Committee hears bill to put Hoosier Homestead program into statute and add remonstrance right

Representative Green introduced House Bill 12‑65, which would codify the Hoosier Homestead farm program and create a limited process for registered Hoosier Homestead farms to remonstrate locally before a fee‑simple eminent‑domain taking affecting the homestead land.

Nut graf: The bill would place the existing Hoosier Homestead Award program — a longstanding ceremonial recognition for family farms owned by the same family for 100, 150 or 200 years — into statute, require ISDA to maintain an electronic registry of qualifying homestead farms, and give a homestead family one local appeal to the relevant local legislative body if a fee‑simple condemnation is proposed. The remonstrance right would not apply to easement acquisitions, leases, voluntary sales or good‑faith negotiations in eminent‑domain proceedings.

Representative Green framed the bill as a way to balance public infrastructure needs with protection for long‑standing family farms. "12‑65 seeks to balance competing views of time: the public projects that are often bound by expediency against a multi‑generational farm that in many ways are not," Green said. The bill's local remonstrance step would be limited to fee‑simple takings and would not create a blanket exemption for homestead farms.

Testimony and agency position: Quentin Hayes, legislative director for the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, testified neutral and explained how the Hoosier Homestead Award program currently operates administratively (eligibility for 100/150/200 years of continuous family ownership, minimum acreage or minimum gross receipts for small parcels) and suggested statutory clarifications such as requiring property taxes to be current for an application. ISDA emphasized the program is currently ceremonial and recommended technical clarifications on which parcel(s) would receive protection under statute.

Farmers and local officials spoke in support. Linda Norton and Jason Abel described multi‑generation farms and local growth pressures that motivated the measure. Abel, a county commissioner and fourth‑generation farmer, said the bill would add to other legislative efforts to protect farmland.

Committee action: Representative Green said he was working with ISDA on technical amendments and indicated that those changes would likely appear on the agenda for the next meeting. The chair and members agreed to hold the item until the requested technical corrections were prepared. No committee vote to advance the bill was recorded at this hearing.

Background and mechanics: The Hoosier Homestead Award program was created in 1976 and has issued more than 6,000 recognitions; the bill would formalize program administration at ISDA and create a local notice and remonstrance step for fee‑simple condemnations that affect registered homestead parcels. ISDA recommended clarifying that the statutory protection would apply to the parcel designated in the homestead application and suggested adding a tax‑payment requirement for applicants.

Ending: Representative Green said he will bring technical fixes and the bill will be returned to committee for further consideration at a later date.