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It’s Half-Time, and We’re Playing to Win” — Governor Braun highlights wins for Hoosiers in first half of legislative session, outlines priorities for second half

Tuesday, February 25, 2025 at 7:00 PM

Tuesday Governor Mike Braun highlighted his successes so far in the first half of the legislative session, with major pieces of his Freedom and Opportunity agenda on health care, education, public safety, and economic development well on their way to becoming law.
 

He also outlined his priorities for the second half of the legislative session and commended his partners in the General Assembly for their commitment to getting results for Hoosiers.

“It’s half-time in my first legislative session, and we’ve already put big points on the board for the Freedom and Opportunity agenda on kitchen table issues like lowering health care prices, putting parents in charge of their kids’ education, cracking down on drug dealers and repeat violent criminals, and making government more efficient,” said Governor Mike Braun.

“We’ve had a strong start, and we’re not letting up in the second half. I’m going to continue to work closely with my partners in the General Assembly to get results on our Freedom and Opportunity agenda and achieve historic tax relief for Hoosiers.”

Governor Braun highlighted several bills that are part of his Freedom and Opportunity agenda which have already passed either the House or Senate:

Health Care

•    House Bill 1003, the biggest package of reforms, contains:

•    Site neutral pricing reform
•    Prior authorization reform
•    Stricter enforcement for Medicaid fraud
•    Data ownership and sharing reforms
•    And many other reforms that will lower prices and improve outcomes for Hoosiers.

•    House Bill 1004, which will make sure non-profit hospitals actually act like non-profits.

•    House Bill 1666, which establishes an approval board for health care mergers and acquisitions and makes ownership information more transparent.

•    Senate Bill 118, a bill that will bring transparency to the 340B program and reveal prescription markups.

•    Senate Bill 140, which takes on prescription benefit managers (PBMs) that are driving up prescription drug prices for Hoosiers.

Education

•    House Bill 1001, which will:  

•    Fully fund universal school choice
•    Increase funding for school safety
•    Expand Career Scholarship Accounts for kids with special needs and
•    Increase funding for the Education Savings Accounts program

•    Senate Bill 146, which increases minimum teacher salary by $5,000

•    Bills ensuring age-appropriate curriculum for students, re-instating A through F grades, and a suite of solutions to improve our academic achievement in math have passed as well.

Public Safety

Senate Bill 324, landmark legislation for keeping Hoosiers safe:

•    Increases penalties for drug dealers and repeat violent offenders, and
•    Sets mandatory minimum bail for repeat violent offenders

House Bill 1006, which creates an opportunity for the state to address non-compliant prosecutors and increase funding for prosecutors across the state.

Economic Development

•    HB 1001 includes Hoosier Workforce Upskill Tax Credit to give employers a financial incentive to upskill their employees.  

•    SB 346 includes the Rural Hoosier Business Growth Program to spread economic development throughout the state.

 

 

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