2025 Indiana General Assembly Session Under Way
The Indiana General Assembly's 2025 legislative session is now in full swing and Aspire Johnson County has engaged on several bills.
Aspire’s three legislative priorities this session are advancing tax policies that attract talent and investment, updating road funding formulas to ensure equitable infrastructure support, and improving the availability and affordability of childcare.
Improvements in these areas can help drive economic growth from high-growth, high-wage industries and attract the workforce needed to sustain these sectors.
Taxes and Road Funding
Property taxes have taken center stage as legislators consider reforms. However, these changes may have implications for local government and school funding, prompting debate on balancing tax relief with maintaining essential services (a central part of Aspire’s position on tax reform). Lawmakers are exploring options to provide more predictability for taxpayers and keep Indiana’s tax climate competitive.
Road funding policy proposals have been incorporated into a variety of bills, although the bill squarely advancing Aspire’s position, HB 1085, doesn’t look destined for a hearing.
Of course, the sole constitutionally required issue that state legislators must address is the funding of public schools in the biannual budget in HB 1001.
While many tax bills are seeing more discussion than action, a couple key childcare bills are moving.
Childcare
As we have discussed in our statehouse reports, the legislature has adopted policies to address early learning accessibility and affordability in the last few sessions. But as any working parent and many employers will attest, a huge gap still exists between supply and demand. Aspire is supporting two key bills we believe can support new program openings.
- HB 1253 allows for a single-owner childcare company or nonprofit (including YMCAs and school-affiliated organizations) to open multiple locations under one license. Current law requires each location to hold its own permit, which providers told lawmakers during public testimony slows the process of opening new locations.
- SB 463 aims to set new regulations and standards for childcare providers and expand access to affordable childcare options for families, which can help support working parents and contribute to the overall development and well-being of children.
Other Interests and Disinterests
Aspire is also supporting several other bills advancing policy we have supported for years.
In particular, HB 1172 seeks to strengthen policies and programs supporting the growth of entrepreneurship in Indiana by first gathering feedback, and then investigates the opportunities for more state contracts to go to early-stage businesses.
As our readers know, small businesses fuel our economy. Often home-grown by Hoosiers, small businesses create jobs for Hoosiers and give back to their local communities. HB 1172 has the potential to connect the innovation from early-stage businesses together with the economic impact of state government contracts to bolster our economy from within.
Conversely, Aspire is also monitoring several bills we believe could be harmful for economic development and job creation. We have expressed our concern to bill authors and committee chairs but have not yet publicly testified against any pieces of legislation.
Executive Branch Changing of the Guard
And while committee hearings went on as normal at the Statehouse, Governor Braun and Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith were sworn in with pomp and circumstance at a ceremony at the Hilbert Circle Theatre.
Incoming administrations often chart their path forward with an intense review of their predecessors’ policy positions and actions. Instead, Governor Braun began his tenure with a slew of Executive Orders aimed at transforming Indiana government.
The Governor’s changes include ending remote work policies for state employees, reducing education and licensing requirements for some state jobs, and, perhaps most newsworthy, was Governor Braun’s elimination of “diversity, equity and inclusion” throughout Indiana state government, instead replacing the initiative with “merit, excellence and innovation,” or what the Executive Order referred to as “MEI.”
Looking Ahead
The House and Senate committee report deadlines are just two weeks away – Feb 17. The next two weeks will be action-packed as this important deadline begins to loom large. Aspire is ready to speak on behalf of our business community.