INDIANAPOLIS — With just over a week left in the Indiana legislative session, lawmakers are facing significant decisions as bills make their way to Governor Mike Braun's desk. So far, the governor has signed more than 100 billsinto law, some of which have sparked controversy.
"Clearly, we have a governor that is much more kind of willing to be ideological in some of the culture war issues and some of the other things that particularly Governor Daniels and Holcomb weren't," said Michael Wolf, Acting Director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics.
One particularly contentious billprohibits college students from using student IDs to vote, generating impassioned debate. Julia Vaughn, executive director of Common Cause Indiana, expressed her concerns about the legislation.
"There is nothing that has been shown to be less secure about a university ID as opposed to an Indiana driver's license or public identification card," Vaughn said following a committee vote on the bill in March.
Supporters of the bill, such as Rep. Timothy Wesco, R-Osceola, argue that the change is necessary.
"If they want to make Indiana their permanent home, and they want to make Indiana their primary resident, then we want them to be able to vote like everyone else in Indiana. That means changing their driver's license over to the state of Indiana," Wesco stated in March.
Wolf noted that this movement aligns with a nationwide trend, particularly following the 2020 election when questions about election security were raised.
"This has been a popular piece of legislation across the country," Wolf said. "So other states have already implemented this."
When asked whether there were any standout differences in this session compared to previous ones, Wolf elaborated on the shifting landscape for local governance.
"There is no question that local government won't be as much in control of their own budget as they used to be. And frankly, things like annexing or allowing parts of Illinois to come in may seem kind of comical in one sense, but this is moving forward," he said.
As the session progresses, Indiana's fiscal future hangs in the balance. The state's latest revenue report indicates a shortfall of more than $2 billion, complicating budget-balancing efforts. Unlike previous budget pressures faced in 2008 and 2020, Wolf notes that the current political environment lacks federal support for education and Medicaid which are the two biggest portions of Indiana's budget.
"They recognize that this is a big moment in Indiana budgeting history because they don't have the backdrop and, in fact, they don't have what would even be normal federal grants and other things," Wolf explained.
During the 2008 budget crisis, former Governor Mitch Daniels leveraged his experience as the U.S. Budget Director to navigate fiscal challenges effectively. Lawmakers are expected to announce potential budget cuts next week, with the Mike Downs Center reporting that nearly 40% of Indiana's state budget relies on federal grants.
