Mayors’ group wants state lawmakers to ‘trust local’

The Indiana Conference of Mayors has begun a campaign to persuade lawmakers that certain issues should remain in the hands of local leaders.

The campaign called "Trust Local" will focus on three issues during the upcoming legislative session. They want gas tax user fee revenues to pay for road and street improvements and local governments to have enforcement powers to require banks to maintain foreclosed properties. They also want doctors prescriptions required to purchase drugs containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in methamphetamine production.

Whiting Mayor Joe Stahura is the president of the Conference of Mayors. He says the mayors are concerned that decision-making authority has been removed from the local level and transferred to state lawmakers in recent years.