Legislative Updates Archive

Despite the intent to make this an “education session,” history will undoubtedly remember the 2015 State Legislative Session for the controversy surrounding the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA).

Business and community leaders rallied around the need to fix the legislation and protect the investments of the last three decades. Together, with legislators in both the House and Senate, a ‘fix’ was introduced, adding equality language to the bill, which was ultimately signed in to law. 

Even though RFRA grabbed headlines, there were many issues tackled during this legislative session that addressed some of our priority issues including education, economic and workforce development. Adjustments to the school funding formula provided plenty of drama on its own as many school districts saw an increase in funding, while urban districts like IPS saw overall funding decline. Additionally, in the final week, the legislature found a creative solution to fully fund the Regional Cities Initiative after both the initial budgets had left it underfunded.

Learn more about how these and other items on our 2015 Legislative Agenda fared this session below.