A couple weeks ago I printed a copy of all the bills that had been introduced in the Indiana Legislature. \u00a0Silly me, I thought those would be most of them. \u00a0Well…. not so much; they now have over 1200 bills introduced. \u00a0The introduction of bills is over for this session.\u00a0 \u00a0Now to be a good civic minded person I have looked at all the bills that I feel that I could contribute to the thought process on. \u00a0You see, 1200 bills are a lot, and legislators are humans too and they also find the task daunting. \u00a0I think it is my civic duty to help in the areas that I have expertise (and sometimes a stake in). \u00a0Legislators are not experts in all fields and they rely on others to help them decide what is best for their constituents. \u00a0So I try to send emails or talk personally to some of the legislators that I know and that I think might have interest in the bill.\u00a0 Many people think lobbyists are bad people and it is all about payola.\u00a0 Well, in my many years of visiting the Indiana legislature I have never experienced anything like that.\u00a0 They rely on lobbyists to help them learn about issues.\u00a0 The thing that most people don\u2019t understand, lobbyists must always be honest and present the issue with both pro and con views.\u00a0 The thing that most people don\u2019t understand is that for a lobbyist to be effective they must garner trust and they can only do that if they are well informed on the issue and can talk about the positive of their side as well as the negative of their side.\u00a0\u00a0 It does not take long for a lobbyist to loose trust if they hide truths from legislators.\u00a0 Their entire future is based on telling the truth every time.<\/p>\n
I am not a lobbyist, and that automatically provides me a unique opportunity to influence legislation.\u00a0 There is nothing more important or convincing to legislators than to see their constituents especially a businessman show up to talk to them about a subject.\u00a0 BUT, you must always be truthful and present both sides of the issue and how the outcomes might affect you.\u00a0 \u00a0One thing that I have found is that if you are not always asking for something that helps you and if you offer your expertise on other matters that you are educated on then they will seek your advice on subjects.\u00a0 Legislators have a tough job, your help is appreciated.<\/p>\n
Today and yesterday I spent the day contacting a couple of the professional groups that I am involved in to solicit advice to pass along.\u00a0 There are a couple of bills that have language that will affect the Wisp industry and we had a meeting with our coop and I used that meeting to share the text of the bills with the group.\u00a0 As a group we discussed the good and bad and gave it a thumbs up with no changes.\u00a0 So this is information that I will pass along to several legislators and the Lieutenant Governor\u2019s office because of her interest in the subject.\u00a0 Earlier I had sent a couple of emails to her Chief of Staff and will follow up in the near future.<\/p>\n
Another group of bills that I am intimately interested in are the bills related to property tax assessment.\u00a0 This issue is a very costly issue to me financially; but really to tell the truth it is more of an issue of principal.\u00a0 Through the 45 years of golf course ownership I have seen rampant favoritism in golf course assessments.\u00a0 It may be done to help the quality of life in a county because they understand the value of a healthy golf community or maybe the county just needs the money and assesses a similar golf course much higher.\u00a0 I will talk more in another post about this subject.\u00a0 To continue on my efforts today; I sent information of several bills that will impact the golf industry to the INGCOA board so that when we meet next week we can formulate a posture and strategy on these bills.\u00a0 I have already laid the groundwork with 2 senators and 3 house members so that I can report back to them which bills might be helpful and why; and why some bills are onerous to us and might even include suggested language to insert or delete from the bill in an amendment.<\/p>\n
This is the time of year it all happens and happens very quickly.\u00a0 I must get my communication in quickly because I will be doing consumer golf shows soon and my time at Indianapolis will be limited. \u00a0The critical time is when the bills are being heard in committee; this is when citizens and lobbyists \u00a0show up to tell the committee how it effects them, often just prior to a vote. \u00a0Sometimes the room is packed and sometimes it is just the committee.<\/p>\n
It is all about giving trusted information to the right legislators that either authored the bills, co-authored or are influential in the area of legislation.\u00a0 Certainly the legislators that represent me will evaluate if my side of the bill is the best way to vote or not; but they will certainly listen to me, (all but maybe 1 and I am not sure he listens to anyone).\u00a0\u00a0 I should not have said that, but there are always people you believe in and some that you don\u2019t.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0It is really my fault, he is new to represent our area and I have not established my reputation with him yet so I will give him the benefit of the doubt and I will work to earn his trust.<\/p>\n
Stay tuned, the session happens fast and this is where elbow rubbing happens!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A couple weeks ago I printed a copy of all the bills that had been introduced in the Indiana Legislature. \u00a0Silly me, I thought those would be most of them. \u00a0Well…. not so much; they now have over 1200 bills…
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