Indiana Statehouse: Property tax bill to get overhaul
Lawmakers are back from their crossover break and beginning work on bills passed by the opposite chamber.
The big picture: Seven weeks are left in the legislative session, with some big issues left to tackle.
While some bills have already taken clear shape and will likely move through the rest of session with relatively little change, several "priority issues" are less settled.
Here's what we're watching this week:
🥸 New chamber, new property tax bill
Senate Bill 1, the major property tax reform bill, will be back in committee this week, but it's going to look different from the proposal that received five hours of discussion last week.
Why it matters: At the request of Gov. Mike Braun and homeowners statewide reeling from skyrocketing home values, property tax reform is supposed to be one of the top priorities this legislative session.
Yes, but: Everyone hates Senate Bill 1.
Braun says it's not going to do enough for homeowners. Local governments, which depend on property taxes to fund the services they provide to their residents, say the loss of revenue will devastate them.
The latest: Rep. Jeff Thompson (R-Lizton), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he plans to introduce an amendment to strip SB 1 of its current language and insert House Bill 1402 — a different property tax bill that he authored but didn't move in the first half of the session.
As written, HB 1402 would give more relief to homeowners but less for other kinds of property. Thompson said he expects more amendments to the bill at a later date, too.
🧪 Ending the rape kit backlog
The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee will consider House Bill 1413, which would create a fund for the Indiana State Police to eliminate the state's backlog of untested rape kits, at 9am Tuesday.
Why it matters: Indiana crime labs are sitting on hundreds of rape kits, waiting to be processed due to limited resources and technicians.
The fund would cover equipment, processing the kits and raising pay for technicians.
The bill would also require all law enforcement agencies and labs to process all rape kits in their possession as of July 1, 2025, by the end of 2026.
🏫 Office of School Safety
House Bill 1637, which would create the Office of School Safety, will get a hearing in the Senate Homeland Security and Transportation Committee at 9am Tuesday.
Another Braun priority, the office would focus on securing school buildings and coordinating disaster responses.
🤑 Senate budget hearings begin
We're more than a month out from getting a final budget proposal, but the current draft of the state's two-year spending plan has reached the Senate.
The latest: The Senate Appropriations Committee will start hearings on House Bill 1001 this week, taking requests from the state's higher education institutions (Tuesday at 2pm) and state agencies (Thursday at 11am).
Senate Republicans are expected to introduce their own spending proposal next month.
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