Statehouse Update
The IU State Relations team has reviewed every bill that has been introduced at the Statehouse, and determined if and how the bill could impact the university. This Statehouse Update provides a summary of bills the team is tracking that have had activity up to this point during the twelfth week of session.
House Bills
HB 1001: State budget
Senate Appropriations took public testimony only on the State Budget on Thursday, March 30
- The House’s biennial budget includes operating funding recommendations for a 4% increase in FY24 and 6% increase in FY25 (equaling $134 million new higher education operating funding over the biennium).
- In FY24, 2% of the funding is run through the legacy outcomes-based funding model and the other 2% is a base support increase.
- In FY25, 2% of the funding is run through the legacy outcomes-based funding model, 1% of the funding is run through the new prospective outcomes-based funding model and the other 3% is a base support increase.
- IU Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, and the health sciences programs at IU Fort Wayne, are funded outside of the formula process and received a 4% increase in FY24 and 6% increase in FY25.
- Higher education line-item funding was held flat in the House budget, except for increasing dual credit funding back to $50 per credit hour from $45 in the previous biennium.
- The House cash funded all state educational institutions’ top priority capital projects (rather than using debt service funding), which included $89.5 million for the Wells Quad renovation at IU Bloomington.
- The House budget fully funds the Repair and Rehabilitation Formula at 0.5%, resulting in a $10.3 million increase in each year of the biennium (which equals a $4.5 million increase each year for Indiana University).
- In FY24, the House budget provides $10 million each for both IU Indianapolis and Purdue Indianapolis in start-up funding.
HB 1002: Education and workforce matters
Heard in Senate Education and Career Development and held for amendments and committee vote
The bill aims to "reinvent" high school by providing more job training to students in order to address skills gaps and employee shortages. The legislation would create career scholarship accounts to pay for students in grades 10-12 to take apprenticeships directly from employers. It would also change graduation requirements and allow students to use money from the 21st Century Scholars and Frank O'Bannon Grant programs on job training instead.
HB 1558: Science of reading
Heard in Senate Education and Career Development and held for amendments and committee vote
The bill defines the "science of reading" and establishes the science of reading grant fund for the purpose of assisting school corporations in placing literacy instructional coaches in elementary schools, obtaining science of reading training for teachers and complying with science of reading curriculum requirements. The bill requires the Indiana Department of Education to develop guidelines for science of reading integration into teacher preparation programs.
HB 1637: Teacher education programs
Heard in Senate Education and Career Development and held for amendments and committee vote
The bill increases the annual Next Generation Hoosier Educators Scholarship amount, from $7,500 to $10,000 and the Earline S. Rogers Student Teaching Scholarship for Minority Students, from $4,000 to $5,000. It creates the Next Generation Hoosier Minority Educators Scholarship for black and Hispanic students with similar requirements to the Next Generation Hoosier Educators Scholarship and a $10,000 annual award amount. Finally, it removes the 200 new applicant per year limit on the Next Generation Hoosier Educators Scholarship.
Senate Bills
SB 35: Financial Literacy
Passed House Education 13-0
The bill provides that, beginning with the cohort of students who are expected to graduate from a public school or charter school in 2027, an individual must successfully complete a personal financial responsibility course before graduating high school. The bill also creates requirements for content that must be covered in the course and allows schools to offer instruction on the course either as a separate subject or as units incorporated into appropriate subjects.
SB 384: Purple star designation
Passed House 96-0
The bill requires the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs to develop and implement the higher education purple star designation for the following purposes: (1) to recognize postsecondary educational institutions that are supportive and inclusive of veterans and military connected families; and (2) to provide veterans and military connected families with enhanced support for pursuing and finishing a degree or postsecondary credential.