By CAT SANDOVAL
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
Gov. Mike Braun touched on cutting property taxes, reforming health care and education, and eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in a half-hour Tuesday morning news conference at the midpoint of the legislative session.
Braun ran on property tax relief and has continued to push for it for Hoosiers even though parts of his plan were not passed by the Senate before Senate Bill 1 went to the House for consideration.
Braun
Initially, Braun’s plan was for homeowners to reset their property tax rates to 2021 levels, or take a 60 percent deduction. But, that was dropped from the Senate bill.
The Republican governor also pushed to cap the yearly property tax increase to 3 percent for homeowners and 2 percent for seniors, but senators amended the cap to 1 percent in 2027 and 2 percent in 2028.
Instead of property tax breaks for all homeowners, the Senate bill as passed would give deductions only to low-income seniors, disabled veterans, and first-time homebuyers.
Braun on Tuesday said, “We need broader relief, and all I’m asking is for local school districts and local governments – both of which I think are the most important part of what states are about and communities are about, they need to be healthy – but they need to make sure that they’ve covered their legitimate costs with a reasonable growth factor and that they’ve not gone above and beyond.”
Braun last week said he’s “likely” to veto the property tax package and call a special session if he doesn’t believe it provides enough relief.
On healthcare, bills that moved forward included stricter enforcement on Medicare fraud, transparency on prescription markups, and transparency on healthcare mergers and acquisitions. “My executive orders will bring historic reforms to our health care system, ensuring transparency, competition and lower prices for Hoosiers in the General Assembly, our freedom and opportunity health care reforms are moving quickly,” Braun said.
As News 8 reported Feb. 18, the plan approved by the Senate could potentially remove more than a quarter of a million Hoosiers from one of the state’s Medicaid programs.
On education, the Senate passed a bill that would bump a teacher’s salary by $5,000, making the minimum salary for teachers $45,000. Braun said, “Some of the stuff we’ve been doing is catching stride. We’ve established the Office of School Safety to keep our kids safe. Public safety big priority for Hoosiers right here in our own capital city.”
In step with the federal government, Braun on Jan. 15 signed an executive order banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices from state offices. Also, the Senate has passed a bill eliminating DEI in state schools.
Braun said, “When we look at MEI (merit, excellence, and innovation) as opposed to DEI, it basically boils down to a discussion on, ‘What do you mean by ‘merit?” I think we all know what’s meant by ‘merit.’ We want the best folks in office or doing something based on their ideas and what they’re bringing to the table.”
This story was originally published by WISH-TV at wishtv.com/news/politics/governor-braun-property-taxes-health-care-education-dei.
I think Governor Brauns Tax bill SB1 should have been passed instead of being watered down by the senate. A 60% reduction is much needed for us homeowners and a 3% cap and 2% cap for seniors on future increases is needed. It is getting harder for seniors to remain in their homes they have lived in for years due to soaring property taxes and independent farmers lands should be taxed less so they can continue to farm. Shame on our Senate for not passing this bill as written by Governor Braun. Just my thoughts as a homeowner