Senate District 39 candidates share views ahead primary

KRISTI RISK (REPUBLICAN)

QUESTION: Please introduce yourself and tell voters why you’re running for state Senate.
ANSWER: So I’m Kristi Risk. I’ve been married for 34 years. I have four children, three sons who are active duty in the military, and a daughter. My daughter has my first granddaughter and only granddaughter—for now—until my son and his wife have their first child in July. So I’ll have two granddaughters at that point in time.

I’ve been a small business owner. I’ve worked in the halls of Congress, and I currently work for the State of Indiana as the Director of Government Affairs. I understand that, from the perspective of the rural communities, a common-sense way outshines big bureaucracy and demographics.

And so I’m running for the seat just to be a voice for this district. I am a problem solver. I’ve got good ideas that I want to take. I want to fight in the Senate for our district. I feel like we’ve been a flyover district for many years, and it’s time that the Indiana State Legislature takes notice of Indiana District 39.

QUESTION: How do you assess the most recent General Assembly session, and what aspects of the legislation were you most pleased with or not pleased with?
ANSWER: So I was very pleased that the House and the Senate both were proponents of supporting the big, beautiful bill that President Trump put out. We saw some great things in our legislature, especially SB 243, which addressed overtime and tips.

So I was very happy to see that for our constituents. A couple other things—we addressed the penny issue, so now you don’t get pennies when you get your change back anymore. We also addressed loan interest, so if you buy an American-made vehicle, you get to write off your loan interest up to $10,000.

We worked with the Department of Revenue so that now constituents can get their tax information electronically. I think that’s a huge benefit to a lot of people. Oh, and we updated the adoption credits—so now 20% up to the federal or up to a $2,500 adoption credit, and that’s been huge.

My one concern is these are great things, it’s a great win, but they expire. So in 2027, we’re going to have to address this in the state legislature on whether we want to keep these things or if we want to terminate them. And I want to be there fighting for our constituents to keep these and not let them sunset.

QUESTION: What is the top issue facing District 39 right now, and how would you address it?
ANSWER: So I think the very top issue right now is infrastructure and rural funding. So we have a real need in our district to make sure that our infrastructure is meeting our pace of growth and that we’re continuing to see our communities and our small rural counties funded.

And so, you know, one of the things I think that I have a concern with is how our funding happens for our roads. So we currently use an algorithm that looks at our population and how many license plates that we sell each year or register. And, you know, that’s going to pander more to an urban area where they have a higher population and more registrations, and that really hurts a small community.

So I would like to see the infrastructure for our roads funding based on miles. And I know we did have some adjustments for miles, but we’ve always looked at center miles, and this time it was how many lanes. So again, that panders to a larger suburban area that’s going to have a lot more lane miles than we would locally.

Some other issues that I think are really important to remember is that our gas tax—so it comes into the bucket, the gas tax and diesel tax all come into the bucket—and 63% of that tax goes to INDOT. Only 37% goes to rural communities. So another area that I think we need to address is people are like, well, if I’m okay to pay the gas tax if it’s funding the roads, but I’m not so sure that we’re actually getting those roads funded the way we need to with that algorithm.

QUESTION: Beyond that issue, what other priorities would you focus on if elected?
ANSWER: Yeah, so of course energy independence. You know, I’m a very huge supporter and proponent of coal, keeping our baseline costs low. I oppose premature retirements. I think it’s really super important that we support the federal emergency funding like what we have with the Schaefer and Cayuga plants, because during that storm, Schaefer provided 285,000 megawatts of electricity and Cayuga provided 30.

So that was paramount. That keeps the power from being shut off. So definitely a proponent of that. Data center accountability—that’s a huge issue in our district. We have to have transparency. I think we need to make sure that we protect home rule so that our commissioners and our councilors are having the say and that they’re involved in these transactions.

So I think there’s a lot of transparency that we need to hold our data centers accountable for. And it’s really important to me that we incentivize Indiana-first fueling so that we’re buying our fuel and buying our resources from Indiana first.

I think a couple other things that I’d like to address is our economic growth—so reducing regulations. By 2029, we’re supposed to have reduced 25% of our regulations, and I think we need to really look at some of our outdated regulations and make sure that some of our sunsetting regulations go ahead and sunset. That will help with the smaller businesses and the permitting dashboard.

So as a small business owner, when I would apply for a permit, a lot of times it would be a long time. There would be silence. I wouldn’t hear anything. I’d be calling back. Sometimes you’re just getting an answering machine. So I really would like to see a dashboard where you can go in and your permits are kind of in real-time tracking so that you can keep up on what’s going on.

I like a one-stop shop, you know, instead of going to several different agencies, kind of go to one stop for that. And then I’m really big on allowing small farms to be able to sell directly to the consumer, so I’ll continue to advocate for that.

And again, I am a rural gal, so making sure that the local commissioners and councils have the say in their counties is big to me.

One other thing—actually two other things—rural hospitals. We have a $207 million grant coming. I think it’s very important that we make sure that that money is going to the hospitals and it goes to them in block grants. So a lot of times we set these limitations on grants, and then if you don’t meet the exact criteria, it goes back. Well, I think we need, again, block grants because they know best how to use that money.

And I also am a proponent for, in the smaller communities, standard procedures not having to have those reauthorized because that creates a lot of overhead for the hospitals. And then on the police, fire, and EMS, codifying that to be essential so that they don’t have to continue to fight for every dollar based on political wins.

QUESTION: How would you work with lawmakers from both parties to move legislation forward?
ANSWER: Yeah, so one of my skills is problem solving and negotiating. I’m a very good listener. I enjoy listening. I get out and I talk to people all across the district now. I mean, I’m the Director of Government Affairs for everything south of I-70.

So I’m constantly in meetings with commissioners and council members and directors of economic development and learning and listening. I believe that the way you get more passed and you get more done is by listening and working together. So I will be a negotiator on behalf of our district.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

TANNER BOUCHIE (REPUBLICAN)

QUESTION: Please introduce yourself and tell voters why you’re running for state Senate.
ANSWER: My name is Tanner Bouchie, and I’m running for state Senate because I love our community. I want our community to be the best place to raise a family and grow a business. I’m doing both right now.

When my daughter, who just turned four years old, grows up and decides where she wants to make her home, I hope she sees our community thriving and wants to make her home here.

QUESTION: How do you assess the most recent General Assembly session, and what aspects of the legislation were you most pleased with or not pleased with?
ANSWER: The short session that we just finished was filled with activity. For the most part, there was a flurry of bills filed, and many people were trying to prevent certain bills from passing. It was a rush to the end.

What I would like to see is a productive long session coming up where we address property tax assessments and standardize them to be more transparent. We need to build confidence in the system so taxpayers know how they’re being assessed and that they’re being assessed fairly.

That’s one aspect of property tax reform that has yet to be seriously addressed, and we need to address it.

QUESTION: What is the top issue facing District 39 right now, and how would you address it?
ANSWER: We need to address affordable and reliable electricity. There’s nothing more affordable and reliable than coal. Our entire way of life depends on the fact that when we flip a light switch, the lights come on and it doesn’t cost too much money.

For too long, we’ve invested in less reliable and less affordable forms of electricity. We need to invest in what works.

QUESTION: Beyond that issue, what other priorities would you focus on if elected?
ANSWER: We need to make sure that our rural emergency services are sustainable and well-functioning into the future. Things like volunteer firefighters and EMS workers are critical for our rural way of life.

Every department I talk to is struggling with recruitment, retention, and affording equipment. We need sustainable solutions that help those organizations thrive, because they are the glue that holds our community together. It’s also an economic development driver, because when we have effective fire coverage, it brings down insurance rates and allows businesses to invest in the community.

We also need to cut the Indiana gas tax. Nobody drives more miles or bigger trucks than we do here in this community, so relying on the gas tax disproportionately harms our area.

Those are two major issues we need to address. I’m also pro-life, and I support the right to keep and bear arms.

QUESTION: How would you work with lawmakers from both parties to move legislation forward?
ANSWER: We’re going to look for areas of agreement. When we can find agreement that benefits our community, I’m going to work toward that goal.

On every issue, I’ll consider what, in my best judgment, will be good for our district. If that means working with people from our party or another party to get good results for our community, that’s what I’m going to do.

QUESTION: Why should voters choose you to represent District 39 in the State Senate?
ANSWER: As I said, I love our community, and I’m serious about wanting it to be the best place to raise a family and grow a business.

I’ve lived in this community my whole life. I was born here in Vincennes and graduated from South Knox High School. My wife is from Bruceville and graduated from North Knox High School.

Today, we live in this community where both sets of grandparents for our four-year-old daughter also live. That’s a blessing, and I want to see a community where multiple generations can live and thrive together.