created in statute in 2013. That was also at the same time that the commission on improving the status of children in Indiana, who I’m the executive director of, was created. And it was meant to inform some of the early efforts of that commission. It was actually then removed in 2014 from statute, which is why you see that there’s not a statutory citation behind this one versus the others on your list. It continued to meet informally to continue building that work early on with the commission. But most of the work that was done within that to inform the commission and get us in a place where we could be working across state agencies on child services issues, was integrated into other committees and task forces of the commission. It was meeting until about 2021. And at that point, the Child Services Oversight committee that we have meet in this interim, actually in a couple of weeks that I’m a member of, started picking up and doing a lot of the high level child fatality review and other tasks that felt more under that oversight level of role, and of course, has statutory authority. At that point, we stopped meeting on that and used that as another informant to the work of the commission. So nothing has gone away. It’s kind of recirculated to other areas? Yes, Senator Buck. And how much money has been appropriated, or is there an appropriation in the budget for that committee, not for what the committee, especially the children’s commission itself, has an appropriation of 350,000 annually for two and a half staff and other supports that we do throughout the year. So I do have a question. Is that money being reallocated, then, in the other areas where we’ve diversified, or where this charge has been diversified, that allocation was actually made quite recently in the 2023 cycle. So that funding was never attached to that group as it was not meeting during the time. Representative Moed. Thank you. Do you guys submit any sort of findings or annual report to the Legislative Council or the legislative body in either of the two, the non existing or the existing non meeting group in the past, and then the current group that you have? Yeah, we have an annual report. We actually just clicked publish on that for the last year’s one, so that’s available. And all of our materials and meeting recordings are available on our website, too. Sure. Any other questions? All right, seeing. Thank you. Thank you both. Next up is the doctor Martin Luther King junior holiday commission. Anyone here to speak on that? Any comments from Sarah from LSA? I actually did get confirmation from the Civil rights Commission that they are active, and he asked me to apologize to the committee for them. They haven’t kept their website updated, so he did get me that information. They are active. All right. Thank you. Any commission. Senator Taylor, I was really interested in this topic. I’m supposed to be on this commission. I can guarantee you I haven’t met in two years, so I don’t know what the Civil Rights Commission is talking about, but love to know when they’re meeting and what they’re meeting about. I think it’s important that we have this commission. We have a annual, if you all know, during the legislative session, annually, we have a presentation with the Civil Rights Commission, has a presentation on Doctor Martin Luther King Holiday, and there’s a presentation downstairs in the oak here in the rotunda. So I think it needs to be continued. But don’t know why I’m not getting notices of the meeting. So, you know, we could get a report back from the commission. Why I’m not a part of it. That’d be great. Yeah, we’ll definitely continue to follow up. We appreciate your insight on that. Yeah. Senator Buck as well. Do you know how much money is appropriated for that? Thank you. Next up is the environmental adjudication Directory selection panel. Anyone here to address or discuss that? Sarah, do you have any information on what their charge is, what they oversee or discuss for the environmental adjudication directory selection panel, the statute actually is repealed and I did not receive any other information about it. But it is. It was repealed just this past session, the 2024 session. All right, thank you. The. I’m sorry, the governor’s security council. Is anyone here to talk about that? I’m assuming this was formed during COVID Anyone have any comments or. Yeah, Representative Bartels. Thank you, Mister Chairman. I know there’s potential revisiting of this with merging with another council. I think we’ll see in the next couple months some language that may say this is what it needs to be with merging some other councils. Thank you. The Indiana Civic Education Commission. No one here to testify. I did get a text from a member of the department of ED, and it just simply says that they believe that at their last meeting they took care of what they were charged with doing. So they’re looking further to see if there’s a need for that particular commission to stay in place. So that’s the information that I have at this time. Does anyone else have any other comments? Seeing none, we’ll move on to the interstate Rail passenger advisory council. Representative Aylesworth. Senator Buchanan. Thank you, mister chairman. Yeah, I can say with assuming the exact legal verbiage is the same interstate rail passenger council and meets as a part of the Midwest Interstate passenger Rail commission, which is kind of the commission, the compact of, I don’t know, maybe eight or so Midwest states to look at rail options, expanding rail, improving rail. A lot of discussion comes around federal dollars and how to kind of combine resources and make sure that states are working together. I can say that the group meets twice a year. Usually one of us attend the meetings. And so I got your report. I had the privilege to attend the meeting in Washington DC earlier this year, and we submitted a grant application which hopefully will be approved here in the fall for high speed rail study in India, in Indiana, between Chicago and Indianapolis. And I got invited to ride the high speed rail going from Chicago to Minneapolis on the 18 November. I could not go because that’s org day. I gotta be here for that. That’s important. But it does play a valuable role in coordinating among the states grant and money. So it works in conjunction with another entity. That’s my understanding. Yeah, I was actually, when I initially saw that, I thought that was a reason we were here. But I’m like, well, is this a different entity? I’m pretty sure they’re all kind of one entity. Yes, sir. Yeah. Senator Buck, do you know how much we appropriate for that commission? How much? How much is it? 500,000 in the budget. I think it’s 500,000 in the budget. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else have any questions? All right, thank you both. Thank you. You want us to fill out a form, chairman? Sure. Does anyone here to testify on behalf of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Commission? Seeing none. Yep. Representative and could I get a little more information on that? I have talked to their board member before, but I’m not sure if there’s a need for them or not. Could I get some more information and come back to our next meeting? Yeah, absolutely. As I said earlier, we’re here fact finding. The Medicaid advisory committee, standing fiscal subcommittee. I’m assuming that that’s part of our budget committee. Anybody have any working knowledge of that? Any comments? Mister chair? So I’m not certain it’s the same committee that met last week. I am a member that met yesterday, and a Medicaid oversight commission. That was their first meeting, but I’m not sure if this is the exact one or nothing. It sounds like it. So if it is, they met last week. All right, thank you. The oral history Project advisory committee. Sing none will check. Mark. By the way, in case anyone’s interested at the outset, LSA, as they peruse code, there’s 66 current ones that Sarah was able to locate within our statutory code, compacts and commissions, maybe even perhaps more than that. But that’s why we’re taking a deep dive in this, just to make sure that we’re doing the right things. Do you have comments, Sarah? So I did reach out to Emily McGuire with the library about the oral history project advisory committee, and she did respond that, confirming that they have not met in the past two years. She also provided a lot of information about they just have a new or, I’m sorry, Emily is the new project manager. And there’s some other information. I have brought copies for the committee if you’d like me to share. Sure. But the email does confirm that they’ve not met two years, and we don’t know their budget allocation or so as she’s passing those out. As I said, I think there’s 66 of these entities that currently exist in statute that the state of Indiana. So our constituents, including us, we’re paying to staff those and to make sure they’re meeting. And we just. I guess I want to have a discussion at this point. It would be somewhat theoretical in nature, but amongst the committee about your feelings on entities that are here statutorily but simply aren’t functioning. I know in the 23 session, we passed legislation to get rid of a number of. I think we passed legislation to get four, terminate our membership in four compact, statewide, and we’re continuing that work today. So, does anyone on the committee have any thoughts? I just found out I’m chair of that. Chairman Buck, how much money has that commission been getting the last few years? I hope it’s not a lot interesting how things shake out as we move along, isn’t it? That’s pretty good. All right, moving on. We have representative Bartels with us this afternoon. He authored House Bill 1396 in 2024, and there are provisions in that that relate to this particular interim committee. So I’m going to ask him to present his comments at this time. Thank you, mister chairman. Just some things to consider for repeal as we continue on with potential list of defunct or non meeting groups to take consideration for future testimony. Is the board for coordination of programs serving vulnerable individuals. It was established under an IC code. It’s believed to be defunct. And there’s a few duties that this program had that’s already kind of being absorbed by the CRC. Consideration of a repeal of that. The Board of coordination of programs serving vulnerable individuals, it basically is defunct. And the duties that normally were taken on by that board is actually being taken care of by the CRC. Just first consider. Yep. The Indiana stadium and convention building authority. It was basically acquired. It was to acquire, construct, equipped, owned, lease facilities, capital improvements board. It’s basically defunct. There are a few remaining duties with this board, but the recommendation in 1396, is it be absorbed by the Indiana Finance Authority. If I might air Jaylor, please. I don’t know how you gonna do it with the Indiana Finance Authority, but if I remember correctly, there’s still debt outstanding that was issued by this stadium authority. They have to. I know they’ve got obligations to bondholders for the debt that’s outstanding. Have you talked to the Indiana Finance Authority about whether or not they’re willing to take on that responsibility? Or is this something. I didn’t see them on the list. Yeah, that’s why I’m here. Just to add these things that were brought up a year and a half ago. So, if you look at 1396, there is some verbiage to try to take care of some of those issues on bonds, and it’s just for food, for thought, for the rest of the committee as we move forward. Is that that was the intent from some of the stakeholders in the executive branch. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that commission is made up not only of members of Marion county, but also they have members from the donut counties, if I’m correct. So that would be Hamilton, Hancock, maybe. Boom. What I’m trying to get at here is that’s a huge undertaking to dissolve that organization, because I know that they were the ones who. For Lucas Oil Stadium. I think it was just Lucas Oil stadium. They were the ones who issued the debt for Lucas Oil stadium in the old RCA dome that we had. So I’m just. Just saying there might be some obligations there. And, you know, before we go to, have you talked to the IFA about absorbing their responsibilities? That discussion has been very brief, but at this point, it’s. If you look at what this commission does and does not do, it makes sense to not have another commission out there. And in our effort to reduce government, this makes sense. Okay, so what. What are their responsibilities? I mean, don’t they still have responsibility for the oversight of Lucas Oil stadium or the over. Because the CIB. This. The CIB is the operating entity for the convention center. Correct me if I’m wrong, downtown Indianapolis, the state, even convention authority was put together when the original Lucas Oil stadium was an idea to make sure that the surrounding counties who have people who will come downtown and spend money on food and beverage had some oversight of Lucas Oil stadium. And if I remember correctly, there was a bipartisan effort to make sure that those counties stayed involved and had someone who was part of. Yeah, because of the money. I. That’s just what I remember. And then I was a young bond lawyer when they did the bond deal, and I know it was issued under the Indiana Stadium and Convention Authority. Indianapolis stadium and convention. I think the intent is, was they were. They were doing. They had dudes responsibilities. They’re no longer necessarily doing them. And the indian authority is kind of already doing them. So it doesn’t make sense. Sense to continue business as usual. We’re not really doing anything. So it’s more of a. Let’s throw it on the table. It’s been brought up a year and a half ago. We’re looking into it. So, I mean, we definitely need to get in the weeds on this a little bit more, so. Okay. Thank you. I just didn’t know. Yeah. Okay. Another one for consideration. Mister chairman, is the law enforcement academy building commission. Currently. Right now, it’s actually different from the Iela board. And so it’s. Iela board pretty much runs the building. So it’s kind of a defunct, non necessary, and it should be eliminated, or any duties that are still remaining should go to the board, lea board, just for consideration. The Natural Resources Advisory Council was established as an advisory capacity. The DNR and the Natural Resources Commission, as of currently, right now they don’t really have any role or no sunset. So we should repeal that as a consideration. 1396 also looks at the reduction of state and governors appointees to a bunch of local boards and commissions. I do have a list, I can just provide you a list. But talking to lots of people in the executive branch and stakeholders in this, there’s no real need to have state and governors appointees on these commissions and boards. Just reduces the number. We got some boards with 30 members and sometimes they don’t even have enough to have a quorum. So this is just throwing that out there and I can just give you a list, but it makes sense and I think that there wouldn’t be a lot of opposition to that. I think that’s all I’ll bring up right now. Mister chairman, I do think that there’s one possibility that when we consider merging, we talked about the governor’s security council. There’s also a recommendation that the emergency Response Commission and the Hazard Mitigation Council merge and possibly take on also some duties of the governor’s security council. So that’s a consideration that was we’re looking at a year and a half ago. And so I think you’re going to see that we can probably merge a lot of these things and still accomplish what’s necessary for citizens. Chair. Sorry, Senator Buck. Thank you. Mister chair. On the one commission you brought up on the governor’s security, I don’t know whether we have one that can merge some way or make sure. I just know that this statehouse, especially for our Supreme Court members, has not passed a safety audit since 1994. And when I’ve talked to the chief justice about it, she does not have the same protection that our governor, the speaker and the pro tem have. And that was the reason for lassation, getting appropriation for a judicial center so they can have more security. But knowing that that hasn’t passed muster for all these years, there needs to be some kind of an ongoing audit of this building of the House security. The members of the legislature, the executive branch, judicial branch, and our staff are really safe in this building from untowards people. So I don’t know what area that fits into. But back in the nineties, that was a big issue because of so many attacks on different governmental buildings. But I just know we haven’t passed muster for security since 94. Thank you for the comments. Anyone else on the committee? Mister chairman, this is thank you for the opportunity. We’re going to meet one more time, right? We’re going to meet one more time. Actually two, because we’ll have one more meeting. We may have some expanded topics. We’re going to do some more research on these, these items, have more discussion and then we’ll have a meeting for findings. Okay? So the next meeting would be more of informational and because I think represent borders, Bartles, I called you borders. We got different hairstyles. Yeah, you do represent Bartles. You got a list there. I think we all should be familiar with that list. I’ll tell you, for me, I remember why we’re doing this. Now, as far as the governor’s appointments go, I think we ought to be cognizant of the fact that we’re going to have a new governor. Doesn’t matter who it’s going to be, it’s going to be a new governor. Right. If we’re going to make these decisions, because I’m sure we’re going to do a report to ledge council saying, hey, these are the recommendations, right. That we ought to be vetting these things. And I don’t think we should be looking at, you know, like I said, the governor’s appointments with a new administration coming, it’s just my two cent on it, you know. Yeah, I mean, we can look at it, but I think you recommended, there’s a few that you’ve already got a list that you’ve recommended where the governor shouldn’t have appointments or something. Yeah, I mean, here’s an example. Why am I in Region 15? Why am the governor’s appointee to Region 15, a local economic board? I mean, I don’t, I can’t influence them with cash or any. I can’t. I mean, so, I mean, what’s, what’s the point, I guess, right. If we’re not there to do good, then we’re just another body taking up space and. Yeah, that’s why I want to see that list. I mean, I, I just don’t want to get a list. I thought we were only meeting one more time, like we were going to get a list at the meeting like we did today and say, all right, at that same meeting we need to get rid of this appointment, get to this appointment if we’re going to have a third meeting after we get all the information. That’s better. Thank you, mister chairman. Yeah, that’s the intent. We’ll definitely disseminate the information. Okay. Thank you 100%. Even if we make the recommendation, we still would have to do a bill next year, and we would have the input from the governor by then. So even if we make the recommendation, we still wouldn’t have to proceed with all of this. So any other comments, Representative Bartels, you’ll get us at list? That list? Yeah. I’ll provide the list to the chairman right after this. And also they can disseminate it tomorrow, I suspect. Excellent. Correct. Thanks. Any other comments? Okay. Sorry if there’s no other discussion, Senator Buck, just point of clarification. It’s the 9th. You’re asking for flexibility of the time. Flexibility of the time. Okay. Thank you. There’s no other discussion than we’ll stand in adjournment.