The Funding Indiana's Roads for a Stronger, Safer Tomorrow (FIRSST) Task Force convened last week, kicking off an effort to review and update a road funding plan that was enacted by the Legislature more than five years ago. The panel, which is made up of legislators and lay members representing various industry stakeholders, heard from the Indiana Department of [...]
The White House recently unveiled President Joe Biden’s budget for fiscal year 2024 and it includes several proposals aimed at investing in infrastructure, economic development, workforce needs and education, as well as lowering health care costs. The budget plan also includes proposals for tax increases on businesses and individuals, which are particularly concerning to the Indiana Chamber. The budget [...]
The Biden Administration has announced funding for 90 projects across the state totaling $3.3 billion tied to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The greatest percentage of these investments — $2.7 billion or 82% — are targeted towards road and bridge improvements. Additionally, funding and other support has been announced to boost internet connectivity, improve water infrastructure, build [...]
Indiana is set to receive, at minimum, nearly $8 billion of the $550 billion passed by Congress in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and JOBS Act (IIJA) earmarked for “new investments” in the country’s infrastructure. That presents a critical question: is the state prepared to receive and deploy these funds within the requisite five-year period? The Chamber’s Infrastructure Policy Committee [...]
Unless you’ve been living under a rock – or perhaps a load-bearing bridge beam – and have no internet connection, you have heard that H.R.3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed out of the House on November 5 and was signed into law by President Biden. The Indiana Chamber supported the passage of this bill. It’s an impressive measure, serving [...]
(INDIANAPOLIS) — Late last night, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and delayed consideration of the multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation bill. The Indiana Chamber of Commerce applauds the bipartisan action to pass the long-sought infrastructure reform and continues to oppose the partisan reconciliation measure. Indiana Chamber President and CEO Kevin Brinegar on the [...]
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden unveiled his administration’s $2 trillion infrastructure agenda that is but a part of what’s being called the American Jobs Plan. Two of the Indiana Chamber’s biggest concerns: rolling back right-to-work laws (Indiana is one of 27 states with one), which allow workers to refuse to join a union, and the increase to the corporate [...]
- With President Trump signing the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Flexibility Act into law last week, it triggered the easing of conditions for small businesses. Said U.S. Senator Mike Braun, “This (new) legislation will help restaurants and other businesses by extending the PPP loan use from two months to six, allowing companies to defer their payroll taxes, and lowering [...]
(INDIANAPOLIS) — Indiana Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Kevin Brinegar comments on Gov. Eric Holcomb’s 2020 Next Level agenda for the state: “The Governor is focused on the policies that will have the greatest impact on Hoosiers and their employers. You can’t ask for more than that. “We are encouraged by the forward-looking approaches Gov. Holcomb has put forth [...]
On October 17, the Indiana Chamber took a contingent of members from its environmental and energy committees to Chicago for a meeting with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 Administrator, Cathy Stepp, and her staff, along with Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) Commissioner Bruno Pigott and other key IDEM staff. The purpose of the trip was to [...]
