2023 Legislative Agenda

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LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA 1

ACCELERATING COMPETITIVENESS.

Welcome to the Indy Chamber’s 2023 Legislative Agenda, a comprehensive resource that
outlines our efforts to unite the Indy Region, tell the Indy story, and grow an equitable
economy. In 2022, our agenda was themed, Ready to Rise with a strong focus on the
pandemic response and racial equity. 2023 promises to build on those priorities with a
focus on regional competitiveness.
In 2022, the Indy Chamber launched the second phase of Accelerate Indy—an economic
development strategy to position the Indy Region as the premier destination for talent and
opportunity for all. Support from our regional business community has played a critical role
in funding this strategy and implementing this work—work that will help our region surpass
our national, peer markets, including Denver, Nashville, Charlotte, and Columbus.
Central Indiana continues to drive economic growth for the Hoosier state’s economy.
Over the past five years, the Indy Region has established itself as a top market in the
Midwest. However, the region and the state still face barriers to realizing their full economic
potential—barriers that will take collaboration to overcome. The business community and
state legislature must find common ground on solutions to address talent attraction and
retention, national image perception, quality of place, and business environment.
When it comes to talent, Indiana is primed for investments in its people. With a historically
tight labor market and evidence of drastic declines in college enrollment, we are calling
for an evaluation of how to accelerate the 21st Century Scholars Program—an offering that
makes students three times more likely to attend college and more likely to complete it.
In addition, chronically poor health outcomes remain a critical challenge to our state’s
quality of life and economic competitiveness. Bringing our state investment in public health
services and preventative healthcare to levels competitive with the national average is an
imperative we cannot afford to defer.
The epicenter of our state sets the tone for national perception, and solutions are needed
for Downtown Indianapolis. To compete as the most livable downtown in America,
sustainable resources are required to support safety, cleanliness, and planning for a post-
pandemic, transformational future of downtown.
Finally, we must confront a key contributor to quality of place: Indiana’s roads. Fast-growing
metropolitan communities around the state are severely disadvantaged by the current
state road funding formula. Changes to adequately support infrastructure maintenance in
metros, while keeping rural communities whole, are essential. The state also must consider
long-term strategies to replace declining, fuel-based support for roads as the adoption of
electric vehicles accelerates.
Indiana is poised to make transformational investments in the fundamentals of its economic
competitiveness: talent, image, business, and place. The Central Indiana business
community is ready to partner with the General Assembly to forge solutions and accelerate
our state’s competitiveness to continue to compete on the national and global stage.

Melissa Proffit

MELISSA PROFFITT

Partner-In-Charge of Client Relations, Ice Miller
Chair, Indy Chamber Board of Directors

2 2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

CONTENTS

4 PRIORITY ISSUES
12 ACCELERATE INDY
15 TALENT
18 IMAGE
19 BUSINESS
20 PLACE


24 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

MEET YOUR BUSINESS ADVOCACY TEAM

ADAM BURTNER

Vice President, Government Affairs
[email protected]
317.464.2259

TAYLOR HUGHES

Vice President, Policy & Strategy
[email protected]
317.464.2265

DANIELLE DRAKE

Project Manager
[email protected]
317.464.2254

2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA 3

PRIORITY
ISSUES

1 FUND INDIANA’S ROADS
2 INVEST IN HOOSIER HEALTH
3 BRIDGE THE TALENT

OPPORTUNITY GAP
4 OUTPERFORM ON

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
5 ADVANCE THE VITALITY

OF DOWNTOWN

4 2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

BY THE NUMBERS

FUND INDIANA’S ROADS INVEST IN
HOOSIER HEALTH
1/3 Central Indiana
counties get less 40TH
of the road than one third of
funding the road funding for overall life
per lane mile than expectancy.
rural counties.
48TH
BRIDGE THE TALENT
OPPORTUNITY GAP in per capita
public health
Indiana postsecondary
enrollment dropped funding.

12% 3.1%

from 2015-2020. Average healthcare cost
per capita is 3.1% above
ADVANCE THE VITALITY
national average.
OF DOWNTOWN
OUTPERFORM ON
Indianapolis is the largest city in ECONOMIC
the country without sustainable,
dedicated funding to support the DEVELOPMENT

central business district. With historic budget
surpluses, now is the time to
invest in Indiana’s economic

fundamentals--first and
foremost it’s talent.

2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA 5

FUND INDIANA’S ROADS

KEY CHALLENGES:

• Increase road funding to support fast-growing metros throughout the state,
while maintaining investment in rural communities.

• Move toward non-fuel tax revenue sources for road construction and
maintenance.

• Solve road maintenance problems to allow state and local governments to
invest in transformational transportation and infrastructure projects—take care
of what we have, finish what we started, build for the future.

DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY:

Increase road funding support for fast-growing metros and maintain investment in rural
communities by:
• Under the Motor Vehicle Highway-Local Road Streets account, move towards a user

fee system to distribute mileage-based dollars to local communities.
• Direct new dollars invested in the funding formula to the Highway Road & Street Fund.
• Raise the Community Crossings grant cap to allow larger communities to leverage

more state dollars, remove requirement for 50% of allocation to rural.
• Retire debt obligations, while maintaining current revenue streams, to release

additional annual funding—direct to Highway Road & Street Fund.

NEW REVENUE CONCEPTS:

Move state toward non-fuel tax revenues for road construction and maintenance by:
• Consider moderate increases to non-fuel revenue sources:

+ Hybrid/Electric Vehicle registration fee.
+ State-wide vehicle excise tax.
• Explore strategic implementation tolling in high-travel areas around the state.
+ Consider Borman Expressway, I-70, and I-65.
+ Consider tolling of High Occupancy Vehicles and/or express lanes.
• Pilot milage-based user fee.
+ Ohio, Missouri, Texas, and others have pilots.

6 2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

INVEST IN HOOSIER HEALTH

KEY CHALLENGES:

• Indiana’s healthcare outcomes are chronically poor—a major quality of life and
economic competitiveness challenge.

• Public health funding per capita is among the lowest in the country, leading to
lower life expectancy and high healthcare system utilization.

• Healthcare costs are an increasing burden to individuals, employers, and the
state’s competitiveness.

IMPROVE OUTCOMES:

Enhance Indiana’s competitiveness by improving Hoosier workforce health outcomes:
• Optimize public health service delivery in alignment with the Governor’s Public

Health Commission recommendations (minimum service standards, shared service
models, Indiana Department of Health technical assistance, talent attraction, etc.)
• Appropriate a minimum of $242 million additional annual investment in Indiana’s
public health services to compete with the national average.
• Target additional investment and policy attention to chronic health challenges such
as smoking, infant and maternal health, and mental health.

REDUCE COSTS:

Lower healthcare premiums, avoid government overreach, and promote
comprehensive solutions that avoid mere cost shifting:
• Support comprehensive solutions that reduce healthcare costs for employers and

individuals to levels competitive with national averages and peer states.
• Reject problematic precedent for government-mandated price caps on healthcare

services.
• Craft solutions to address all cost drivers and ease the burden on employers and

individuals rather than simply shifting costs.

2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA 7

BRIDGE THE TALENT
OPPORTUNITY GAP

KEY CHALLENGES:

• Indiana’s labor market is historically tight, with over 18,000 unfilled jobs in the
Indy Region alone.

• Postsecondary enrollment dropped 12% from 2015-2020, falling 10% below
the national average (Black students decreased from 50% to 43% between
2019-2020; Hispanic/Latino students decreased from 49% to 44%).

• In two-thirds of Indiana counties, less than half of children 0-5 have access to
high-quality, reliable, and affordable early education.

RAISE POSTSECONDARY ATTAINMENT:

Streamline enrollment of eligible students in the 21st Century Scholars Program
to increase higher education enrollment, particularly for low-income students and
students of color.
• 40% of high school graduates are eligible for 21st Century Scholars, but less than

half of eligible students enroll. Automatic enrollment would deliver resources to a
greater number of eligible students—the state already budgets for the full eligible
population.
• 21st Scholars are nearly three times more likely to attend college than their low-
income peers. Across all demographic groups, 21st Scholars are as or more likely to
complete college than their higher-income peers.
• Increase Complexity Index to ensure adequate support to maintain current
scholar program requirements, increased FAFSA completion, sufficient counseling
resources, and wraparound services for increased student enrollment.

EARLY EDUCATION:

Expand access to and affordability of high-quality, early education and childcare to
support parental labor force participation:
• Increase the eligibility threshold to allow more Hoosier families to access high-

quality early education.
• Align state investment to expand access and accommodate market rate increases

(wage inflation).
• Support streamlined regulations on early education providers and explore other

solutions to address workforce shortages (e.g., direct surplus stimulus dollars to
tuition forgiveness, and employee benefits).

8 20223 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

OUTPERFORM ON
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

KEY CHALLENGES:

• Business investment decisions increasingly select regions that prioritize talent
attraction and retention, quality of life assets, and housing.

• Indiana’s competitive assets in sports and tourism require continued
investments to lead peer markets.

• Local governments are key partners for state on economic development but
have limited available resources to invest in competitiveness.

REGIONAL COMPETITIVENESS:

Support appropriation of regional economic development funding in the 2023 budget:
• Appropriate $500 million to fully fund READI 2.0.
• Prioritize investments in talent attraction and retention, quality of life assets, and

housing.
• Score project competitiveness and eligibility based on measurable impact on key

industrial sectors and population growth.
• Structure state investments to sustain the integrity of existing economic

development regions across the state investments and strengthen regional
development authorities and other models of intergovernmental cooperation.

SPORTS & TOURISM:

Strengthen Indiana’s competitive advantage as the premier market for sports and
tourism events:
• Appropriate $10 million over the biennium to fully fund the Indiana Sports Corp

Bid Fund to enhance competitiveness against peer markets in attracting large-scale
investments.
• At least 30% to be used outside of Marion Co., as outlined in SB245 (2022).

LOCAL FLEXIBILITY:

Align local government Local Income Tax reserve requirements with state budget best
practices to free up local resources while maintaining fiscal stability:
• Under current rules of 15% reserve requirement, balances invariably grow beyond

that threshold as taxable income grows during economic expansions.
• In 2020, total balances were approaching $1 billion—34% of distributions.
• Each percentage point of reserve reduction releases $50-60 million, 11-12% limit (in

line with state best practices) would release $160-220 million.
• At a 12% limit, the system weathers a Great Recession-level event with 88 counties

positive, and only four needing to tap the revenues in reserve.

2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA 9

ADVANCE THE VITALITY
OF DOWNTOWN

KEY CHALLENGES:

• The reality and perception of public safety downtown remain critical to
Indianapolis’ competitiveness as a place to live, work, and visit.

• Indianapolis is the largest city in the United States without a sustainable,
dedicated funding stream to maintain a clean, accessible, and beautiful
downtown.

• Downtown Indianapolis requires transformational investments to catalyze
business opportunities, develop attainable housing (at all income levels), and
enhance transportation connectivity.

COMPETITIVE LIVABILITY:

Prioritize comprehensive solutions and investments to make Indianapolis the most
livable downtown in the United States.
• Sustain strategies that improve public safety in the Mile Square for residents,

visitors, business owners, and those experiencing homelessness.
• Support organizations and solutions aiming to enhance resources dedicated to

maintaining the cleanliness of public spaces and right of way in the Mile Square.
• Catalyze efforts to enhance Indianapolis’ livability, such as innovative strategies for

attainable housing development and redesign of key transportation infrastructure
like the Indianapolis Inner Loop.

10 2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

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2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA 11

ACCELERATE Accelerate Indy is the Indy Chamber’s regional economic
OUR STRATEGY development strategy to position the Indy region as a premier
destination for talent and opportunity for all. The strategy is
composed of four key pillars that will drive measurable, positive
outcomes in net migration, job creation, and perceptions of Indy
from individuals inside and outside the region.

Accelerate Talent to Accelerate Image by Accelerate Business and Accelerate Place to
improve the well-being amplifying the stories, job creation in key sectors transform our physical
of our residents by faces, businesses, to cultivate innovation, and digital locations
strengthening partnerships industries, and entrepreneurship, and into inviting spaces that
that expand access to communities that make corporate recruitment. encourage recreation
education and training. the Indy region distinctly and connectivity across
unique for current and our region.
future residents.

ACCELERATE Three core values characterize our approach to
OUR VALUES implementation across all four key strategic pillars.

12 3

Promote diversity, Utilize analytics and Leverage partnerships to
equity and inclusion to technology to drive align, scale and catalyze
performance and return
“Accelerate Indy impactful efforts.
for All.” on investment.

See where Indy ranks among
our peer markets by scanning
the QR code.

12 2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

ACCELERATE OUR GOALS

NET NEW JOBS

(IN KEY INNOVATION INDUSTRIES)

4,600 5K FROM 8K/YEAR GOAL
FOR AI 2.0
PRE-ACCELERATE AI 1.0
INDY (AI) 2010-2015 A 60% INCREASE
FIRST PHASE: 2016-2020 FROM FIRST PHASE

NET MIGRATION

9,893 9K FROM AI 1.0 15K/YEAR GOAL
FOR AI 2.0
PRE-AI 2010-2015
A 67% INCREASE
FROM FIRST PHASE

PERCEPTION

0 4.8 FROM 2020 SURVEY

>5.0 PERCEPTION FOR AI 2.0
14% INCREASE FROM 2020 SURVEY
Along with our three core metrics, measurement of regional performance
relative to our peer market competition will measure outcomes in 36 key
indicators, including 11 inclusive indicators; these indicators will help
measure progress in reducing disparities across the region.

To learn more about the work, contact Sarah Iglehart at
siglehar t @indychamber.com

2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA 13

STANDING
POLICY
POSITIONS

Beyond our priority issues, the Indy Chamber will
continue to pursue policies aimed at other elements
of a more competitive and inclusive economic
climate. These policies align with the pillars of
Accelerate Indy–talent, image, business, and place.

14 2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

TALENT

ATTRACTION
• Veterans in the Workforce: Increase employment opportunities for returning

veterans by eliminating duplicative requirements and expedite processes for
military-trained personnel to obtain the equivalent civilian license. Support ongoing
efforts to recruit military personnel to the state to meet the workforce needs of
regional employers.
• Healthcare Workforce: Enhance workforce pipelines and incentives to attract
essential healthcare workers, public health system workforce, and mental health
providers.
RETENTION
• Workshare: Establish an Indiana Work Share program to save jobs, retain workforce
skills, and maintain benefit coverage.
• Pregnancy Accommodations: Keep expectant mothers safely on the job by
passing substantive workplace accommodations to clarify employer obligations,
improve maternal health, and enhance female workforce participation.
• Food Access & Insecurity: Support innovative efforts to increase access to healthy
food options and strategies to improve food security to support the health of
Indiana residents and workforce. Support agency flexibility to enable SNAP benefit
utilization for online ordering and home delivery on a permanent basis.
• Tobacco Tax: Indiana’s revenue outlook of strong, but raising the state cigarette tax
isn’t a question of fiscal health, but public health. Raise Indiana’s cigarette tax by
two dollars per pack, and align the new tax on e-liquids for tax parity at point-of-
sale for e-cigarette and vaping products

+ System Supports: Direct revenue from tobacco tax increases to raise Indiana’s
low public health spend and address chronic public health challenges.

• Telehealth: Continue to support the expansion of affordable telehealth options to
enable more preventative care and improve access to care.

• Racial Health Disparities: Disaggregate government data to enhance equitable
decision-making related to racial health disparities and social determinants of
health.

• Re-entry from the Criminal Justice System: Support policies that promote
reintegrating those formerly involved in the criminal justice system back into the
workforce as productive contributors to our economy by increasing job training
and skills enhancement opportunities, expanding pre-release entrepreneurship
education and training, and increase funding for proven models for transitional
employment and wrap-around services including access to housing and
transportation.

2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA 15

DEVELOPMENT
• Curriculum & Student Supports:

+ Reverse Credit: Support permitting specific course credit to be transferable
and reciprocal between Indiana’s accredited two-year schools and other state-
supported colleges and universities to encourage post-secondary certification
and degree attainment statewide.

+ Teacher Training: Work with school system leaders to require and fund all
teachers in the state of Indiana to complete cultural competency and implicit
bias training without creating additional burdens or unfunded mandates.

+ Achievement Gap & Disciplinary Policies: Support comprehensive, ongoing
review of the racial achievement gap and disciplinary policies resulting in
inequitable outcomes.

+ STEM: Support dedicated funding and policies to deploy high-quality
classroom science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curricula and
STEM-focused professional development for the educators. Specifically,
emphasize access to computer science and engineering courses at the K-12
level to prepare graduates for college and career opportunities in high-
demand STEM fields. Explore the creation of incentives to retain recent STEM-
degreed individuals committed to remaining in-state for five years with an
emphasis on those graduates who enter the teaching profession.

+ High school Career Counselors: Decrease the student-to-counselor ratio,
require regular professional development for school counselors and ensure
academic coursework aligns with students’ desired career pathways. Explore
modification of counselor licensure to differentiate career counseling from
social/emotional counseling. Require school counselors to advise students in
middle school (sixth, seventh, and eighth grades) of their eligibility to enroll in
various state financial aid programs.

+ Required FAFSA Completion: Support matriculation to post-secondary
educational institutions by making FAFSA completion or affirmative opt-out a
requirement of high school graduation.

+ Financial Literacy: Promote financial literacy education through existing K-12
curriculum requirements and encourage the Department of Education to
develop sample curriculum for local schools to implement.

16 2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

• School Operations:
+ Autonomy: Provide school districts flexibility to pay teachers based on high
need and specialized subject matter areas. Empower local education officials
to make administrative and structural decisions affecting individual school
performance, including the option to extend school hours, merit pay options,
providing voluntary alternative retirement benefits options such as defined
contribution plans for new teachers.
+ Operational Efficiency & Facilities: Support school corporations’ operational
efficiency efforts by creating a five-year, renewable exemption to the “Dollar
Law” for school corporations with a proven willingness and ability to partner
with charter schools as evidenced by:
• 20% of school corporation’s student population attends innovation
network schools or innovation network charter schools.
• Equitable distribution of district operating referendum dollars to all
innovation network schools, both in-LEA innovation network schools, and
out-of-LEA innovation network charter schools.
• Proven overcapacity of facilities within the district as demonstrated by
independent analysis and verification.
• Commitment to address operational efficiencies as demonstrated by
undergoing strategic facilities optimization study on current and future
population/enrollment projections and implementation of strategic
operational efficiency plans through strategic disposition of the properties
previously subject to the dollar law.

• School Funding:
+ Taxation: Carefully consider how changes to the local property tax base
(e.g., further exemption or restructuring of the personal property tax) impacts
school funding and referendum revenues.
+ ADM Counts: Protect per-student funding from the lingering effects of Covid
and remote learning by ensuring virtual instruction is fully funded in the
September ADM count; explore other ways to protect school funding from
enrollment fluctuations as Indiana recovers from the pandemic.
+ Complexity Index: While the Complexity Index received a modest $100
per student increase in the FY2022-2023 funding formula, aid to students in
poverty continues to fall further behind the foundation grant per student to
the detriment of at-risk students and high-poverty districts:
• Capture an accurate reflection of complexity by considering the
population of students with histories of trauma (measured by ACE scores),
English as Second Language students, and those with developmental
difficulties.
• Eliminate racial gaps in per pupil funding allocation, and address the
findings of the 2020 report on Indiana school funding commissioned by
the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation.
• Study these and other issues related to the challenges beyond the
classroom faced by students living in poverty before the 2023 budget
session to advance the complexity conversation before the hectic pace of
budget negotiations limits full consideration.
+ Charter Authority: Expand the authority of the Mayor of Indianapolis to
charter Pre-K educational institutions and require local public hearings for
the re-chartering of schools attempting to switch charter authorizers after a
charter has been revoked.

2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA 17

IMAGE

Reinforce and enhance Indiana’s brand as a welcoming and diverse state by:
• Strengthening existing “bias crime” penalties for criminal offenses where it can

be proven that the victim or target is intentionally selected by clearly enumerating
personal characteristics, addressing the alarming increase in these crimes as tracked
by federal law enforcement agencies.
• Updating the state’s current anti-discrimination law to prohibit discrimination based
on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, employment, and public
accommodations.
• Encouraging federal leadership on comprehensive immigration reform, while
restoring the eligibility for in-state tuition and financial aid to state colleges and
universities for foreign born students who have matriculated through the Indiana
K-12 system.

18 2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

BUSINESS

Tax Increment Financing: Maximize the ability of local government units to respond to
redevelopment and economic development opportunities through the utilization of Tax
Increment Financing (TIF) districts:
• Transparency: Establish a schedule of performance reports to local governing

bodies and encourage the establishment of public online resources for tracking TIF
performance metrics, funded by TIF revenue.
• Certified Tech Parks: Increase the Certified Technology Park (CTP) tax capture
allowance to allow high-performing CTPs to increase public-private investment in
the CTP and surrounding areas.
State Incentives: Maintain Indiana’s economic competitiveness through the
preservation and responsible use of existing state tax incentives, placing emphasis on
skills enhancement and workforce training to attract investment from diverse industry
sectors (e.g., strengthening the state Skills Enhancement Fund to assist companies in
addressing 21st Century skills gaps).
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Investments: Support policies that can improve the
State’s capital environment, nurture innovation, and advance racial equity by:
• Prioritizing increased access to capital and technical assistance for businesses and
entrepreneurs of color.
• Reviewing state entrepreneurship and innovation support operations to eliminate
process barriers to equitable access.
• Maintaining permanence of the state’s Research and Development, Hoosier
Business Investment, and Venture Capital Investment tax credit programs.
• Enhancing flexibility for public investment in venture capital funds that invest in
Indiana companies.
• Maximizing funding for university-sponsored grant programs and seed funding
for applied research and commercialization, including pursuing opportunities as a
Regional Technology Hub under the proposed federal ‘Endless Frontier Act’.
Energy Efficiency: Secure state incentives for business and local government
investments in energy-efficient commercial and industrial rehabilitation and fleet
management.

2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA 19

PLACE

Smart Justice Reforms: Support strategic criminal justice reform to enhance public
safety, maximize rehabilitation, and minimize jail overcrowding, recidivism, and local
fiscal impact:
• Mental Health System: Support rehabilitative outcomes for mental health cases.

+ Assessment & Diversions: Increase resources to court systems to conduct
mental health assessments and refer defendants to treatment and services.

+ Pre-release Screenings: Administer mental health and skills assessments
to inmates pre-release, and connect inmates to treatment, services, and
employment opportunities.

• Administrative Reforms:
+ Multiple Felony Sentencing: To reduce impact on criminal justice systems,
offenders with multiple felonies should be sentenced to the Department of
Correction.
+ Bail Consideration: Cash bond consideration must require a screening
assessment and the ability to increase the bond considering severity of
criminal history.
+ Fines & Fees: Require that fines and fees not exceed cost to administer
justice processes. Where fees exceed cost, surplus should fund restitution and
treatment.

• Public Input and Oversight: Advance community trust and successful justice
outcomes.
+ Policymaking: Support Marion County efforts to establish structures for
civilian input and oversight of law enforcement policymaking.
+ External Oversight: Trigger automatic external investigation for fatal use of
force or misconduct cases.

• Anti-Bias & Cultural Competency: Support community trust-building and deter
bias.
+ Training: Support law enforcement job performance by funding and requiring
Cultural Competency, Implicit Bias, and Bias Crime training for all officers
statewide.
+ Bias Crimes: Amend bias crimes statute to make it more inclusive and
enforceable.

• Law Enforcement Officer Supports: Ensure officer well-being and accountability,
building on the bipartisan breakthrough in police reform embodied by House Bill
1006 in 2021 (and monitoring the implementation of its key provisions).

20 2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

Transit: Protect local public transit agencies from funding cuts or unfair mandates to
maintain reliable transportation options that connect employers and workers.
• Hoosier State Line: Reinstate state support to continue operations and enhance

service of the Hoosier State Line to better facilitate connectivity and economic
opportunity between Indianapolis, Northwest Indiana, and Chicago.
• Complete Streets: Pursue state transportation policies that encourage
transportation planners and engineers to plan, design, operate, and maintain the
state’s road and street infrastructure that facilitates public use, physical activity, and
support public health.
• Shared & Personal Mobility: Capitalize on rapid advances in personal mobility and
transportation by making new mobility options safe and accessible for Hoosiers,
and positioning Indiana as a center of innovation for mobility solutions:
• Autonomous Vehicles: Advocate for regulatory changes to promote the
development, testing, and deployment of autonomous vehicles in Indiana.
• Transparent Regulatory Framework: Beyond autonomous vehicles, develop a
clear and predictable regulatory framework that applies to other mobility options
to avoid confusion and delays in integrating new products and services into our
transportation system.
• Emphasize equitable access to new mobility options: Work to eliminate barriers
to individuals and communities taking advantage of mobility options so personal
mobility can also be a catalyst for upward mobility.
• Create a truly comprehensive transportation strategy: Acknowledging that no
single agency or organization can oversee the complex transportation system, bring
together partners (state and local, public and private) to develop long-term, data-
driven strategies that incorporate new and innovative mobility options and focus on
critical transportation challenges.
• Safety first: Evaluate traffic rules, street construction/configuration, and other
modal regulations to ensure mobility options work together safely for pedestrians,
riders, drivers, and other users.
• Greenways: Support sustainable funding and equitable allocations of resources
under the Next Level Trails grant program to ensure long-term funding of trail
projects.
• Incentives: Create state employer incentives for employee benefits for alternative
modes of transportation, transit packages, workplace bike infrastructure, or other
modes of transportation that encourage a healthier workforce.

2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA 21

Advanced Telecommunications: Support efforts by telecommunications providers to
transition their networks from old legacy technology to an advanced all-IP, all-mobile,
5G supportive, all-cloud infrastructure.
Housing:
• Expand eligibility requirements to allow more communities to utilize residential

and housing TIF structures to incentivize the development of affordable housing.
Advance equity, public health outcomes, and economic growth by supporting
public and private strategies to expand and maintain the supply of affordable
housing options.
• Homeownership: State and local government strategies to incentivize
homeownership growth, especially in Black and brown communities, should include
low-barrier, low-interest loan products and home repair resources as well as first-
time homeowner education programs.
• Rental Assistance: State and local governments must redouble efforts to deploy
federal relief dollars dedicated to rental assistance to enhance housing security and
maintain the supply of affordable rental units.
• Eviction Prevention: Reduce eviction rates through tenant and landlord education
on rights, responsibilities, and resolution strategies; mediation services for housing
retention; legal representation in eviction proceedings and other services to
address barriers to stable housing.
Brownfields: Accelerate community reinvestment and accessible employment
opportunities in and around brownfield sites, driving economic development and
maximizing property values by:
• Restoring funding to Indiana Finance Authority’s Brownfield Grant Program, adding
IFA staff capacity to administer the program, reduce wait times, and extending
technical assistance efforts.
• Expanding grant and loan resources for “Phase I” and “Phase II” environmental site
assessments for former brownfields.
• Creating tax incentives based on employment on former brownfield sites.
• Expanding flexibility of a redevelopment commission to sell or transfer a title to real
property which is undeveloped, underdeveloped, or considered blighted due to the
real or perceived threat of environmental contamination for private development.

22 2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

Shovel-Ready Redevelopment: Support shovel-ready community redevelopment
efforts through the creation of a statewide grant program to fund the demolition of
blighted commercial properties.
Water: Support the creation of a statewide coordinating body to ensure sustained
economic opportunity through responsible management of water resources, as well as:
• Supporting the work of the Wastewater Task Force to drive federal and state

resources toward needed upgrades in storm- and wastewater systems.
• Prioritizing resources for land use planning and redevelopment along Indiana

waterways to capitalize on the environmentally responsible economic development
potential of these natural assets.
Local Government Finance:
• Home Rule: Allow local government greater flexibility over their own structural and
fiscal matters to address the needs of their individual communities.
• Township Finances: Require township funds that exceed 150% of operating
expenses to be spent on infrastructure projects within the township or credited to
the taxpayer.
Government Modernization:
• Election Reforms: Update the State of Indiana’s election system to improve
efficiency, enhance representation, and increase voter turnout and civic
engagement.
• Voting Reform: Ensure that in-person voting centers remain safe and sanitary
for early and Election Day voting. Authorize a no-fault, absentee or vote-by-mail
system for all registered voters.
• UniGov: Seek greater efficiencies in municipal service delivery and finance in
Marion County by building on the principles of unified government, including
county-wide consolidation of fire departments.
• Statewide: Continue efforts to streamline overlapping government functions
through statewide implementation of recommendations made by the Indiana
Commission on Local Government Reform to increase accountability, transparency,
and effectiveness of local governments.
• Government Innovation: Continue support of the state’s Management &
Performance Hub to foster a more transparent, innovative state government, and
encourage local governments to create Offices of Innovation to drive policies that
similarly inspire open data, transparency, and efficiencies that can result in greater
economic activity and workforce development.
• Healthcare Data: Support strategies to improve availability, quality, and verifiability
of data on the price, quality, and utilization of healthcare services that can be easily
accessed and understood by patients, healthcare providers, and employers.
• Education Data: To support evidence-based strategies to close achievement
gaps and improve educational outcomes for all Hoosier students, advance efforts
(already underway at the Indiana Department of Education) to enhance the
availability and transparency of educational data.

2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA 23

KEY DATES &
DEADLINES

Monday, January 9, 2023
First Day of Session

Thursday, January 12, 2023
Deadline for filing House bills

Friday, January 13, 2023
Deadline for filing Senate bills

Monday, February 27, 2023
3rd reading deadline in House

Tuesday, February 28, 2023
3rd reading deadline in Senate

Monday, April 17, 2023
3rd reading deadline in second chamber (Senate)

Tuesday, April 18, 2023
3rd reading deadline in second chamber (House)

Thursday, April 27, 2023
Sine Die

Dates above are tentative per changes in session scheduling.

24 2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

LEGISLATIVE PROCESS

1 Bill is introduced in House or Senate – chamber of origin (1st reading).

2 Bill is assigned to a committee.

3 Bill is heard in committee and (a) passes as is or with amendments,
(b) fails by a vote of the committee, or (c) is denied a hearing.

4 Bill returns to the floor for potential amendments and
engrossment (2nd reading).

5 Bill passes chamber of origin (3rd reading).

6 Bill repeats the process in second chamber.

7 If all these steps do not occur, bill dies.

8 If bill completes process without amendment in second chamber,
the bill is sent to the Governor.

If bill is amended in the second chamber, but its author and a majority of the
9 chamber of origin approve the changes, the bill is sent to the Governor.

10 If the bill’s author doesn’t agree with the amendments, a conference
committee is appointed.

Conferees from both chambers negotiate changes to the bill - if they
reach unanimous agreement on a conference report, the report passes
11 the House and Senate Rules Committees and receives a majority vote in
both chambers, the bill is sent to the Governor. If all of these steps aren’t
successful, the bill dies.

2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA 25

METRO INDIANAPOLIS LEGIS

HOUSE Rep. Carey Hamilton Rep. Elizabeth Rowray
Democrat | District 87 Republican | District 35
Rep. Beau Baird [email protected] [email protected]
Republican | District 44 Speaker Rep. Donna Schaibley
[email protected] Rep. Todd Huston Republican | District 24
Rep. John Bartlett Republican | District 37 [email protected]
Democrat | District 95 [email protected] Rep. Robin Shackleford
[email protected] Rep. Chris Jeter Democrat | District 98
Rep. Robert Behning Republican | District 88 [email protected]
Republican | District 91 [email protected] Rep. Mike Speedy
[email protected] Rep. Blake Johnson Republican | District 90
Rep. Becky Cash Democrat | District 100 [email protected]
Republican | District 25 [email protected] Rep. Greg Steuerwald
[email protected] Rep. Chris May Republican | District 40
Rep. Bob Cherry Republican | District 65 [email protected]
Republican | District 53 [email protected] Rep. Vanessa Summers
[email protected] Rep. Peggy Mayfield Democrat | District 99
Rep. Corey Criswell Republican | District 60 [email protected]
Republican | District 54 [email protected] Rep. Jeff Thompson
[email protected] Rep. Justin Moed Republican | District 28
Rep. Michelle Davis Democrat | District 97 [email protected]
Republican | District 58 [email protected] Rep. Jerry Torr
[email protected] Rep. Renee Pack Republican | District 39
Rep. Ed DeLaney Democrat | District 92 [email protected]
Democrat | District 86 [email protected] Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn
[email protected] Rep. Kyle Pierce Democrat | District 32
Rep. Mark Genda Republican | District 36 [email protected]
Republican | District 41 [email protected]
[email protected] Rep. Greg Porter
Rep. Chuck Goodrich Democrat | District 96
Republican | District 29 [email protected]
[email protected] Rep. Cherrish Pryor
Rep. Mitch Gore Democrat | District 94
Democrat | District 89 [email protected]
[email protected]
Rep. Robb Greene
Republican | District 47
[email protected]

26 2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

SLATIVE DELEGATION

SENATE Sen. Andrea Hunley
Republican | District 46
Sen. Scott Baldwin [email protected]
Republican | District 20 Sen. Jean Leising
[email protected] Republican | District 42
President Pro Tempore [email protected]
Sen. Rodric Bray Sen. Fady Quaddora
Republican | District 37 Democrat | District 30
[email protected] [email protected]
Sen. Jean Breaux Sen. Jack Sandlin
Democrat | District 34 Republican | District 36
[email protected] [email protected]
Sen. Brian Buchanan Minority Leader
Republican | District 7 Sen. Greg Taylor
[email protected] Democrat | District 33
Sen. Jim Buck [email protected]
Republican | District 21 Sen. Greg Walker
[email protected] Republican | District 41
Sen. John Crane [email protected]
Republican | District 24 Sen. Kyle Walker
[email protected] Republican | District 31
Sen. Michael Crider [email protected]
Republican | District 28 Sen. R. Michael Young
[email protected] Republican | District 35
Sen. Aaron Freeman [email protected]
Republican | District 32
[email protected]
Sen. JD Ford
Democrat | District 29
[email protected]
Sen. Mike Gaskill
Republican | District 26
[email protected]

2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA 27

28 2023 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA