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Indiana Senate Republican leaders unveiled their caucus's agenda for the 2025 legislative session on Jan. 8, 2025.
Brandon Smith / IPB NewsIndiana Senate Republicans say one of their top priorities in 2025 will be a major overhaul of the state’s Medicaid expansion program — the Healthy Indiana Plan, or HIP.
There are currently more than 680,000 Hoosiers on HIP, the state’s Medicaid expansion program for low-income adults without disabilities. Senate Republicans want to cap that program at 500,000 people, with everyone else moved to a waitlist.
Sen. Ryan Mishler (R-Mishawaka) said people removed from the program could access insurance through the federal health insurance marketplace.
“So there shouldn’t be anybody who would totally lose coverage altogether,” Mishler said.
Mishler said moving to a waitlist is a budgetary reality.
“Do we want to cut education to not have waitlists?” Mishler said. “Those are the decisions we’re faced with.”
Proposed changes to HIP also include a lifetime limit of 36 months on the program.
Mishler said his caucus also wants to create work requirements for many Medicaid participants, meaning they’d have to have a job or be actively looking for one to keep their coverage. Such requirements have previously been struck down by federal courts.
Another top priority Senate Republicans will push this year is property tax reform — but what the final product will be is unclear as session begins.
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Sen. Travis Holdman (R-Markle) said his caucus will treat their primary property tax reform bill like the state budget: The introduced version will change significantly throughout the process as the Senate, House and governor’s office each weigh in.
“We are committed to providing property tax relief to Hoosiers,” Holdman said. “But we’ve also got to balance the funding needs for schools and local units of government like counties, cities, towns and townships.”
Holdman also urged local governments to find replacements for any potential property tax revenues by increasing local income taxes.
“It is a shift from property owners to income earners,” Holdman said. “But we think that the outcry we’ve heard from property tax folks with the property tax bills that they’ve received in the last two years … we’re trying to respond to those concerns that folks have, because we do know there are people who are being priced out of their homes because they can’t afford to pay the property taxes that are due.”
Like the budget, the primary property tax bill will begin with the governor’s proposal — in this case, Gov.-elect Mike Braun’s property tax plan. His proposal would roll back homeowners’ bills to 2021 levels and cap future increases.
The Senate will then get the first crack at adjusting the legislation to fit its ideas before sending the measure to the House for further work.
Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.
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