INDIANAPOLIS – Governor Eric J. Holcomb today lauded the conclusion of the legislative session that enacted his 2023 Next Level Agenda providing transformational changes to the way public health is delivered to Hoosiers, historic investments in K-12 education and workforce, pivotal contribution towards the economic development toolkit and another $500 million dedicated to the successful READI program to enhance the quality of life of Hoosiers in every corner of Indiana.

“First and foremost, we balanced our 10^th straight budget which enables us to strategically prioritize key areas in health, education and workforce that will elevate Indiana to the Next Level,” Gov. Holcomb said.  “I’m proud of what was accomplished this legislative session and through collaboration and hard work we will be able to make transformational investments that will better the lives of Hoosiers and build a better today and stronger tomorrow.”

The Indiana General Assembly approved key components of Gov. Holcomb’s 2023 Next Level Agenda.

Public Health

Dedicating $263 million over the biennium to fulfill the recommendations of the Governor’s Public Health Commission to improve the health outcomes of Hoosiers by providing the necessary resources and delivery of services.

Of the total, $225 million will directly go toward local public health departments that opt-in to the local/state partnership. The remaining $38 million will be used for state resources to assist local health officials improve health outcomes. This includes integrating public health data and analytics, improving emergency preparedness through EMS training and readiness programs, increasing the state’s strategic stockpile of supplies and promoting childhood and adolescent screenings.

New legislation will provide $100 million for mental health services and resources to more Hoosiers by expanding mobile crisis teams and crisis stabilization units and continuing to offer the 988 Crisis and Suicide Lifeline services.

The state will implement the Governor’s Challenge to Prevent Suicide among veterans and service members to partner with communities, state agencies and veterans to come up with strategies and a prevention plan.

The state also will strategically invest the more than $500 million the state will receive in the coming years from the national opioid settlement to create more community substance use programs to help those suffering from addiction.

Education and Workforce

K-12

The state will continue to make historic investments in K-12 education with an additional $1.47 billion in tuition support over the next two years. The increase will empower local public schools to reach the goal of achieving a statewide average teacher salary of $60,000.

With the General Assembly’s support, the state will remove a hidden tax on Hoosier parents by eliminating textbook and curriculum fees for more than 1 million students in traditional public and charter schools.

The state will also launch Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library statewide by investing $6 million over the next two years to provide every child high-quality books from birth to age five. State funding will be put toward literacy initiatives to achieve the state’s goal of 95% of third-grade students indicate reading proficiency skills by 2027.

Higher Education

Through legislation, the Commission for Higher Education will implement the governor’s goal of auto-enrolling eligible students in the 21^st Century Scholarship Program.

The budget also delivered on the governor’s promise to support first-generation and low-income minority students by dedicating $10 million to Martin University and several other programs with similar initiatives.

Early Learning

Eligibility for On My Way Pre-K will be expanded by raising the income eligibility limits for the programs from 127% to 150% of the federal poverty limit. The governor will simultaneously expand eligibility for Child Care and Development Fund vouchers to provide program access to about 5,000 more lower income working families.

Workforce

The budget delivers on Governor Holcomb’s sustained commitment to provide Hoosiers with more opportunities to obtain the skills they need for the jobs of tomorrow by investing $58 million over the biennium in Next Level Jobs Grant programs to benefit employers and employees.

Aligned with the governor’s proposals, the enacted budget provides increases across the state’s adult education ecosystem to offer Hoosiers more opportunities to obtain skills to enter the workforce, including $12 million to reduce waiting lists and expand capacity for adult education training programs as well as $16.3 million to expand adult charter high schools, including the Excel Center.

Economic Development

Thanks to the agreed upon budgets, Indiana will continue its global reach to bring growth to our state by:

• Formalizing a deal closing fund totaling $500 million over the biennium and an additional $250 million-per-year tax credit cap
• Establishing an ongoing revolving fund of $150 million for site acquisition efforts
• Doubling resources for the Manufacturing Readiness Grant Program
• Appropriating dollars to complete four capital projects: the new Westville Correctional Facility, new state archives building, co-location of the state’s blind and deaf schools and a new state park inn at Potato Creek State Park
• Investing in Indiana tourism by increasing the Indiana Destination Development Corporation’s funding

Community Development

The legislature passed the governor’s proposal of an additional $500 million for the second round of the Regional Economic Acceleration & Development Initiative (READI). READI has become a nationally recognized innovative program that connects communities to build sustainable partnerships for growth.

The Indiana General Assembly further showed its support of community development by:

• Funding Next Level Trails to expand the state’s trails system and move even closer to the governor’s goal of becoming the most trail friendly state in the country
• Allocating dollars for land conservation efforts
• Providing the funds to pursue more direct flights options from Indianapolis International Airport
• Appropriating dollars to provide upgrades to regional airports throughout the state
• Partnering with the state’s Food bank network by doubling funding to $2 million a year

Good Government

The governor’s budget supported salary increases for the Indiana State Police and other agency law enforcement officials by raising the starting salary of state police troopers from $53,690 to $70,000 a year.

With the support of lawmakers, the state will invest more than $7 million in a regional firefighter training infrastructure to provide a standardized training model across the state. With the help of the Department of Homeland Security, the existing training locations will be enhanced, and new sites will be created to help cover gaps that exist in area of Indiana.

The state will dedicate $10 million to purchase necessary equipment for volunteer firefighting organizations.

To bolster school safety, the state will increase the Secured School Safety Grant Fund to $25 million per year and expand how schools can utilize the grant dollars. The state will invest in more free trainings for school safety specialists.

WASHINGTON– U.S. Senators Mike Braun and Bob Menendez today introduced a bipartisan bill that would change a technicality in federal law that unnecessarily requires that PSLF applicants be employed in a public service role at the time of forgiveness, even if they have already made 120 qualifying payments. This has negatively affected public service employees who have completed their 120 payments, decided to retire or move on from their current jobs or public service careers, and suddenly become ineligible for forgiveness even though they dutifully served their communities for at least ten years.

U.S. Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.-01) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.-06) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

“Public servants make a tremendous commitment to the communities they serve. Police officers, teachers, and first responders deserve access to the benefits that they’ve rightfully earned through years of service. That’s why I’m leading the effort to cut burdensome provisions in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program and ensure that whenever they go next, their service isn’t forgotten.”—Sen. Braun

“Since its creation, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program has had persistent issues that have made it difficult for public service employees to access student debt relief in exchange for their dedicated service to our nation. This is a common-sense, bipartisan solution that will remove a needless provision in federal law that will transform the lives of law enforcement, firefighters, teachers, and other public service employees by making it easier for them to receive relief under the PSLF program.”—Sen. Menendez

“Our communities thrive in part due to the selfless work of public servants, including law enforcement officers, teachers, nurses, and social workers. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is a worthy federal investment that is proven to help attract qualified candidates to these important jobs. I am proud to co-lead the bipartisan, bicameral PSLF Payment Completion Fairness Act that will make necessary changes to the program and ensure that eligible public servants receive the benefits they have earned.”—Rep. Fitzpatrick

“Our public servants, like police officers and teachers, rightfully have access to student loan forgiveness after ten years of public service. However, due to the way the policy is currently written, borrowers must still be working in public service while their paperwork is processed for forgiveness, which can sometimes take several months. Fixing this oversight is necessary so public servants who’ve completed the ten years they need to qualify but have retired or moved on from their career can still receive these well-deserved benefits. That’s why I’m excited to reintroduce this commonsense bipartisan and bicameral legislation in order to ensure that our nation’s teachers, first responders, and federal workers can take part in this important program.”—Rep. Houlahan

According to a 2017 survey from the National Policing Institute, 958 police agencies found that 30.2% of police officers had four-year college degrees, 51.8% had two-year degrees, and 5.4% had graduate degrees. Making it more affordable for these officers to secure the education needed to advance in their careers means greater income opportunities for them, with top investigators and detectives making approximately $159,000 per year. Moreover, a 2021 report from the National Education Association found that 25% of educators over the age of 61 have been unable to pay off their student loans, with 35% carrying more than $45,000 in debt.

Helping staff afford more opportunities for career advancement will also serve as a powerful recruitment tool. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all states suffered declines in public sector jobs, including in police forces and schools. Communities cannot effectively serve the needs of their residents with major employment gaps in schools, law enforcement agencies, and other public agencies.

The PSLF Payment Completion Fairness Act has been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), International Association of Firefighters (IAFF), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), Communication Workers of America (CWA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), and International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT).

“Law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other public safety officers serve their communities selflessly. These brave men and women may begin their policing careers with student debt or accrue some by going to school while serving,” said Patrick Yoes, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police. “Many will cite the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSFL) program as one of the benefits that led them to a public safety career.  The legislation introduced by Senators Menendez and Braun and Representatives Houlahan and Fitzpatrick would eliminate a technicality in this program to ensure that is more widely available to those that served.  We look forward to working with them on this issue.”

“Educators of the National Education Association (NEA) are ecstatic to support the reintroduction of the bipartisan Public Service Loan Forgiveness Payment Completion Fairness Act, which takes a major step in fulfilling the original intent and promise of the PSLF program,” said Marc Egan, Director of Government Relations, National Education Association. “Educators and other public servants who have met eligibility for PSLF should not be denied what they were promised just because they have retired or moved on.  Since the completion of the Limited PSLF Waiver, more than 453,000 borrowers, and counting, have already received PSLF due to temporary improvements.  This demonstrates how critical this legislation is to our public servants; a permanent fix to a serious problem.  NEA members and its retired educators applaud Sens. Menendez and Braun and Reps. Houlahan and Fitzpatrick for their key leadership on this legislation.”

“People in public service don’t do this work to get rich; they do it because they’re driven to make their communities better, safer and healthier,” said Lee Saunders, President of AFSCME. “It’s not just a job, it’s a calling. But serving your community often requires a college degree, and excessive higher education costs are keeping qualified individuals from pursuing this career path. Meanwhile, the burden of student debt combined with the rising cost of living is forcing those in public service to consider other job options. That’s why Congress needs to pass the bipartisan PSLF Payment Completion Fairness Act. It would deliver public service workers the relief they need to continue the essential work our communities depend on.”