Senate committee adds government transparency measures, removes universal school choice from budget bill

INDIANAPOLIS — The Senate Appropriations passed an amended version of House Bill 1001 out of committee on Thursday.

State Sen. Ryan Mishler (R-Mishawaka), who chairs Appropriations, said the amended bill strikes a balance, including a $46.8 billion two-year budget that covers essential services while adding more transparency measures to government.

“I think it’s responsible, it’s transparent, lot of efficiencies in it,” Mishler said.

The amended budget ensures all Secretary of State dedicated funds are subject to legislative appropriation and requires annual travel reports for elected officials in the executive branch to be submitted.

“I think we just all need to know where they’re going,” Mishler said. “If they’re on state business, you know, how are they paying for it?”

“It’s the things that the legislature should do, and I think those are the things that Hoosiers demand,” State Sen. David Niezgodski (D-South Bend) said. Niezgodski voted for the amendment.

In education, the amended plan would increase K-12 tuition support by almost $900 million compared to the previous biennium. However, Senate Republicans took out universal school choice from their budget—a move they say would have cost the state an additional $170 million it just doesn’t have.

“It’s not, you know, that we don’t want to do the vouchers,” Mishler said. “It’s just how do we pay for them?”

“Obviously, that’s an important thing to our caucus, and it’s been something that we’ve always believed in,” Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston (R-Fishers) said. “Look forward to having those conversations with my buddy Sen. Mishler, great friend, and Sen. Bray. We’ll have those conversations.”

However, several Senate Democrats expressed concerns that the current appropriation for K-12 schools doesn’t go far enough, especially given how much public schools could lose under SB 1, with some estimates reaching as high as $744 million over the next three years.

“We have almost one million students across the state who are not receiving additional funding that is needed,” State Sen. Fady Qaddoura (D-Indianapolis) said.

But Republicans said there are fewer dollars for education thanks to the state’s unsustainable Medicaid growth. According to Mishler, Medicaid has more than doubled in four years alone, with Medicaid now taking up 22% of the state’s budget.

“If we don’t make those changes, we’re going to have a lot of trouble with trying to fund K-12,” Mishler said. “It’s going to start eating more into K-12.”

While the Medicaid forecast is fully funded, that doesn’t take into account the Pathways and Health & Wellness waiver waitlists.

“I don’t want to say that I’m in favor of cuts,” Niezgodski said. “I want to see these waitlists go away. We are going to have to figure out what we do going forward because it is a huge problem.”

The bill now heads to the full Senate for consideration. The first Senate debate will take place on Monday.