2022 Legislative Priorities

2022 Priority Issues

VACCINATIONS

As Indiana recovers from the worst of the COVID crisis, employers are tasked with protecting the health and safety of workers and customers alike. Well-vaccinated workplaces save lives, strengthen the job market and sustain consumer confidence while limiting healthcare costs.

Indiana prides itself on a pro-business, pro-growth regulatory environment that limits government intervention in matters properly left to the private sector. If federal vaccine mandates aren’t the answer, neither are state-imposed anti-vaccine mandates that threaten businesses and put more Hoosiers at risk:

• The Indy Chamber endorses the rights of businesses to set most terms of employment and customer conduct, consistent with federal, state and local anti-discrimination protections.
• The Chamber therefore supports the authority of employers to require COVID-19 vaccines and other basic public health precautions as conditions of employment and/or patronage.
• The General Assembly acted appropriately in 2021 to extend COVID-related civil liability protections for private and institutional employers; the Chamber calls for the consistent protection of businesses choosing to enforce vaccine requirements as a reasonable step to reduce the ongoing threat of the pandemic.

NON-PARTISAN SCHOOL BOARDS

The Indy Chamber supports non-partisan school board elections focused on substantive platforms relevant to public education. Changing the current ballot to identify candidates by party affiliation could shift electoral accountability away from parents to political parties.

The past year has seen national political controversies injected into local school board deliberations to an alarming degree, taking much-needed attention away from student achievement, recovering learning losses and making sure educational standards keep up with economic and employment trends.

Today’s students are tomorrow’s workforce. The business community has a practical, non-partisan interest in local schools: Are Hoosier graduates prepared for lifelong learning, to pursue college and career success and compete in a global, knowledge-driven marketplace?

Non-partisan school board elections allow spirited debates that emphasize education policy over political ideology or litmus tests.

EDUCATION ACHIEVEMENT GAP

Educational attainment is a crucial factor in economic inclusion, to rise above barriers to employment, upward mobility and full participation in the knowledge-driven economy. The Indy Chamber supports a more equitable funding structure for students living in poverty, having advocated for increased complexity aid to address challenges beyond the classroom. Within the current budget, continue efforts to close achievement gaps and educational disparities:

• Explore ways to increase college enrollment and persistence, starting with a requirement that every Hoosier high school student completes the FAFSA.
• Study the challenge of disengagement among lower-income and students of color in the 21^st Century Scholars program before renewing funding in the next biennium.
• Identify solutions to the persistent digital divide that has been further exposed by remote learning through the pandemic, recognizing that broadband access and affordability spans the rural-urban divide.

SUPPORT DEI CURRICULUM

Resources and data-driven solutions are urgently needed to close the achievement gaps that limit the future opportunities of too many Indianapolis children. But for increased funding and new initiatives to make an impact, schools must be welcoming environments that challenge every student to succeed:

• All students deserve to see themselves reflected in their scholastic lessons, cultivating a sense of self-worth and belonging that supports educational progress.
• The classroom should allow for honest and open discussion of systemic bias, the historic and ongoing realities of racism and other forms of discrimination, and the ways these issues impact our daily lives.
• Integrating diversity, equity and inclusion into a challenging academic curriculum gives every student a broader perspective and stronger foundation to pursue their full potential.

The Indy Chamber endorses these principles as part of a framework for a more inclusive community and economy, while acknowledging that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs should be developed and implemented by school boards and district leaders.

The Chamber has consistently supported educational options and innovation – charter schools, magnet programs, and other efforts to provide diverse learning experiences suited to diverse populations of students.

The same principle applies to local decisions on DEI initiatives. We oppose top-down, statewide mandates to restrict or prohibit local DEI programs to meet the needs of the students, families and communities served by school corporations across Indiana.

JUVENILE JUSTICE

It is increasingly obvious that re-engaging those formerly involved with the criminal justice system in our community isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s a practical business and workforce necessity. The Indy Chamber has endorsed common-sense limits on employer hiring liability, investments in re-entry programs and a litany of legislative actions easing the practical and administrative hurdles to post-release employment and productive participation in our economy.

We recognize that the stakes for successful transitions from the juvenile justice system are even higher. The Chamber is eager to work with state and local policymakers, education and justice officials to advocate juvenile justice reforms focused on successful outcomes:

• Juvenile offenses shouldn’t stall educational progress – participation in education and vocational training programs must be prioritized and supported by adequate resources.
• Mental health and other social services should also be available to juvenile offenders, addressing underlying conditions and environmental challenges that may have contributed to their involvement in the justice system.
• Focus on data-driven best practices to break cycles of involvement in the criminal justice system early in life, supporting juveniles on a path towards education and career pursuits that reduce the risk of recidivism for these vulnerable young Hoosiers.

REGIONAL COOPERATION & LOCAL STABILITY

State revenues grew through COVID, but the local tax base is limited by structural challenges and state-level policies, especially the larger cities and metropolitan regions that anchor Indiana’s economy. While federal aid eases pandemic-related budget pressures, the Indy Chamber continues to champion local government and revenue reforms that support longer-term regional growth:

• Provide fiscal flexibility for local governments to shift revenues (e.g. between operating and capital expenditures) to meet local budget conditions and public needs, and to ‘work smarter’ with available funds – for example, tapping into unspent township surpluses for local infrastructure priorities and encouraging efficiency through government consolidation;
• Carefully examine the fiscal impact of state-imposed reductions or exemptions in local taxes, evaluating revenue losses, the resulting effects on local services and quality of life (including school budgets) and shifts in tax burden; explore revenue-sharing or replacement mechanisms to avoid straining local budgets at a time of historic state surpluses;
• Recognizing the pressure of property tax controls are felt most in urban and faster-growing communities, consider adjustments to the maximum levy growth quotient and controlled project limits to allow local governments to capitalize on assessed value growth and economic development success;
• As regions begin to deploy READI grants to enhance quality of life and community vitality, legislative efforts to strengthen regional development authorities and other models of intergovernmental cooperation and funding should continue to sustain the momentum.

Beyond these timely issues, the Indy Chamber will continue to pursue policies aimed at other elements of a more competitive and inclusive economic climate – also on our ‘Ready to Rise’ agenda.

State & Local Economic Development

Back to Work: As Hoosiers return to work, employers continue to face a disrupted job market and often severe hiring challenges:

• Employer Liability Protections: Preserve employer liability protections for organizations in compliance with federal, state, and local COVID-19 guidelines and regulations – these protections should not be threatened or revoked for organizations that choose to require COVID vaccinations
• Workshare: Establish an Indiana Work Share program to save jobs, retain workforce skills, and maintain benefit coverage
• Transit: Protect local public transit agencies from funding cuts or unfair mandates, to maintain reliable transportation options that connect employers and workers
• Pregnancy Accommodations: Keep expectant mothers safely on the job by passing substantive workplace accommodations to clarify employer obligations, improve maternal health and enhance female workforce participation

Tax Increment Financing: Maximize the ability of local government units to respond to redevelopment and economic development opportunities through utilization of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts:

• Transparency: Establish a schedule of performance reports to local governing bodies and encourage the establishment of public online resources for tracking TIF performance metrics, funded by TIF revenue
• Housing: Expand eligibility requirements to allow more communities to utilize residential and housing TIF structures to incentivize development of affordable housing

Local Incentives: Secure and maintain flexibility of local incentives for economic and community development efforts to encourage new growth and redevelopment of existing resources

Certified Tech Parks: Increase the Certified Technology Park (CTP) tax capture allowance from the current $5 million cap to allow high performing CTPs to increase public-private investment in the CTP and surrounding areas

State Incentives: Maintain Indiana’s economic competitiveness through the preservation and responsible use of existing state tax incentives, placing emphasis on skills enhancement and workforce training to attract investment from diverse industry sectors (e.g. strengthening the state Skills Enhancement Fund to assist companies in addressing 21^st Century skills gaps).

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Investments: Support policies that can improve the State’s capital environment, nurture innovation, and advance racial equity by:

• Prioritizing increased access to capital and technical assistance for businesses and entrepreneurs of color
• Reviewing state entrepreneurship and innovation support operations to eliminate process barriers to equitable access
• Maintaining permanence of the state’s Research and Development, Hoosier Business Investment, and Venture Capital Investment tax credit programs
• Enhancing flexibility for public investment in venture capital funds that invest in Indiana companies
• Maximizing funding for university-sponsored grant programs and seed funding for applied research and commercialization, including pursuing opportunities as a Regional Technology Hub under the proposed federal ‘Endless Frontier Act’

Advanced Telecommunications: Support efforts by telecommunications providers to transition their networks from old legacy technology to an advanced all-IP, all-mobile, 5G supportive, all-cloud infrastructure

Community Redevelopment & Investment

Housing: Advance equity, public health outcomes, and economic growth by supporting public and private strategies to expand and maintain the supply of affordable housing options

• Homeownership: State and local government strategies to incentivize homeownership growth, especially in Black and brown communities, should include low-barrier, low-interest loan products and home repair resources as well as first-time homeowner education programs
• Rental Assistance: State and local governments must redouble efforts to deploy federal relief dollars dedicated to rental assistance to enhance housing security and maintain the supply of affordable rental units
• Eviction Prevention: Reduce eviction rates through tenant and landlord education on rights, responsibilities, and resolution strategies; mediation services for housing retention; legal representation in eviction proceedings and other services to address barriers to stable housing

Brownfields: Accelerate community reinvestment and accessible employment opportunities in and around brownfield sites, driving economic development and maximizing property values by:

• Restoring funding to Indiana Finance Authority’s Brownfield Grant Program, adding IFA staff capacity to administer the program, reduce wait times and extend technical assistance efforts
• Expanding grant and loan resources for “Phase I” and “Phase II” environmental site assessments for former brownfields
• Creating tax incentives based on employment on former brownfield sites
• Expanding flexibility of a redevelopment commission to sell or transfer a title to real property which is undeveloped, underdeveloped, or considered blighted due to the real or perceived threat of environmental contamination for private development

Stellar Communities: Support continued investment and rural communities and small towns across Indiana by strengthening and expanding the Indiana Stellar Communities program, emphasizing increased technical assistance and capacity-building towards brownfield remediation and redevelopment

Shovel-Ready Redevelopment: Support shovel ready community redevelopment efforts through the creation of a statewide grant program to fund the demolition of blighted commercial properties

Revitalization Grants and Revolving Loan Fund: Allow local governments the ability to make grants and loans to private enterprise for the creation of jobs or otherwise stimulate economic activity

Food Access & Insecurity: Support innovative efforts to increase access to healthy food options and strategies to improve food security to support the health of Indiana residents and workforce – for example, the ‘healthy food initiative’ funded in the FY2022-23 budget supporting a community-driven public-private partnership with the Cook Group to open a new grocery store on the northeast side of Indianapolis.

Empower and enable innovative and proven food distribution models, alternative payment processes, and data collection on food access and insecurity

Diversity

Reinforce and enhance Indiana’s brand as a welcoming and diverse state by:

• Strengthening existing “bias crime” penalties for criminal offenses where it can be proven that the victim or target is intentionally selected by clearly enumerating personal characteristics, addressing the alarming increase in these crimes as tracked by federal law enforcement agencies
• Updating the state’s current anti-discrimination law to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, employment, and public accommodations
• Encouraging federal leadership on comprehensive immigration reform, while restoring the eligibility for in-state tuition and financial aid to state colleges and universities for foreign born students who have matriculated through the Indiana K-12 system

Transportation, Infrastructure & Environment

Local Roads and Streets: Ensure adequate funding for local roads and streets based on actual use and commercial impact by:

• Supporting equitable funding for urban and suburban areas by accurately accounting for lane miles in the infrastructure funding formula;
• Providing maximum flexibility to local governments in financing, design and construction of local transportation infrastructure, including the use of Public-Private and Design-build Partnerships
• Explore adjustments to the current MVH/LRS funding formula places to mitigate the disproportionate cost burden for shared critical infrastructure to urbanized metropolitan areas.

Hoosier State Line: Reinstate state support to continue operations and enhance service of the Hoosier State Line to better facilitate connectivity and economic opportunity between Indianapolis, Northwest Indiana, and Chicago

Complete Streets: Pursue state transportation policies that encourage transportation planners and engineers to plan, design, operate and maintain the state’s road and street infrastructure that facilitates public use, physical activity, and support public health

Greenways: Support sustainable funding and equitable allocations of resources under the Next Level Trails grant program to ensure long-term funding of trail projects

Mass Transit: Maintain funding for the Public Mass Transportation Fund (PMTF) to account for post-pandemic increases in participation and demand of transit agencies throughout the state

• Incentives: Create state employer incentives for employee benefits for alternative modes of transportation, transit packages, workplace bike infrastructure or other modes of transportation that encourage healthier workforce

Shared & Personal Mobility: Capitalize on rapid advances in personal mobility and transportation by making new mobility options safe and accessible for Hoosiers, and positioning Indiana as a center of innovation for mobility solutions:

• Autonomous Vehicles: Advocate for regulatory changes to promote the development, testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles in Indiana
• Transparent Regulatory Framework: Beyond autonomous vehicles, develop a clear and predictable regulatory framework that applies to other mobility options, to avoid confusion and delays in integrating new products and services into our transportation system
• Emphasize equitable access to new mobility options: Work to eliminate barriers to individuals and communities taking advantage of mobility options, so personal mobility can also be a catalyst for upward mobility
• Create a truly comprehensive transportation strategy: Acknowledging that no single agency or organization can oversee the complex transportation system, bring together partners (state and local, public and private) to develop long-term, data-driven strategies that incorporate new and innovative mobility options and focus on critical transportation challenges
• Safety first: Evaluate traffic rules, street construction/configuration, and other modal regulations to ensure mobility options work together safely for pedestrians, riders, drivers, and other users

Water: Support the creation of a statewide coordinating body to ensure sustained economic opportunity through responsible management of water resources, as well as:

• Supporting the work of the Wastewater Task Force to drive federal and state resources towards needed upgrades in storm- and wastewater systems
• Prioritizing resources for land use planning and redevelopment along Indiana waterways, to capitalize on the environmentally-responsible economic development potential of these natural assets

Energy Efficiency: Secure state incentives for business and local government investments in energy-efficient commercial and industrial rehabilitation and fleet management

Local Government & Fiscal Policy

Local Government Finance:

• Home Rule: Allow local government greater flexibility over their own structural and fiscal matters to address the needs of their individual communities
• Township Finances: Require township funds that exceed 150% of operating expenses to be spent on infrastructure projects within the township or credited to the taxpayer

Government Modernization:

• Election Reforms: Update the State of Indiana’s election system to improve efficiency, enhance representation, and increase voter turnout and civic engagement
• Voting Reform: Ensure that in-person voting centers remain safe and sanitary for early and Election Day voting. Authorize a no-fault absentee or vote-by-mail system for all registered voters
• UniGov: Seek greater efficiencies in municipal service delivery and finance in Marion County by building on the principles of unified government, including county-wide consolidation of fire departments
• Statewide: Continue efforts to streamline overlapping government functions through statewide implementation of recommendations made by the Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform to increase accountability, transparency and effectiveness of local governments
• Government Innovation: Continue support of the state’s Management & Performance Hub to foster a more transparent, innovative state government, and encourage local governments to create Offices of Innovation to drive policies that similarly inspire open data, transparency, and efficiencies that can result in greater economic activity and workforce development
• Healthcare Data: Support strategies to improve availability, quality, and verifiability of data on the price, quality, and utilization of healthcare services that can be easily accessed and understood by patients, healthcare providers and employers
• Education Data: To support evidence-based strategies to close achievement gaps and improve educational outcomes for all Hoosier students, advance efforts (already underway at the Indiana Department of Education) to enhance availability and transparency of educational data

Education & Workforce

Workforce

Veterans in the Workforce: Increase employment opportunities for returning veterans by eliminating duplicative requirements and expedite processes for military-trained personnel to obtain the equivalent civilian license

Support ongoing efforts to recruit military personnel to the state to meet the workforce needs of regional employers

Re-entry from the Criminal Justice System: Support policies that promote reintegrating those formerly involved in the criminal justice system back into the workforce as productive contributors to our economy by:

• Minimizing business liability and increasing incentives to hire ex-offenders
• Increasing job training and skills enhancement opportunities
  • Expanding pre-release entrepreneurship education and training
  • Support funding for proven models for transitional employment and wrap-around services including access to housing and transportation

Social Determinants of Health: Increase strategic investments in public health, prevention, and social determinants to support talent-based economic development. Continue data collection efforts by the state on social determinants of health and unmet needs of government benefit recipients

Higher Education

Reverse Credit: Support permitting specific course credit to be transferable and reciprocal between Indiana’s accredited two-year schools and other state-supported colleges and universities to encourage post-secondary certification and degree attainment statewide

21^st Century Scholars: Enhance outreach and wraparound services and evaluate sustainable funding mechanisms for programs, such as the 21^st Century Scholars program, in order to increase access to and completion rates at two- and four-year colleges and universities for those with financial need

Education

Teacher Training: Work with school system leaders to require and fund all teachers in the state of Indiana to complete cultural competency and implicit bias training, without creating additional burdens or unfunded mandates

Achievement Gap & Disciplinary Policies: Support comprehensive, ongoing review of racial achievement gap and disciplinary policies resulting in inequitable outcomes

Early Childhood Education: Ensure children entering primary (K-12) education are academically, socially and emotionally prepared for success through high-quality, publicly-funded Pre-K programs; increased public investments should focus on those in financial need and support statewide access, while protecting funding and service levels in high-demand, high-capacity ‘pilot’ counties. Further, enact mandatory, fully-funded, full-day kindergarten by age 5 to create a consistent, quality early education pathway

School Safety & Mental Health: Allow public school funding for school resource officers and school safety referenda funding to be used to hire mental health program staff

STEM: Support dedicated funding and policies to deploy high-quality classroom science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curricula and STEM-focused professional development for the educators. Specifically, emphasize access to computer science and engineering courses at the K-12 level to prepare graduates for college and career opportunities in high-demand STEM fields

Explore the creation of incentives to retain recent STEM-degreed individuals committed to remaining in-state for five years, with an emphasis on those graduates who enter the teaching profession.

High school Career Counselors:

• Decrease the student-to-counselor ratio, require regular professional development for school counselors and ensure academic coursework align with students’ desired career pathways
• Explore modification of counselor licensure to differentiate career counseling from social/emotional counseling
• Require school counselors to advise students in middle school (6^th, 7^th and 8^th grades) of their eligibility to enroll in various state financial aid programs

Required FAFSA Completion: Support matriculation to post-secondary educational institutions by making FAFSA completion or affirmative opt-out a requirement of high school graduation

Autonomy: Provide school districts flexibility to pay teachers based on high need and specialized subject matter areas. Empower local education officials to make administrative and structural decisions affecting individual school performance, including the option to extend school hours, merit pay options, providing voluntary alternative retirement benefits options such as defined contribution plans for new teachers

Operational Efficiency & Facilities: Support school corporations’ operational efficiency efforts by creating a 5-year, renewable exemption to the “Dollar Law” for school corporations that meet the following criteria:

• Proven willingness and ability to partner with charter schools as demonstrated by:
  • 20% of school corporation’s student population attending innovation network school or innovation network charter schools
  • Equitable distribution of district operating referendum dollars to all innovation network schools, both in-LEA innovation network schools and out-of-LEA innovation network charter schools
• Proven overcapacity of facilities within the district as demonstrated by independent analysis and verification
• Commitment to address operational efficiencies as demonstrated by:
  • Undergoing strategic facilities optimization study on current and future population/enrollment projections
  • Implementation of strategic operational efficiency plans through strategic disposition of the properties previously subject to the dollar law

School Funding:

• Carefully consider how changes to the local property tax base (e.g. further exemption or restructuring of the personal property tax) impacts school funding and referendum revenues
• ADM Counts: Protect per-student funding from the lingering effects of COVID and remote learning by ensuring virtual instruction is fully-funded in the September ADM count; explore other ways to protect school funding from enrollment fluctuations as Indiana recovers from the pandemic
• Complexity Index: While the Complexity Index received a modest $100 per student increase in the FY2022-2023 funding formula, aid to students in poverty continues to fall further behind the foundation grant per student, to the detriment of at-risk students and high-poverty districts:
  • Capture an accurate reflection of complexity by considering population of students with histories of trauma (measured by ACE scores), English as Second Language students, and those with developmental difficulties
  • Eliminate racial gaps in per pupil funding allocation, and address the findings of the 2020 report on Indiana school funding commissioned by Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation
  • Study these and other issues related to the challenges beyond the classroom faced by students living in poverty before the 2023 budget session, to advance the complexity conversation before the hectic pace of budget negotiations limits full consideration

Charter Authority: Expand the authority of the Mayor of Indianapolis to charter Pre-K educational institutions and require local public hearings for the re-chartering of schools attempting to switch charter authorizers after a charter has been revoked

Financial Literacy: Promote financial literacy education through existing k-12 curriculum requirements and encourage the DOE to develop sample curriculum for local schools to implement

Hoosier Health:

Education and workforce investments are maximized through a population that is healthy and productive on the job, ready to put their skills to use. The Indy Chamber supports a comprehensive approach to increase the health, resiliency, and productivity of Indiana’s current and future workforce.

• Tobacco Tax: Indiana’s revenue outlook of strong, but raising the state cigarette tax isn’t a question of fiscal health, but public health: Raise Indiana’s cigarette tax by two dollars per pack, and align the new tax on e-liquids for tax parity at point-of-sale for e-cigarette and vaping products
  • System Supports: Direct revenue from tobacco tax increases to raise Indiana’s low public health spend and address chronic public health challenges
• Healthcare Workforce: Enhance workforce pipelines and supports for essential healthcare workers, public health system workforce, and mental health providers
• Telehealth: Continue to support the expansion of affordable telehealth options to improve access to care and enable more preventative care
• Racial Health Disparities: Disaggregate government data to enhance equitable decision-making related to racial health disparities and social determinants of health
• Food Access: Support agency flexibility to enable SNAP benefit utilization for online ordering and home delivery on a permanent basis
• Mental Healthcare Funding: Explore strategies to enhance funding for wraparound services, reimbursement of mental health providers, and public safety partnerships, learning from best practices gleaned from the state’s investment in mental health grants in the current budget cycle