From the very beginning, Governor Holcomb said that this legislative session would be about delivering practical, people-centered solutions for Hoosiers. And this week with the wrap-up of the legislative session, Governor Holcomb delivered on his promise by:
Helping pass Indiana’s eighth-straight balanced budget – while successfully making historic investments in K-12 education funding!
Check out the details of this new budget, and other massive wins for Hoosiers families:
The Budget
Indiana’s balanced budget checks all the boxes — it’s fiscally responsible, and it provides the resources Hoosier families need across our state, especially when it comes to education.
Indiana schools are seeing direct tuition support rise by $539 million. That’s an historic 2.5% increase in per-student funding each year. But that’s not all. This budget also pays off a $150 million teacher pension fund liability – which gives schools $70 million/year in extra funds to raise teacher pay.
And that’s while maintaining a conservative budget reserve of about $2 billion at the end of each year!
More budget details:
- Expands Indiana’s school safety efforts
- Provides funding for computer science teacher training — helping make sure it’s taught in every Indiana school by 2021
- Connects more Hoosiers to affordable broadband services
- Phases in the elimination of income taxation on military pension income
- Funds the needs of the Department of Child Services and acted on third-party expert recommendations of the CWG report
- Provides great government services to Hoosiers by upgrading technology systems used by the Indiana Department of Revenue, the Secretary of State’s voter system, and Department of Local Government Finance.
- Modernizes Indiana’s economic development tools to help attract more high-wage, in-demand jobs to Indiana.
Passing our eighth-straight balanced budget was absolutely crucial to Indiana’s continued fiscal success, but it doesn’t stop there. Check out these other important bills passed during the legislative session that you should know about:
2nd Amendment: There’s no place more free or more supportive of the 2nd Amendment than Indiana, and we’re working to keep it that way! That’s why we’re eliminating the fees for a five-year license to carry a handgun in Indiana.
Infant Mortality: Making sure that more Hoosier babies reach their first birthdays is essential. Legislation addressing infant mortality connects women to prenatal and postnatal care, and identifies substance abuse use disorder earlier in pregnancy, keeping both mother and baby healthy and happy.
Protecting Life: In addition to working to lower infant mortality, we’re also protecting the unborn by ending dismemberment abortions in Indiana.
Exempting Military Pensions from State Income Tax: This plan makes Indiana more competitive for attracting talented, well-rounded veterans to contribute to our workforce and communities. Twenty other states have similar laws, including all of our neighbors. We’re excited to phase in this new exemption for our veterans.
Workforce Development: This plan doubles down on Governor Holcomb’s successful and effective Next Level Jobs initiative, which has been developing Indiana’s skilled workforce and giving communities tools to develop local education-to-work pipelines. The bill removes barriers that make it harder for schools to partner directly with local Hoosier businesses on technical education.
Opioid Crisis: Crucial legislation that’s attacking the opioid crisis will help lift up Hoosiers struggling with drug dependency, providing them access to appropriate and professional treatment and regaining a healthy life.
Bias Crimes: It’s about equal protection under the law for all Hoosiers. This bill puts Indiana on the map with 45 other states that have similar legislation on the books to protect citizens against crimes based on bias.
Good Government: The best government is smaller, more efficient government. This plan eliminates more than 150 state board and commission positions, streamlines seven boards or commissions into existing boards, allows variances in building projects to be granted at the speed of business, and allows EMS and fire safety officials to more easily stay active and keep their communities safe.
School Safety: Protecting our kids is a top priority for Governor Holcomb. This legislation uses the recommendations from Governor Holcomb’s school safety report to make all of Indiana’s schools more safe and secure.
This session was about results. Speaker Bosma, Senator Bray and Governor Holcomb collaborated on the big issues facing Indiana, and together they delivered.
Thank you,
Holcomb Crew