• By Anna Cecil, TheStatehouseFile.com
• Sen. David Niezgodski, D-South Bend, left, and Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, talk with the press at the Indiana Statehouse Wednesday after an announcement that Indiana’s projected revenue will be down by $2.37 billion.

  Photo by Sydney Byerly, The Indiana Citizen.

  Over the next three years, Indiana’s projected revenue will be down by $2.37 billion, according to Ben Tooley, director of fiscal policy for the Indiana House of Representatives, who shared the state’s revenue forecast during the State Budget Committee meeting on Wednesday.

  Indiana will be short $403 million in 2025, $963.9 million in 2026 and more than $1 billion in 2027.

  During the committee’s recess,  lawmakers who were at the meeting hosted a press conference in the hallway to respond to the new revenue projections. 

  Sen. David Niezgodski, D-South Bend, said the revenue forecast reminded him of the economic conditions he saw during the Great Recession from 2007 to 2009. 

  “We’ve got serious work to do,” he said.

  Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, said he and his colleagues will be working with lawmakers across the aisle to come up with solutions to the revenue shortages.

  “We’re extremely concerned for Hoosiers across the state,” he said. “The same conditions that are impacting the state budget are impacting Hoosiers from across the board.” 

  Qaddoura said he hopes the General Assembly will decide to raise taxes on cigarettes and utilize the managed care assessment fee (MCAF), which would raise funds for Medicaid. 

  In a press release, Rep. Ed Delaney, D-Indianapolis, said Indiana is not prepared to be down $2.4 billion. 

  He told TheStatehouseFile.com he is most concerned about the impact Indiana’s projected revenue will have on public education and Medicaid, the largest spending areas in the state budget. 

  “There’s no plan,” Delaney said. “I think they’re just going to end up flatlining public education. We could pass a budget that pretends that we got all this money that we don’t ever have.”

  Delaney said if the Republican supermajority passes a budget that can’t be fully funded, it would be dishonest.

  “We could do that and leave town and say it’s Mike Braun’s problem,” he said.

  Like Delaney, Rep. Gregory W. Porter, D-Indianapolis, said he was worried that public education, especially teachers and students, were on the chopping block in Indiana’s budget.

  “We have to create a pipeline to education,” Porter told the gaggle of reporters at the press conference. “We also have to figure out what, how we’re gonna bring people to the state. … We don’t have a good education system.” 

  Alongside educators and students, Porter was also concerned about children with autism whose therapy is often funded by Medicaid.

  “You should not hurt seniors, and you should not be hurting our children,” he said. “I think everyone should have a decent quality of life.”

  Gov. Mike Braun, who reacted to the revenue forecast via press release, blamed Indiana’s shortage of funds on former President Joe Biden’s economic choices.

  “Today’s forecast reflects what we are dealing with in the aftermath of disastrous Bidenflation. There will be some tough times ahead, but the America First economic policies we are pursuing here and in Washington will unleash an economic boom,” Braun said in a release. 

  “However, we must finalize a biennial budget that respects the revenue forecast and protects Hoosier taxpayers from a worst-case scenario. I will work with the General Assembly to craft a budget that is structurally balanced, maintains strong reserves, and funds vital services like public safety and education.”

  Delaney also issued a press release, but he attributed the revenue shortage to an unpredictable national economy fueled by President Donald Trump’s tariffs. 

  “We have one week to update our budget to account for this week’s economic report. With the unpredictability coming out of D.C., I fear that the budget we pass in the next week will not hold up through the summer,” Delaney said in the release. 

  “The legislature must act responsibly and create a mechanism to address this economic instability. We cannot leave a matter this serious in the hands of the executive branch. My colleagues in the General Assembly need to step up to our role. Let’s be honest about this—unless we make some substantial moves in the final week of session, a lot of people are going to be hurt. Avoiding that now falls to the majority.”

  Porter echoed Delaney’s concerns about federal influence in his press release that followed the budget committee meeting. 

  “Federal actions could completely change our trajectory. We’re one of the most intense manufacturing states in the nation, so we could get hit hard. When the U.S. gets a cold, Indiana gets pneumonia,” Porter said in the release.

  “Our budget has to be done in a week. In the past, I’ve proposed doing an annual budget during periods of uncertainty. I said we needed to move this forecast up a month. Now it’s crunch time, and we’re writing this budget with a blindfold.” 

  Anna Cecil is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news site powered by Franklin College journalism students.

INDIANAPOLIS – Today, Governor Mike Braun announced a collaboration between the Indiana State Police and the Alcohol & Tobacco Commission’s Excise Police to address the issue of public safety around bars that tend to attract crime, drugs, and disturbances, sometimes referred to as “nuisance bars.”

“So-called ‘nuisance bars’ present a serious public safety threat, becoming hubs for crime, drugs, and violence that make our communities more dangerous and drive down nearby property values. This partnership between the Indiana Excise Police and the Indiana State Police will make for safer streets and stronger communities.”  — Governor Mike Braun

‘Nuisance bars’ refers to bars, nightclubs, and other establishments that are permissive of crime and violence. Annual public nuisance violations issued by Indiana State Excise Police have increased 34% since 2019.  The violations include instances of shootings, stabbings, and drug related activity.

Indiana law enforcement does an excellent job of keeping Hoosiers safe, and this partnership will bring together the expertise of the Excise Police with the tactical skill, resources, and footprint of the Indiana State Police to address crime and drug activity centered around these types of establishments.

The Alcohol & Tobacco Commission will be hiring a new Excise Superintendent who will work with the Indiana Association of Chiefs of Police and the Indiana Sheriffs’ Association to communicate the role of Indiana Excise police to local departments and identify ways to collaborate with local law enforcement.

Over the next four years, the two departments will explore opportunities to collaborate on this shared mission, such as cross-training and sharing resources.

• By Erin Bruce, TheStatehouseFile.com
• Gov. Mike Braun (center), U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (left) and U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz take questions during a press conference in the Author’s Room of the Indiana State Library on Tuesday. 
• Photo by Anna Cecil, TheStatehouseFile.com.On any other Tuesday morning, you wouldn’t hear anything above a whisper in the Indiana State Library. But shouting led to the second floor where protestors, reporters and state lawmakers anticipated Indiana’s visitors from Washington, D.C.

  Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, joined Indiana’s Gov. Mike Braun in announcing the nine executive orders that comprise “Make Indiana Healthy Again” (MIHA).

  An audience member at Tuesday’s “Make Indiana Healthy Again” press conference in the Author’s Room of the Indiana State Library wears a MAHA (Make American Healthy Again) hat while listening to U.S. Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz speak.

   

• 
• Photo by Erin Bruce, TheStatehouseFile.com.“You’re setting the stage at the federal level, and we’re going to be your best allies at the state level,” Braun told Kennedy and Oz, both currently serving under the Trump administration following appointment confirmations.

  The majority of Braun’s executive orders focus on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Under one of the new orders, SNAP will no longer be able to be used for candy or soft drinks, a move that falls in lockstep with Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) initiative.

  In addition to this restriction, two other orders focus on moving SNAP beneficiaries off of the program through creating and enforcing work requirements for all non-exempt recipients. Next to this, an order aims to rid the SNAP program of “fraud and abuse” as stated in a press release.

  With the new SNAP requirements, another executive order will attempt to cut back on Medicaid spending by emphasizing program eligibility. According to the press release, 28% of Indiana’s Medicaid spending is “improper,” with this largely being attributed to ineligible beneficiaries.

  The remainder of the orders would implement a Governor’s Fitness Test and School Fitness Month, work on food transparency with a focus on dyes, promote farm-to-table consumption, and fund a study of chronic illnesses caused by diet.

  “I came out with nine executive orders today—finally, where you can do something rather than just talk about it,” said Braun at the press conference.

  U.S. Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks to a crowd of journalists, lawmakers and others in the Author’s Room of the Indiana State Library on Tuesday.

  Braun said he’s happy to see the Trump administration take initiative and thanked Kennedy and Oz. He said he’s looking forward to making changes at the state level, after saying he struggled to make changes at the national level during his six years as U.S. senator.

  “I am so excited about being a partner on stuff that is basically common sense,” said Braun, emphasizing that he feels these steps successfully approach institutions like insurance and the food industry.

  Oz spoke after Braun, discussing health-care and lifestyle decisions he hopes to encourage.

  “We’re going in the wrong direction,” Oz said, discussing how health-care needs have outpaced economic growth in the U.S. He said that Indiana’s executive orders should help reduce chronic diseases, thus decreasing the cost of health care.

  “The most patriotic thing you can do these days is get healthy,” said Oz, who previously has worked as a heart surgeon and TV personality and ran for the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania in 2022.

  Kennedy opened by applauding Braun’s MIHA agenda.

  “This one really broke the bank,” he said. Kennedy expects that the orders will improve fitness, education, farms and health and said he is optimistic about Indiana under its current leadership.

  U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks to a crowd of journalists, lawmakers and others during a press conference in the Author’s Room of the Indiana State Library on Tuesday.

  Photo by Anna Cecil, TheStatehouseFile.com.

  He discussed childhood health concerns and obesity and said food in this country severely lacks nutrition and instead focuses on intense, artificial tastes.

  “They changed our food system in this country so it is poison to us, and it is poison to the American people,” he said.

   

  “I also want to take this moment to encourage governors all over the country to follow the lead of Indiana.”

  Following the press conference, Rep. Maureen Bauer, D-South Bend, released a statement.

  “It’s not leadership to bring your D.C. friends in for a flashy announcement but then fail to put your money where your mouth is when it comes to actually funding local public health programs,” she said.

  Braun’s state budget request included walking back a 2023 decision increasing funding to Health First Indiana through 2025, she said.

  “I appreciate Gov. Braun’s focus on health outcomes and preventative care,” said Bauer, “but this is a conversation that Indiana House Republicans have had many opportunities to get serious about for years now.”

  Erin Bruce is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news site powered by Franklin College journalism students.