Indiana Senate passes $46.8 billion budget for the next two years

Yahoo

15-04-2025

The Senate gave final approval to the budget Tuesday following a nearly four-hour discussion of the budget on Monday during which Senate Democrats proposed 60 amendments, all of which failed.
The Senate approved House Bill 1001, the biennial budget, in a 40-9 vote. Sen. Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis, and Sen. David Niezgodski, D-South Bend, joined the majority of Republicans present to vote in favor of the bill.
Sen. R. Michael Young, R-Indianapolis, was the only Republican to vote against the budget. Young offered Monday four amendments, including an amendment for the legislature to have more time to review the budget, but they all failed.
While Taylor said there are parts of the budget bill he disagrees with, he voted in favor because it was 'the best that (he'd) ever seen in a preliminary form' of the budget.
But, Taylor said because the budget was amended in the Senate it will likely see a dissent vote in the House, which means the bill will go to conference committee for further discussion.
Last week, the Senate Appropriations committee approved a $46.8 billion 2-year budget. The majority of new money was allocated for Medicaid, Department of Child Services, and Department of Correction, said Senate Appropriations Chair Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Mishawaka.
Through the budget's end in 2027, the state will see $3 billion in reserves, Mishler said. The majority of the budget — 47% — will fund K-12 education, while 22% will go toward Medicaid.
Then, 9% of the budget will go to higher education, 6% to public safety, 5% to child services, 4% to health and human services, 3% to general government, and 2% each for capital projects and other, Mishler said.
The state's Medicaid costs have increased following a nearly $1 billion shortfall as a result of a misprojection in the program. Comparatively, 15% of the state's budget in 2021 went to Medicaid, 18% of the state's budget in 2023 went to Medicaid, and the current budget allocates 22% of state funding, Mishler said.
The budget fully funds a Medicaid forecast of $10 billion over the biennium period, which reflects a $2.1 billion increase to Medicaid, Mishler said. Additionally, in the 2023 budget, Medicaid went up by $2.3 billion and then halfway through the current budget cycle the state had to fund nearly $1 billion as a result of the shortfall, he said.
For K-12 education, the state budget allocates $18.9 billion for tuition support, which reflects a $870 million increase in tuition support compared to fiscal year 2025, Mishler said. The budget also reflects an increase of $208 million for special education funding and $9 million for the non-English speaking program, Mishler said.
Further, Mishler gave highlights of the budget Tuesday, which included requiring the Legislative Services Agency to complete a fiscal analysis of each executive order the governor signs, $1 million a year for the beginning farmers tax credit, and requiring the budget director to withhold 5% of each agency's appropriations with some exceptions.
The Senate and House Republicans split on funding virtual students: House Republicans sought to increase the reimbursement from 85% of an in-person student to 100%. The Senators proposed a cut to 70% as Mishler raised concerns about virtual schools.
Senate Democrats proposed multiple bills to increase the state's revenue through increasing the cigarette, alcohol and gaming taxes. Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, proposed an amendment to legalize marijuana, because it would bring another revenue stream to the state.
Sen. Greg Goode, R-Terre Haute, said he'd want to review legalizing marijuana, but he wouldn't support legalizing marijuana on the basis of addressing a fiscal challenge.
Senate Democrats also proposed Monday amendments for housing credits, child care expansion, and exempting sales tax for menstrual products and adult diapers. They also proposed amendments to establish a $60,000 minimum teacher salary, restore income limits for school voucher eligibility, and a $1,000 credit for teachers who buy supplies for their classroom.
Senate Democrats also proposed an amendment to fund pediatric cancer research and programs to increase birth control access.
After all amendments failed, Sen. Andrea Hunley, D-Indianapolis, said it was disappointing that not a single one passed. It was 'disappointing,' Hunley said, especially since legislators are frequently told revenue is scarce, but Senate Democrats proposed multiple ways to generate revenue.
Senate Democrats wrote their amendments based on months of conversations with constituents and their requests, Hunley said.
'Our Hoosiers deserve better than a chorus of 'no, no, no' today. No to pediatric research. No to increase teacher salaries. No to easing the burden of property taxes on seniors. No to funding proven practices that would help ensure women and babies, who look like me, don't keep dying at the highest rates in our state,' said Hunley, a Black woman. 'They deserve a government that'll listen and respond with more than temporary fixes or inaction.'
Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, said Tuesday the budget has 'missed opportunities,' including many — from medical research and tax relief — with little to no impact to the state's budget.
'While House Bill 1001 has some good things in it, it also has some missed opportunities that are budget neutral — missed opportunities that could increase revenue for our state,' Yoder said.
Sen. Linda Rogers, R-Granger, said while there were a few amendments proposed Monday that she wanted to vote in favor of, but 'dollars are finite.'
'We don't have unlimited funding,' Rogers said.
Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, said House Bill 1001 'was in some ways the best budget and the hardest budget.' Medicaid funding was 'a big problem' as the legislature approached the budget, Brown said.
'When you have to make tough decisions and determine what's fundamentally important to your state, it makes you really dig down,' Brown said. 'I don't think there's a Senator in this room who didn't have some angst when some of the programs that are near and dear to their heart got cut.'
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