When you have covered the Statehouse since 1999, it sometimes feels like being stuck in a time loop. Some issues come back over and over, with no substantive changes in the discussion.
One of my favorites of these arose again last week when key lawmakers came out in support of reducing the number of state boards and commissions. Others though include constant tinkering with “workforce development.” And let’s not forget the endless fight over township government.
But first – back to boards and commissions. Everyone seems to agree we have too many of these ubiquitous government panels — more than 250. These entities cost the state at least $700,000, mostly in per diem, travel and staff costs.
But as soon as you start picking and choosing which ones have to go, people who care about the topic go into fight mode.
When the discussion arose during interim study committees this summer and fall, memories of when then-Gov. Mitch Daniels pitched the same thing in 2006 came flooding back.
“Legislators eager to demonstrate their enthusiasm for some cause or interest group find creating these entities an easy and generally low-cost way to do so,” Daniels said then. “And while these boards and commissions take up only a minute chunk of Indiana’s budget, they devour time, money, and energy far beyond any real contribution they make.”
He asked legislators to overhaul 300-plus state boards and commissions. Initially he wanted to put a sunset date on every panel so that lawmakers would consider the value of each one in terms of allowing it to continue.
But it took years to make any progress.
Daniels wrote about the effort in a 2012 Atlantic article:
“Progress is not impossible. After years of trying, we have euthanized over 70 of these boards and commissions. My favorite method is to not appoint board or commission members and see if anyone notices. I took a more direct approach in proposing and signing a recent ‘spring cleaning’ bill which took out over 20 entities, including a water shortage task force, a library automation council, and numerous other innocuous-sounding government bodies that rarely meet and whose minimal responsibilities frequently overlap.”
Last year, Rep. Steve Bartels, R-Eckerty, introduced a bill that would have eliminated or repealed several boards and commissions. Among them were the Department of Natural Resources’ Advisory Council, the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission, the Indiana Standardbred Advisory Board, the Certification Appeal Board, the Indiana Commission for Arts and Humanities Education, the Law Enforcement Academy Building Commission.
The bill didn’t even get a hearing. And the irony is that the same legislation would have created the Indiana Historical Records Advisory Board.
Bartels and Sen. Chris Garten, R-Charlestown, say they will be back at it again in 2026 though they don’t have a specific list of boards and commissions quite yet.
But there are other topics besides boards and commissions that always come back around.
Workforce woes
I don’t think there has been a single year where lawmakers haven’t passed workforce legislation, and I count at least two major overhauls of the workforce development system during my tenure.
And yet we never seem to make improvements. After decades of programs and state spending, businesses still say finding qualified workers is their biggest struggle.
Not enough Hoosiers are going to college or receiving other training or certifications. And Indiana had 135,000 job openings in June 2025. Newer numbers have been delayed by the federal government shutdown.
Township toils
Another issue I have seen cycle through the Legislature numerous times are attempts to eliminate township government. Indiana has 1,008 townships with boards and trustees.
In 2008, about 950 township assessors were abolished after a report on local government reform headed by former Gov. Joe Kernan and then-Chief Justice Randall Shepard rocked the state. It was titled “Streamlining local government. We’ve got to stop governing like this.”
But lawmakers — many of whom came up through local government — have resisted eliminating the level of government closest to the people. The Indianapolis Star recently reported on township spending, and suggested Gov. Mike Braun might support another push against the township structure in 2026.
“All told, Indiana taxpayers spent nearly $20 million on township trustee and board member pay alone in 2024, according to an IndyStar analysis of government salary data, almost as much as the $25 million they doled out in poor relief assistance to residents, which advocates for township government say is the most important thing they do.”
So, it looks like I’ll get to cover another round of debate on township reform right alongside a new effort to purge boards and commissions. It remains to be seen if reporters 20 years from now will get to do it all over again.