By the time you read this, our Government Relations team will be taking a much-deserved rest after another great Session at the Statehouse, fighting for Indiana bankers to give us the best regulatory environment possible in which to serve our communities.

As they would tell you, though, being out of Session isn’t really an off-season so much as a time to shift tactics. Much of the groundwork for their time at the Statehouse is paved between legislative sessions. As constituents, you could arguably have an even greater impact on the legislative process outside of session when your lawmakers aren’t facing hard deadlines on the bills they’re considering. It’s easier for them to find the time to sit down and have longer-form conversations and really dig into the topics that either were tackled in the most recent session or the ones we know are likely to come up in the next session.

This face-to-face interaction is why the tagline for our PAC is Advocacy in Action – we want to facilitate as many opportunities as possible for our members to have direct interaction with your lawmakers and elected officials and truly be the voice of community banking in this state. Nothing impacts legislators and regulators like the in-person, real-life stories from bankers across the state explaining how the laws and rules they pass impact your ability to serve your community.

If you want to get more involved but aren’t sure how, reach out to Dax and Ross, and they can give you some ideas. An easy way would be to register for the IBA’s Annual Washington Trip. This year’s is set for Oct. 5-7. We ask for bankers to cover their own travel and hotel costs, but the IBA doesn’t charge a registration fee for this event and – with the support of our valued associate-member sponsors – will cover the cost of all group meals. Registration is now live. Sign up your bank’s team today.

On behalf of all the IBA’s members, I want to wish congratulations to the IBA Government Relations Team for another session of incredible work at the Statehouse. Dax and Ross will have a full recap in the July/August issue of Hoosier Banker.

I also want to thank the rest of the IBA staff for an incredible year last year, as you’ll see detailed in our 2024 Member Benefits Report, and thank you to all our members for your continued engagement and support.