Stay Informed

As the Indiana General Assembly gets underway for its 2022 legislative session, Statehouse activity will essentially return to normal following last year’s COVID restrictions.

Although community engagement in the legislative process was limited last year due to the pandemic, the Indiana Farm Bureau public policy team was successful in getting the expansion of funding for rural broadband to unserved and underserved Hoosiers in several pieces of legislation.

“This year, we want to make sure those strategic broadband investments make it to those unserved and underserved communities,” said Andy Tauer, INFB executive director of public policy. “We also want to collaborate with groups looking to solve other challenges for our rural communities whether that’s in terms of education, early career development opportunities, infrastructure or regulatory issues that impact members.”

Members are encouraged to engage in the legislative process and provide a voice on issues that affect them. Member engagement is essential to INFB’s success at the local, state and federal levels. Regional managers will be an important resource this short session as INFB’s public policy team meets with them almost daily, keeping them updated on what is taking place at the Statehouse.

There also are other resources to help members stay updated and involved in the legislative process. INFB’s public policy team offers:

• Video briefings, which are posted via social media every Monday. A member of the public policy team will comment on what to expect that week at the Statehouse.
• Legislative Zoom calls, which take place every Friday starting at noon during the session.
• The Dispatch newsletter, which is sent out every Friday during session and summarizes

Questions regarding the 2022 legislative session, engaging lawmakers or INFB’s policy priorities can be directed to the public policy team at ppt@infb.org. The Indiana General Assembly and subsequent committee hearings can be livestreamed at www.iga.in.gov.