HB 1234 Indiana House · 2025 Regular Session

Conservation of agricultural land.

Summary

Establishes an agricultural land protection program (program) to allow the state or a county fiscal body to purchase agricultural conservation easements throughout the state and also acquire agricultural conservation easements by gift, bequest, or devise. Provides that the Indiana state department of agriculture (department) may receive and hold agricultural conservation easements acquired under the program or by gift, bequest, or devise. Establishes the Indiana land protection board to administer the program in coordination with the department. Establishes the agricultural conservation easement fund to provide funding for the purchase of agricultural conservation easements throughout the state. Makes an appropriation.

Issues: ✓ Environment

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 9, 2025 Last action Jan 27, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced House Bill (H) → House Bill (H) · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended from its introduced version to incorporate changes made by the House Ways and Means Committee, primarily updating the digest and adding specific code references that define key terms like 'agricultural conservation easement' and 'agricultural production' by cross-referencing existing Indiana Code sections. The substantive policy content regarding the agricultural land protection program remains consistent, with the main changes being technical updates to citations and procedural history.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on establishing an agricultural land protection program to conserve agricultural viability in Indiana, with no substantive changes to program eligibility, funding mechanisms, or operational requirements.

TECHNICAL

Updated the digest title and date to reflect the amended version (January 21, 2025) and added committee referral information to Ways and Means.

Changed the primary code citation from IC 14-40 to IC 14-8-2-4.2 for the definition of 'agricultural conservation easement', establishing a cross-reference to existing code rather than adding new text.

Changed the primary code citation from IC 14-40 to IC 14-8-2-4.9 for the definition of 'agricultural production', establishing a cross-reference to existing code rather than adding new text.

Added extensive cross-references in the definition of 'Fund' to multiple existing Indiana Code sections (IC 14-9, 14-12, 14-13, 14-16, 14-19, 14-20, 14-22, 14-23, 14-25, 14-31, 14-32, 14-33, 14-34, 14-37, 14-40) to clarify how the term applies across different statutes.

Added a new definition for 'Board' that clarifies its meaning across multiple existing Indiana Code chapters (IC 14-27-6, IC 14-32, and IC 14-33) rather than creating new text.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jan 21, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report: amend do pass, adopted

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Recommitted to the Committee on Ways and Means pursuant to House Rule 126.3

lower

1 primary · 2 co-sponsors