Local lawmakers talk priorities ahead of Statehouse return – Daily Journal

The new year is here, which means state lawmakers will soon return to the Indiana Statehouse for this year’s legislative session.

The Indiana General Assembly’s 2023 legislative session kicks off Monday. This year is the long session, where lawmakers will draft the state’s biannual budget.

Passing the budget is the first priority for lawmakers and they are required to pass it before they adjourn in April. Encompassed in the budget are several top priorities the Republican-led Legislature plans to address, including education funding, public health spending, potential tax cuts and issues with inflation.

On top of the budget other issues, such as the teacher shortage, workforce development, meat packing, and TikTok some lawmakers wish to also tackle this session.

The Daily Journal spoke with some lawmakers representing the Johnson County area about their expectations and goals for the 2023 session.

Budget priorities

Based on the most recent state revenue forecast, Indiana’s economic outlook isn’t as rosy as it was predicted to be in 2021. Because of that, lawmakers expect a tighter budget.

A report presented to the State Budget Committee in December forecast tax collections declining slightly over the next six months and then growing about 3% over the next two years.

Some big-ticket spending requests are coming in for the 2023 session, including requests for more public education funding and a proposal from Gov. Eric Holcomb to increase public health spending by roughly $240 million.

Indiana is still flush with cash though, with about $6 billion in reserves.

Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, said while there is growth in revenue, the amount of new dollars projected to come in means not everyone will get the new money they want.

“Specifically the budget forecast, I think, brought in about $600 million new dollars per year, which sounds like a lot to you and me, but in the scheme of about a $38 to $40 billion budget, it really isn’t,” Bray said.

“When you start talking about some of our mental health initiatives and a restructuring of how we’re doing our public health, plus funding K- 12 education. Those dollars aren’t going to go really far.”

Bray said the Legislature is still prioritizing increasing funding for public health and public education. Funding for K-12 makes up half the state budget, and lawmakers have increased education dollars the last two budget cycles, he said.

Tax changes

Despite a possible economic downturn, Republican lawmakers, particularly in the Senate, are planning to study the possibility of eliminating Indiana’s income tax.

Last year, lawmakers approved gradually lowering Indiana’s income tax from 3.23% to 2.9% over seven years. That proposal had stemmed from House Republicans, with the Senate more hesitant to cut taxes at all during a non-budget session.

Proposing eliminating income taxes isn’t a sudden change of heart for the Senate though, Bray said. It’s something Senators have been interested in, rather than making small cuts, like last year, without a plan to supplement possible lost revenue.

“What we really are interested in rather than kind of trying to cut around the edges is — [thinking what] can we do something big and comprehensive that would make Indiana even more competitive?” Bray said.

The tax likely won’t be eliminated this session and lawmakers plan to take their time to find the best way to make up revenue that would be lost without the income tax, he said.

Bray also said the Senate is also interested in looking into property tax structures, and finding relief for people hit hard by property values rising.

“I know a lot of people have been hurt by property taxes recently. Because real estate has gone up dramatically in certain pockets of the state, some in my district for sure,” Bray said.

Rep. Peggy Mayfield, R-Martinsville, says lawmakers in the House are also planning another look at changing the state’s business personal property tax, or BPPT. Lawmakers attempted to change the tax last year, but were met with opposition by local governments that expressed concerns on how it would affect their funding.

“We are always cognizant of how it affects local government, but … so many states have a lower (tax) floor for their capital equipment, and I think Indiana can get there too,” said Mayfield, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Mayfield’s proposal would be to raise the tax threshold from $80,000 to $250,000. This would include the vast majority of small businesses, while still not excluding all large manufacturers, she said.

Small businesses would especially benefit from this change. By raising the threshold to $250,000 most small business owners would know they are nowhere close to that amount for equipment. Instead of paying an accountant to tell them this, they could use their extra money to invest in their business, Mayfield said.

Lawmakers will still need to be cognizant of the impact it could have on local governments, as municipalities rely on BPPT for their funding, Mayfield said.

“We have to make sure that it doesn’t overwhelmingly affect them,” she said.

‘Dont’ say gay’

Last month, House Education Committee Chairman Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, brought up the possibility of taking up legislation similar to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.

The law, which made national headlines when it passed in Florida, restricts discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through third grade.

Taking on concepts such as this isn’t new for the Legislature. Bills targeting “divisive concepts” such as discussions of race and history in classrooms or sexually-explicit content in school library books dominated discussions in the Legislature last year, and led to several hours-long committee hearings. The bills largely died in the Senate last year.

Bray could not say whether the Senate has an appetite for such legislation, nor how it would fare among senators.

He said though that labeling such legislation right away as “Don’t Say Gay” gives it a negative connotation that may not be accurate.

“I think the House is working on something that says that for K through third grade, it’s not the appropriate time for schools to educate about sexuality, which is probably true, I’d rather do that with my kids,” Bray said.

On the House side, Mayfield also believes giving the bill a name like that is a misnomer. While she has not seen the bill, concepts such as this would not come up unless there was a constituent concern about it, she said.

It’s fair to debate and review the bill when it goes through the legislative process, but it’s not fair to draw a conclusion on it until the final bill is together. The process could change the bill dramatically, and it could be something completely different in the end, Mayfield said.

Rep. Michelle Davis, R-Whiteland, who is now vice chair of the House Education Committee, said she does not know the specifics of such legislation, but she is always an advocate for parental rights in education.

Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, is less on board with the legislation, saying he does not think “divisive concepts” or “pushing an agenda” are really the problem people make them out to be in public schools. He also called any restriction of discussion a form of censorship.

“I’m not convinced there’s an agenda to revolutionize America from within the public schools,” Walker said.

Schooling makeover

A big priority in education this year from House Republicans is “reinventing high school,” as House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, has listed it as one of the caucus’s top priorities heading into the session.

Davis, who has a background in adult education, is supportive of revamping high school curriculum to better meet the needs of today’s students and prepare them for careers after high school.

She does not believe change will happen overnight, though, and discussions will likely just start this session.

“We need to make education more well rounded. That and a little more flexible, where it fits. You know, it’s not a one size fits all anymore,” Davis said.

Walker, however, is more hesitant about “reinventing” education, especially with the Legislature handling it, he said. He was also concerned about adding this on top of pressure schools are already facing with social concerns from parents and changing cultures.

He also said he wasn’t confident lawmakers know what they mean when they say they want to ‘reinvent school.’

“When I hear ‘reinvent school’ it gives me shivers,” Walker said. “I think the knee jerk is, ‘well, let’s get back to the function of schools, and that’s to churn out a workforce.’ I’m not sure that’s the function of schools. I thought the function of schools was to churn out citizens who are ready to think, and who are ready to reason and who are ready to be involved in their own governance.”

Back in the House, in response to leaders’ plans to “redefine” high school education, freshman Rep. Robb Greene, R-Shelbyville, is all for the idea of expanding pathways. Greene and his wife have a son who has special needs, and while they both work every day to make sure he is ready for college, they have to accept that traditional pathways like college may not be best, Greene said.

Higher education doesn’t work for everyone, and this is an opportunity for more pathways to be opened for students’ futures, he said.

Davis is working on two bills that would provide alternative methods for high school students to graduate. One would add Clark-Pleasant, Greenwood and Center Grove schools to a new pilot program for students who are struggling to graduate.

The program allows students in their fourth year of high school with less than 50% of their graduation credits completed to enroll in an adult education program as an alternative path. There, they can work on getting a High School Equivalency, or HSE, diploma, as well as get an industry-recognized certification. After passing both, the high school will get credit for graduation, helping graduation rates.

The program is currently being piloted in Washington and Warren townships, and Davis hopes to bring it here.

“I’m hoping to get that through. That kind of goes along with creating a little different pathway for students who are struggling with a traditional high school,” Davis said.

Davis is also working with the governor’s office on a school safety bill. The bill’s goal is to streamline statewide school safety processes, such as grants and school safety specialist certifications. School safety is currently run through both the Indiana Department of Education and the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. The intention is to put all school safety under one division, instead of two, to better offer guidance and resources for schools, Davis said.

Public health funding

Public health is top of mind for Republican leaders this session, they say.

The Governor’s Public Health Commission this year recommended a $240 million annual funding increase for public health. A lot of the money would primarily go to local health departments that are understaffed and limited in resources.

In 2021, Indiana ranked 48th in the nation in public health funding, spending about $55 per Hoosier, which $36 lower than the national average, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported.

Addressing those public health needs and the funding request is a priority of the Senate’s, Bray said. But that $240 million will likely be slimmed down. It’s unclear what the final dollar amount will be, he said.

“Right now public health really is just done on a local level, and counties have local jails and law enforcement and costs for roads and all the things that counties have to do as well,” Bray said. “(Public health) it’s always taking kind of a backseat, understandably, and so we’re going to try and provide a little bit more assistance from the state.”

Health care costs

This session, Senate Republicans want to tackle rising health care costs in the state, Bray said. He expects three initiatives to come out of the Senate directed at rising costs in the hospital and insurance industries.

This follows legislative leaders’ actions last year when they asked 20 health care executives to submit a plan that would lower Indiana’s health care costs by 2025.

Bray wasn’t ready to release exact details on what legislation will look like yet. Curbing health care costs all fits in with the overarching effort to make the state healthier, he said.

“It’s specifically looking at how we can make the cost of health care more competitive across the state of Indiana, when you go to a hospital for any type of procedure,” Bray said.

In the House, Mayfield believes health care costs will be addressed incrementally over the next several sessions. Growing health care costs are simply unsustainable, so lawmakers will be looking to see how competition in the marketplace could be increased to help, she said.

“We need to empower consumers and, and in order to do that, we have to boost transparency and accountability,” Mayfield said.

There are three segments of health care: the patient, the provider and the insurance industry. A balance between the three is needed to address rising costs, she said.

“I think that we need to get those three players playing well in the sandbox together more,” she said.

Walker agreed focusing on health should be a top priority of the Legislature. He said Indiana checks boxes for having a low tax burden, relatively low energy costs and other enticements to attract business to the state. But public health is one factor that drags it behind, he said.

“I think public health, public education are the economic engine drivers of this coming decade,” Walker said. “I would rather we focus less on some of the big multimillion-dollar packages trying to entice the company to come to Indiana. I would rather see that to go to the bolster the health of the workers to bolster the education.”

New lawmakers

Johnson County’s freshman lawmakers, Greene and Rep. Craig Haggard, R-Mooresville, have both been adjusting to their new roles at the Statehouse.

For Haggard, one of his biggest goals is to learn the process and making sure he’s learning the process correctly. He plans to author five bills this session, and hopes these bills will address issues he and people he knows have experienced, he said.

“What I’m trying to do right now is draw from my actual life experiences and go forward and try to make those changes,” Haggard said.

One of his planned bills will try to harshen the penalties for dealing drugs laced with fentanyl. A member of the House Veterans Affairs and Public Safety Committee, Haggard has been working with a prosecutor to find ways to give them more tools to use as deterrents or to prosecute these types of offenders.

Right now, there is a law that makes it a Level 1 felony if someone deals drugs that kills someone, however, there is not a law in place that addresses when someone is left with serious bodily injury. Haggard’s planned bill would change that, he said.

“I’m trying to address that, and also maybe some increased charges with the dealing of fentanyl and some other drugs,” Haggard said.

Other bills Haggard is working on include protecting people’s personal information from federal agencies that don’t need to have access to it. While not necessarily this session, Haggard also hopes to eventually address expanding broadband accessibility and changing the state’s straight-ticket voting laws to reduce confusion, he said.

Greene is looking forward to the start of the session, and he is authoring four bills. A member of the House Commerce, Small Business and Economic Development and the House Family, Children and Human Affairs committees, the bill he’s most focused on now is a workforce development bill for the special needs community.

Looking across the state there is a workforce development crisis, however, the special needs community is a workforce that is largely overlooked and left on the sidelines, Greene said.

“I think there’s a real opportunity right now to make some headway on this and get individuals who want to be independent, who want to be a part of our workforce, engaged,” Greene said. “I think unlike any time in the past, businesses are open to this right now because they haven’t been finding a lot of success filling the jobs that they have open.”

Lawmakers are also planning on introducing legislation banning TikTok on government devices, a move several other states have made in recent months due to concerns about possible security threats from China, Haggard said.

Expanding funding

One of the bills Mayfield plans to introduce this session will create a state grant for small, independent meat packers and processors to allow them to upgrade their facilities. There was a federal grant program made possible through the American Rescue Plan Act, however, the funding has since expired, she said.

Lawmakers have seen that small meat packers and processors were overwhelmed. If someone wants to have meat processed, they have to schedule it months in advance.

Many have been turned away and were forced to process it themselves due to the long waits, Mayfield said. This continues to be an issue as it is very difficult to become an U.S. Department of Agriculture approved meat processor, she said.

This bill will not only benefit meat packers within her district, but across the state. For example, students in the agricultural program at Indian Creek High School — which is located outside Mayfield’s district — raise their own livestock and have run into issues being able to have livestock processed on time, she said.

Another localized bill Davis is working on would raise the pay for jurors statewide to $80 a day. This legislation stemmed from a presentation by local judges Judge Marla Clark and Judge Peter Nugent to the judiciary summer study committee this year, Davis said.

Lawmakers are also working on a pay raise for the Indiana State Police, Bray said. And Davis is working on a bill to raise state troopers’ pensions in the House.

The 2023 legislative session starts Jan. 9 at 1:30 p.m. when the House and Senate reconvene. Holcomb’s annual State of the State address will be held the next day on Jan. 10 at the Statehouse as well.

Multimedia News Editor Emily Ketterer, reporter Noah Crenshaw, the Associated Press and the Indianapolis Business Journal contributed to this report.

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