Indiana House passes nuclear-booster; Senate resists property tax relief changes

Yahoo

14-02-2025

House lawmakers advanced a priority bill for the Republican caucus while senators resisted attempts to expand property tax relief. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Hoosier House Republicans on Thursday approved legislation incentivizing nuclear power development — despite potential risks for utility customers — and advanced a contentious school referendum measure. Senators, meanwhile, rejected bipartisan efforts to expand property tax relief.
The wide-ranging House Bill 1007 would let public utilities ask for permission from utility regulators to spend money on small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) and recover their costs — before getting certificates of public convenience and necessity. And it creates a 20% tax credit for SMR manufacturers.
The U.S. hosts no operational SMRs. Across the globe, only China and Russia have functional SMRs. Rolls Royce, which has a major manufacturing footprint in Indiana, is exploring construction of an SMR with a capacity of up to 470 megawatts.
Democrats argued the changes could leave utility customers on the hook for expensive projects — even if they're abandoned without providing any additional energy.
Rep. Carey Hamilton, D-Indianapolis, said Indiana utilities have already abandoned projects, like the unfinished Marble Hill Nuclear Power Station, 'on the backs of ratepayers.'
Most Hoosiers get their electricity from one of the state's 'big five' investor-owned utilities. They're monopolies with their own exclusive territories, and are regulated by the state.
Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, said the legislation makes 'guinea pigs' out of customers who 'bear the cost of a speculative venture.' It offers a way, under certain circumstances, for utilities to profit off projects even as they pass the expenses on, he said.
'If SMRs are so good, let's have some good old-fashioned capitalism,' Pierce said. 'Let's let the Wall Street investors, the utility shareholders, let's have them take on the risk of seeing if the technology works, and if it turns out it does, then let them benefit from the risk that they put into their investment.'
Supporters, however, argued the legislation creates a path to lower bills.
'When I hear people say we need to get our rates down on electricity, … I think nuclear is the answer,' said Rep. Matt Lehman, R-Berne. 'The answer is, the more we build these, the cheaper the energy is going to get. I think now's the time to move on these. I really do.'
Other provisions seek to limit coal plant closures, expedite the approval processes for large-load projects and provide standards for big customers' financial assurances and for cost-recovery mechanisms.
The chamber approved the legislation along party lines, on a 67-25 vote.
House lawmakers also advanced legislation limiting school referendums to general elections — a priority for Gov. Mike Braun.
Author Rep. Tim Wesco, R-Osceola, noted more voters participate in general elections.
Democrats opposed House Bill 1681, arguing that it strips local control.
Rep. Sue Errington, D-Muncie, said that just over half of schools have never put such a funding mechanism on the ballot. Of those that do make it before voters, roughly 36% pass.
She worried that schools, if forced onto a two-year schedule that is also out of sync with the school calendar, would struggle to budget accurately or to submit their budgets to the state on time.
'They have to gamble, I suppose, on whether they're going to win or lose the referendum and how much money they're going to have,' Errington added.
The bill passed roughly along party lines, with 64 supporting votes to 31 opposing votes.
Across the hallway, senators rejected bipartisan attempts to amend a property tax relief bill — striking provisions that would have expanded credits for renters and Hoosiers over the age of 65.
A Senate committee majorly amended the property tax relief proposal earlier this week. In recent years, homeowners saw their assessed values skyrocket while bills jumped by double digits.
An amendment from Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, targeted the state's renters, who also saw their monthly payments soar. The current tax credit for renters is $3,000 and Qaddoura would gradually increase that credit to $9,000.
The average renter would see a savings of $270 at a cost of $10 million to local units of government and $17 million to state coffers, he said.
Locals, lawmakers struggle to compromise on Indiana property tax relief
For this reason, Sen. Travis Holdman asked his colleagues to reject the amendment to Senate Bill 1, which he authored.
'The fiscal impact of Senate Bill 1 exceeds $600 million,' Qaddoura countered. 'A $10 million impact to locals and $17 million to the state is only a fraction of that.'
The amendment failed on a party-line vote, or 36-10.
The majority of senators also rejected four amendments from a fellow Republican, who is not a member of the caucus.
Sen. Mike Young, R-Indianapolis, would no longer charge seniors property taxes, regardless of income — similar to the state of Alabama. He said two other states don't bill those over the age of 65 under a certain income.
'Although I'm fortunate enough to be able to afford my property taxes, a lot of people aren't,' he said.
He said it would cost $1.6 billion, with the state offsetting the cost to local governments. The change wouldn't be enacted until roughly 2030, when the state is set to pay down its sole insolvent retirement fund.
At such a time, he said that senators could identify other funds to make the proposal feasible.
Holdman, R-Markle, again protested, calling the proposal 'creative' but flagging the lack of income testing.
'… which means the richest person living in your community pays no property tax whatsoever and they're probably the most stable person to pay that,' he said.
Six Republicans joined nine Democrats and voted 'yes,' while one Democrat voted against the amendment. It failed on a 15-31 vote.
Young's three other amendments also failed to get enough votes to advance. The bill will receive a full vote in the Senate Chamber next week.
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