House Bill 1001, aka the state budget bill, was introduced by Rep. Jeffrey Thompson (R-Lizton) and an initial presentation was received by the House Ways and Means Committee in early January. The bill includes a list of all the spending priorities over the next two years and includes some policy. The Chamber supports many of the provisions in HB 1001, including: a second round of Regional Economic Acceleration & Development Initiative (READI) grants, a continuation of the successful cash performance grant program, flexibility for the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) related to certain tax credits, refundability of the research expense tax credit and a framework for increased public health spending.
The first round of READI has been hugely popular among the various regions of the state. IEDC COO and Chief of Staff David Rosenberg stated in a recent article in the Indiana Capital Chronicle that $460 million of the $500 million is obligated and “has leveraged about $7 billion in investments in all 17 regions.” The $500 million sum was appropriated by the Legislature and primarily funded by the American Rescue Plan Act. Another round of this state program could potentially be more successful without some of the restrictions associated with the federal dollars used the first time. The Chamber supports another round of investments targeting placemaking needs around the state.
The introduced budget also continues the successful cash performance grant program, which previously received roughly $300 million and was critical in securing $6 billion in state investment in 2022. That equates to a return on investment of nearly 2,000%. The Chamber supports continued funding of this program as well.
Additionally, the Chamber supports giving the IEDC flexibility to manage the portfolio of tax credits entrusted with the corporation. The budget bill enables the IEDC’s flexibility to go above the $300 million aggregate credit limit for certain tax credits, subject to approval by the Budget Committee. Further, the bill alters the research expense credit to make it refundable if specific conditions are met.
Finally, the Legislature has engaged stakeholders in a large discussion about the public health of our citizenry. The Chamber supports increased funding to modernize the public health system and improve its standing in public health rankings. There are some concerns about how local governments might levy the necessary funds to be eligible for state dollars, but we support the collaborative framework that has been proposed by the Governor’s Public Health Commission and the Legislature.
David Ober is the Indiana Chamber’s vice president of taxation and public finance. Ober, a native of Noble County, started with the Chamber in June 2022 and is a former state legislator and commissioner for the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.
