This week marked the midway point of the legislative session. This is the time when bills switch chambers; those that have been passed by the House of Representatives will move over to the Senate for further debate, and vice versa.
With several critical deadlines leading up to the midway point, we worked long hours and late into the night to ensure only the best legislation passed out of our chamber. Although much was accomplished, today, I would like to share with you some of the highlights and legislation that we passed to strengthen our community and state.
This past week culminated months of work to come up with the first draft of our state’s biennial budget. Recognizing that the decisions we make have a lasting impact on the Hoosier economy and the taxpayers of our state, we began to discuss our goals for the budget long before session even started.
Living up to those goals, the House budget is not only structurally balanced, but it also allocates the most dollars ever spent for K-12 education without raising taxes on hardworking Hoosiers. We have increased funding by $469 million over the biennium, which means over $16 billion will be used to educate Hoosier students.
Part of improving education also includes supporting our teachers. That is why our budget provides teachers who purchase classroom supplies with a $200 tax credit and continues to reward outstanding educators by allotting $60 million in teacher performance grants. Last Tuesday, this budget was passed by the House, and once signed into law, will fund state government for the next two years.
I am also proud to see language from one of my own bills, House Bill (HB) 1497, incorporated into the budget. HB 1497 allows the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) to provide further reemployment services and training for unemployed Hoosiers.
Prior to joining the Legislature, I spent years working on economic development initiatives at the local level. This brought to my attention the need for increased skills assessments as a means to help Hoosiers reenter the workforce successfully. It is imperative that we not only determine someone’s skill level, but also give them additional training if their skill level does not meet the demands of the job they are interested in.
I was pleased that my colleagues recognized the importance of this bill and included $1 million over the DWD’s request in the budget for general operating expenses. While the budget has now moved over to the Senate for further consideration, I am hopeful this funding will remain part of the bill in order to provide a stepping stone towards getting more Hoosiers back to work and bridging the skills gap that has negatively impacted Indiana for several years.
Now that we have reached the halfway point, we will soon be looking at a whole new set of issues. Please continue to contact me with your thoughts and opinions so that we can work together to create stronger communities and a better Indiana.
-30-
