State Rep. Lyness, State Senator Perfect Speak at Pre-Legislative Luncheon

The legislators hit on the state budget, State Road 101 extension, gaming revenue, and more.

State Senator Chip Perfect (left) and Randy Lyness at the Pre-Legislative Luncheon at Ivy Tech Riverfront Campus in Lawrenceburg. Photo by Travis Thayer, Eagle Country 99.3.

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) - State legislators from southeastern Indiana were in Lawrenceburg on Thursday to discuss issues facing the Hoosier state. 

State Representative Randy Lyness (R-West Harrison) and State Senator Chip Perfect (R-Lawrenceburg) spoke at the annual Pre-Legislative Luncheon at Ivy Tech Community College Riverfront Campus in Lawrenceburg. 

The event was presented by the Dearborn County Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Duke Energy. 

Lyness serves the people of Ohio, Switzerland and Dearborn counties, and a portion of Jefferson County, as state representative for House District 68. Perfect serves Dearborn, Jefferson, Ohio, Scott and Switzerland counties, and portions of Jennings County as State Senator District 43. 

This session, Randy Lyness will serve on three key House standing committees. They are the House Committee on Local Government (vice chair), the House Commerce, Small Business and Economic Development Committee, and the House Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Chip Perfect has been named the chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Technology and will also serve on Senate committees focusing on Agriculture, Natural Resources, Pensions and Labor, and Utilities. 

At Thursday's luncheon, Lyness and Perfect spoke about the state budget, the governor's Task Force on Health, and workforce, in addition to taking questions from attendees regarding gaming revenue, mental health issues, youth tobacco use and vaping, and Community Crossing grants. 

Some of the highlights from the luncheon include:  

State Budget

Lyness and Perfect both stated that the state budget is the top priority this legislative session. Some of the other issues discussed included gaming revenue, public health, and workforce. 

"Even though it is a budget year and everyone knows that's the most important thing, I'm surprised to know that probably 80 percent of the budget is already determined," said Perfect. "There is very little in play."

Perfect explained that the starting point for the budget is last year's budget, and that the legislature starts there and makes adjustments. 

"That's really not the way I'd like it to be done," said Perfect. "I find it very frustrating that the government as a whole, from my perspective, is very entrenched as the default setting on anything is the same. We start off with the things the same way they were then make minor adjustments." 

The common theme for Perfect is that government doesn't move quick enough and things stay the same more than they change. 

"We are still trying to run things the way we did 20 or 30 years ago and I think that's a big problem, but there's not a big appetite for big change and I find that very frustrating," he added.  

State Road 101 Extension

One intriguing project in southeastern Indiana that appears to be moving at a snail's pace is the State Road 101 extension. 

The state has dedicating $200 million to build a 25-mile extension of State Road 101 to connect Ohio River crossing at Markland Dam in Vevay to the existing portion of the highway at U.S. 50 near Milan.

The project is moving, but at the pace of government which is "really, really slow," according to Perfect. 

An environmental study has been completed and a website is expected to launch early in 2023 to provide updates on the project. Lyness says along with the website, a field office will open in Vevay in the new year. 

Some unknowns about the project are where exactly the extender is going to connect with U.S. 50 and the completion date, which is far away, according to Perfect. 

Gaming Revenue

A big issue facing southeastern Indiana is keeping gaming revenue in host communities.

According to Perfect, host communities receive approximately 26 percent of gaming revenues. Since it's inception in the early 90's, gaming has generated $24 billion, or almost $1 billion per year. 

"I have been trying to find things that make sense for us to have legitimate arguments about why our revenue should be protected, the biggest one being we continue to have our communities impacted by this," said Perfect. Without communities like ours stepping up to host these businesses and forever be impacted by them, that doesn't exist."

Host communities could have more money coming in if they had not gotten cut out of sports wagering. The Indiana Gaming Commission announced this week than $452.3 million wagers were accepted in November, pushing Indiana past $10 billion in all-time sports wagering handle. 

What's on the radar right now, is making sure host communities don't get cut out of potential iGaming revenue. iGaming would allow Hoosiers over 21 to gamble from home on their smartphones or tablets. 

"We are trying to in the state of Indiana capture that in a way that at least funnels through our casino operators," said Perfect.  

Community Crossing Expansion

Dearborn County and Rising Sun attorney Andrew Baudendistel asked about a potential expansion to the Community Crossing Grant program.

The program was launched in 2016 for road and bridge preservation projects. 

Baudendistel stated (as an example) that there aren't many roads left to pave in Rising Sun, but the city can't do new sidewalks through the Community Crossing Grant program unless they are tied to a paving project. 

Lyness told Baudendistel he will run the question up the ladder at the statehouse to see how they can approach creating an extension to the program. 

Tobacco, Vaping, Medical Marijuana

Lyness and Perfect were asked about raising tobacco taxes to try and curb teen usage.  

"Increasing the tobacco tax to two dollars a pack is not going to come out of the legislator," said Lyness. 

An estimated 2,600 new Hoosier youth become youth who smoke daily each year, according to the Indiana Department of Health. 

"We have spent billions of dollars and have not moved the needle," Perfect added. "So the answer isn't just in more tax and more spending and don't smoke. We have to find a different way to deliver that. It's a little different game economically. The border communities have a whole different gaining when we talk about changing taxes relative to gas, and cigarettes and alcohol because people here can get it elsewhere. So we do this and it really doesn't help and we hurt the businesses. So, there is a lot to consider other than the fact that it's bad, and we can all agree its bad, but we need a different way of delivering."

Teen vaping is another concern locally. 

In October, the Dearborn County Health Department and Dearborn County Sheriff’s Office sent out a release regarding illegal sale of tobacco/nicotine to minors.

Lyness and Perfect were asked about increasing the tax on vaping products to try to drive down the usage among teens. 

Perfect said there will likely be legislation along those lines. 

The topic of medical marijuana was briefly touched on. Perfect mentioned that he is not in favor of any legislation to legalize medical marijuana in Indiana. 

Despite his feelings on the topic, Perfect admitted that medical marijuana is "getting closer and closer" to becoming legalized in the Hoosier state. 

The 2023 Legislative Session begins on January 10 and will run through April 29.