It has been eight weeks since the start of the 2023 Indiana General Assembly Session, and much has transpired since that cold first day on January 9. The House and Senate have held numerous committee meetings, passed hundreds of bills, killed hundreds of bills and now break until Monday when the second half of session officially begins. With eight weeks to go until the anticipated last day on April 29, our team wanted to provide a halftime update to recap the first half of session and share our predictions for the second half.
It has been eight weeks since the start of the 2023 Indiana General Assembly Session, and much has transpired since that cold first day on January 9. The House and Senate have held numerous committee meetings, passed hundreds of bills, killed hundreds of bills and now break until Monday when the second half of session officially begins. With eight weeks to go until the anticipated last day on April 29, our team wanted to provide a halftime update to recap the first half of session and share our predictions for the second half.
Of course, however, whether these proposals are the best solutions to these issues is still up for consideration, as several of these bills have proven highly controversial. In the fight to lower healthcare costs, legislators and stakeholders continue to grapple with identifying the root cause of higher-than-national-average costs in Indiana—some blame insurance companies, some blame hospitals and some blame poor public health. Similarly, in the legislature’s quest to lower taxes for Hoosiers, most notably property taxes and the state income tax, stakeholders are at odds as to how proposed cuts may impact local communities, schools and other entities that depend on some of this tax revenue for operation.
While we expect these issues to remain front and center in the second half of session, we also predict that conversations surrounding the budget will ramp up. Senate Appropriations Chairman Ryan Mishler made news over the past few weeks after sharing concerns related to private schools. In an open letter to his district, Senator Mishler pledged that he “would not support one additional dollar spent on the voucher program until there are policies put in place that protect these kids from abusive behavior and mistreatment.” This is likely to create tension within the legislature, as several proposals aimed at expanding the voucher program are still floating around.
Besides K-12 education, funding for higher education institutions, capital projects, Medicaid rates, public health and more will be up for further debate as the budget makes its way through the Senate. Also bound to make headlines, the April state revenue forecast, prepared by the Indiana Economic Forum and the Revenue Forecast Technical Committee, will set the stage for final budget considerations in the last few weeks of session.
Come mid-April, we expect to see conference committees being scheduled for bills that were amended in the second half of session. Should the originating chamber not approve of the amendments adopted by the opposite chamber, conference committees will allow for discussions by House and Senate members to come to a final agreement. Additionally, these committees provide an opportunity to revive language from bills that died earlier in the session due to not receiving a committee hearing.
Like you, we are looking forward to the warmer days of spring that seem to lie just around the corner. For the time being, however, we will enjoy the remaining busy days of the 2023 Legislative Session before they come to an end in a few months.
