(Statehouse) – The 2025 Legislative Session got underway last week with both Republicans and Democrats laying out quite clearly what their goals are.
In the Indiana House, the leaders of both parties spoke about their desires for the session. For Democrats, who are once again an overwhelming minority, the goal is to make things more affordable for Hoosiers.
“House Democrats are listening to Hoosiers when they say Indiana is getting too expensive for them,” said House Minority leader Phil GiaQuinta. “We need to address the rising cost of living.”
This includes meaningful changes to Indiana’s property tax code. This would be tied at the hip with a plan to make housing more affordable, especially for first time homebuyers. Finally, they hope to cap health insurance premiums and help make healthcare more affordable.
Republicans, led by State Rep. Matt Lehman in the House, say they can agree with Democrats on pretty much everything in their agenda when it comes to affordability.
“You (GiaQuinta) laid out a lot of things, I think, we can work together on,” Lehman said. “I think healthcare is an issue that we have the same focus. I think we will have a good year. The one thing I say to people over and over is ‘we are not Washington D.C.’.”
Republicans and Democrats seem to begin to have a divergence when it comes to education. Democrats are pushing to fully fund public schools throughout the state. They say their plan would help relieve property tax burdens on funding public schools.
Some Republicans, on the other hand, are considering a bill that would essentially dissolve school corporations in which less than 50-percent of the students living within the district attend a school attached to said corporation. It would then create charter schools in their place.
The overall priority for the session this year is to pass a new two-year budget.
(Story by Network Indiana)
