Aspire Johnson County plans to advocate for government modernization and public safety at the Indiana Statehouse this legislative session.
The economic development organization and chamber of commerce serving Johnson County announced its legislative priorities for the 2026 Indiana General Assembly session last week. This year’s agenda emphasizes modernizing government systems to reduce regulatory burdens and strengthen public safety, both of which chamber officials say are critical pillars of a “strong and competitive economy.”
“Our priorities are very responsive and extremely reflective of the feedback we’re hearing from local business leaders and community leaders, quite honestly,” said Christian Maslowski, Aspire president and CEO.
Aspire advocates for business interests by engaging policymakers, convening forums and maintaining a strong presence at the Statehouse. Through its Business Advocacy Council, Aspire monitors and analyzes legislation, recommends positions and advances pro-growth policies that benefit employers and the broader community, according to the chamber.
The first priority is advocating for the modernization of Indiana’s regulatory and governmental systems to make it easier for businesses to operate and grow. Reducing unnecessary or duplicative regulations, along with streamlining and consolidating government functions where appropriate, will improve service coordination, simplify permitting, and eliminate conflicting requirements, according to Aspire.
Maslowski highlighted how Johnson County has already demonstrated leadership in this area through two different voluntary township consolidations — the only ones in the state. Franklin, Needham and Union townships merged into a single township in 2022, while, come Jan. 1, Hensley and Nineveh townships will merge into a single unit.
“So proud of Johnson County and the proactive conversations and actions that we’ve had here. This is an area where Johnson County is really leading the state,” he said.
The mergers show local government leaders are being proactive and asking themselves how they can streamline layers of government and create efficiencies in operations. Local governments and taxing units are navigating the effects of Senate Enrolled Act 1 of 2025, which cut property tax revenues for local governments, and are coming to the conclusion that they need to “tighten their belts.” Although in Maslowski’s view, Johnson County government units didn’t have to do much tightening since local fiscal bodies have been “managing their resources quite well,” he said.
“But in this new reality, we have to explore, ‘How do we modernize local government?” Maslowski said. “Business is always looking at consolidating departments or product lines or divisions. Businesses are always looking for cost-saving opportunities through joint-buying power, looking at flattening organizations to make the organization more navigable. These are common-sense business leadership strategies and actions.”
Johnson County’s leadership role gives Aspire the chance to help show the state it is possible. It also gives them the opportunity to work with state lawmakers to create a stronger pathway or find a way to incentivize local government units to evaluate chances to modernize — especially if they’re already having to look at budgets and operations to “ensure they are running as lean as possible,” he said.
However, modernizing government is also about how to improve the ways residents and businesses interact with local government units in today’s world. Today’s market and economy is “much, much more” broader, regional, and global than it ever has been, and it’s prudent to look and reevaluate and look and see what they would do differently in 2025 and 2026 compared to 200 years ago if they had to start all over again, Maslowski said.
While SEA 1 of 2025 plays a role in this, Maslowski doesn’t expect to see changes involving property taxes in 2026, but Aspire plans to follow along and pay close attention. If there are opportunities to give local taxing units more time to adjust to the changes, Aspire would be supportive because they want to ensure they can help “partner and drive quality of life as best they can,” he said.
Another legislative priority is strengthening public safety, which Aspire says is a “foundational component of economic vitality.” Businesses invest, jobs grow, and families choose communities where they feel secure, and Johnson County’s strong reputation for safety “has long been a competitive advantage” in the Central Indiana region, according to the chamber.
To maintain this strength, Aspire is supporting policies that reinforce law enforcement capabilities, improve prosecutorial and judicial consistency across counties and expand access to modern investigative tools. Enhanced state support for personnel, equipment and infrastructure “will help ensure Indiana communities remain safe, prosperous, and attractive to employers and talent,” according to Aspire.
Advocating for the strengthening of public safety comes from feedback gathered during a business leader survey earlier this year. Public safety emerged as a rising concern — not because business leaders thought Johnson County was unsafe, but rather its becoming a concern across the state and region, Maslowski said.
“They want to make sure that we are ensuring Johnson County is as safe as it can be,” he said.
Chamber officials spoke with local public safety and judicial leaders, who said the county is safe, but more could always be done with more resources and better coordination and collaboration across the region. More could also be done with more consistent application of the existing criminal code and sentencing penalties, Maslowski said.
“From county to county, I’ve had conversations with colleagues around Indiana, and this is not actually something that’s unique to Johnson County. A lot of communities, particularly suburban communities, are having this same [conversation], and their public safety and judicial leaders are reflecting back the same things,” he said. ” We want our local public safety and judicial leaders to have discretion to be able to apply the laws as they best see serves their community, but not to the point where it can create a challenge for another community.”
As an example, Maslowski highlighted suspects who have fled the police. They might believe that fleeing the police won’t cause their sentence to be aggravated in the county they’re used to committing crimes in, but if they cross into another county, it would be, he said.
Improving prosecutorial and judicial consistency across counties is a way to help keep communities safe, healthy, prosperous and on track, Maslowski said.
“It’s really foundational to economic development and population growth and stability, which drives business because that’s the workforce, citizen leaders, volunteers for our nonprofits, so we want everyone to feel proud and safe in their community,” he said.
The legislative session returns from hiatus Jan. 5.
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