With the new year always comes a new legislative session in Indiana. The 124th meeting of the Indiana General Assembly begins today.
It’s an odd-numbered year, meaning during the next nearly four months, lawmakers will have to write the two-year multi-billion-dollar state budget.
This year is unique for several reasons: The era of federal padding from COVID relief packages is over, so leaders are tightening their belts. Starting Jan. 13, there will be a new governor in the Statehouse in Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, who has signaled he wants to be bit more hands-on during the legislative process than the previous governor.
Check back to this page the rest of this week for updates from the Statehouse during the first week of session, from leaders’ policy agenda announcements to any interesting bills filed late in the game.
Gov.-elect Braun has tapped state Rep. Alan Morrison, R-Brazil, to be his head of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. So come inauguration day Jan. 13, Morrison will step down from his house seat to do just that.
A caucus of party insiders will select his replacement for the remainder of his term, which effectively just began. Morrison was reelected to his seat in 2024, having run unopposed.
He’s served for 12 years and currently is chair of the House Environmental Affairs Committee.
-Kayla Dwyer
Belt-tighting is a big theme this session, with the message coming loud and clear from leaders that those asking for money are to try to preserve what they have and not ask for more.
That’s largely because of the end of some COVID-era trends: Not just the influx of federal relief money, but also the unusually high tax revenues. (The latest revenue forecast shows a return to pre-COVID normal for state tax revenues, but for lawmakers elected since 2020, it’ll feel like a different ball game.)
More:Tighter budget, property taxes and Medicaid will be top issues for Indiana lawmakers
But those constraints bump up against some significant topics lawmakers want to address:
-Kayla Dwyer
The people bringing you this live blog are the same ones who will keep you in the know all session long.
Our team is led by politics editor Kaitlin Lange, who’s been covering the Statehouse in some form for nine sessions now. Check out Lange’s piece introducing our team ― which consists of Brittany Carloni, Hayleigh Colombo and Kayla Dwyer ― and detailing how we plan to cover the General Assembly.
-Kayla Dwyer
Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17.
