Indiana House Approves Budget Bill; Now Heads to the Senate

Source: PHOTO: Raymond Boyd/Getty Images

STATEHOUSE–The Indiana House passed its budget on Thursday and it now moves to the Senate for further consideration. The budget is supposed to cover funding for the next two years.

Among the issues to sort out, lawmakers are trying to determine how to spend nearly $50 billion for schools, health insurance programs and infrastructure.

Spending on education for grades K-12 will go up 2% each year over the next two years.

In the general government fund, roughly $998 million will be allocated in 2026 and approximately $977 million will be allocated in 2027.

A lot of the discussion about Indiana’s budget centered on what happens at the federal level.

“We’re going to have to make a big decision,” said Democrat State Representative Ed Delaney of Indianapolis.

He believes that proposed cuts at the federal level could force the General Assembly to revisit the budget with a special session.

“If the kind of threats that I see are carried out, we’ll be back here. We will be back here,” said Delaney.

House Democrats introduced 10 amendments, but they all failed. One amendment would have placed income limits on school choice vouchers.

“We are saying we’re going to invest $183 million to our wealthiest families to subsidize their private school tuition. $183 million,” State Rep. Carey Hamilton (D-Indianapolis) said.

Another amendment would have set aside $1 billion in surplus in case the federal government cuts funding for education and Medicaid.

State Rep. Jeff Thompson (R-Lizton) agreed.

“Those kind of dollars, yes, we have to come back for session if it would occur, but that should be an entire body decision, and just not a handful of people,” said Thompson.

Indiana Governor Mike Braun does not believe federal cuts will hurt the state.

“The federal level, which I’ve spent the last six years at, is a basket case. We’re going to be okay. The place that’s got to get its house in order is the federal government,” said Braun.

Income tax rates also continue to drop in this budget proposal over the next two years, 2.95% in 2026 and 2.9% in 2027.

Indiana’s Senate Democratic Caucus released a statement.

“This bill burdens local communities, while the state claims to be reducing taxpayer costs. This is nothing more than a shell game, where the state pretends to cut costs while actually passing them off to local governments and homeowners,” the caucus said Thursday night.