Senator Maxwell, Rep. Bascom Speak at Pre-Legislative Luncheon

Wednesday, December 18, 2024 at 3:38 PM

By Travis Thayer @eagle993

Topics included Stellar Pathways, the state budget and Rising Star Casino.

Senator Maxwell and State Rep. Bascom speaking at the Pre-Legislative Luncheon. Photo by Travis Thayer, Eagle Country 99.3.

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) - State Senator Randy Maxwell (R-Guilford) and State Representative Garrett Bascom (R-Lawrenceburg) were in Lawrenceburg on Wednesday for the annual Pre-Legislative Luncheon.

The event was hosted by the Dearborn County Chamber of Commerce at Ivy Tech Community College's Riverfront Campus with support from Duke Energy. Savor the Flavor provided lunch.

Before Maxwell and Bascom spoke on issues that may arise during the 2025 legislative session, One Dearborn Executive Director Mike Perleberg was offered the time to speak on One Dearborn County's designation as a Stellar Community. In an announcement Tuesday, Dearborn County and Wabash County were named the recipients of the prestigious designation, which is the state's hallmark community development program.

In becoming a Stellar Community, millions of dollars in set aside funding is now secured for Dearborn County to fuel projects in Greendale, Dillsboro, and Bright, among other investments.

"In Dearborn County, we often have enough funding to do planning, we can plan all day long and we've done a lot of planning in Dearborn County over the years, and planning is important," said Perleberg. "But we don't often have the resources to take those plans and put them into action, especially in our rural communities. Now, thanks to Stellar Dearborn County, Dillsboro, Greendale, we're going to be able to invest millions, taking some of the highest priority projects identified and make them a reality."

With the legislative session set to begin on January 8, Senator Maxwell has been appointed to four committees: Homeland Security and Transportation; Pensions and Labor; Public Policy; and Veterans Affairs and The Military.

As part of the Public Policy committee, Maxwell will have a hand in any talks regarding gaming. Eagle Country 99.3 reported in August that Rising Star Casino's parent company plans to relocate the gaming license to Fort Wayne area. Rising Star has been the least profitable casino of the 13 statewide. According to the Indiana Gaming Commission, Rising Star Casino has averaged $3.2 million in taxable adjusted gross revenue per month.

Maxwell explained that the northeastern portion of the state has no gaming and is being hurt by Hoosiers traveling out of state to casinos in Ohio and Michigan. A casino in the Fort Wayne area could help that portion of the state and the overall state revenue due to a bigger population of people in that area.

"I have met with representatives of the casino, county council and city council, the mayor, commissioners in Ohio County. They are working on negotiating a development agreement to protect their revenue for at least 20 years. I was specifically put on the Public Policy committee this year to represent my constituents to make sure that I hopefully have a little bit of say in how that goes, to make sure the people of Rising Sun are protected," said Maxwell.

It is a budget year at the legislative session. Maxwell says the state is going to start the year $300 million in the hole after reports of Indiana's Medicaid Office had a $1 billion shortfall last year. Approximately 26 percent of Hoosiers are currently on Medicaid, and there is growing concern that it will continue to take up more of the budget. Currently, 19 percent of the $44.6 billion General Fund Appropriations goes to Medicaid. Education takes up the biggest piece of the pie at 57 percent.

State Rep. Bascom took part in his first pre-legislative luncheon on Wednesday. The South Dearborn High School graduate was elected to his first term in November. He says he is currently focusing on building relationships.

"I've spent a lot of time in the district, getting out touring," said Bascom. "I've spent a lot of time out getting to know folks, so feel free to reach out to me so I can get to know you and hear what's going on."

During his first legislative session, Bascom will serve on the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee, the House Judiciary Committee and the House Local Government Committee.

He is currently on a bill that is called "The Next Generation Prosecutor Public Defender Fund." The bill would essentially encourage students to pursue a path to becoming a prosecutor or public defender by awarding grants to individuals who commit to five years as a prosecutor or public defender.

Bascom and Maxwell both said changes to the way property taxes work is going to be looked at this session. Universal school choice is another issue that some will be pushing for this session. As far as referendum dollars for charter schools, both Maxwell and Bascom don't see that as a viable option, stating "it doesn't make any sense."

The topic of 911 fees was raised during the Q&A session. Every phone number registered in the state of Indiana pays $1 a month to fund 911. The funding is then distributed per capita for the number of phones in a particular county - meaning larger populated counties receive more funding. Dearborn County and other surrounding counties have a shortfall, according to Maxwell. While exact numbers weren't disclosed, Maxwell said half the counties he represents are spending more on 911 than they are receiving.

The General Assembly is scheduled to reconvene January 8 for the first day of the 2025 legislative session. Hoosiers can visit iga.in.gov to find legislation, view calendars, and watch committee meetings and session.