By Niki Kelly and Mackenezi Klemann
Indiana Capital Chronicle

Gov. Mike Braun issued an executive order Wednesday to enact a 30-day suspension of the 7% sales tax on gasoline — with the potential for extensions.

“I am declaring a gas tax holiday to give Hoosiers relief from the pain at the pump from high gas prices,” Braun said in a news release. “Affordability is my top priority.”

The order is in effect now through May 8. Braun called on retailers to pass savings directly to customers, noting the state will be monitoring prices to make sure.

Taxes on fuel in Indiana are made up of the federal gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon, the state excise tax of 36 cents per gallon and the 7% state sales tax.

The current average cost for a gallon of gas in Indiana, according to AAA, is $4.14 — of which about 17 cents is attributable to the sales tax.

Braun estimated savings for Hoosiers could reach $50 million a month. He will revisit the emergency declaration in 30 days.

Attorney General Todd Rokita also announced that his office will actively monitor fuel prices across the state and enforce price gouging protections.

“Hoosiers deserve the full relief intended by this emergency measure and we will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that the removal of the tax translates into lower prices at the pump — and that consumers are not taken advantage of during this time,” Rokita said in a news release. “If a consumer suspects that a gas station in Indiana is still charging tax during the suspension, they should file a consumer complaint with our office.”

History of suspending gasoline sales tax

In 2000, then-Gov. Frank O’Bannon suspended the sales tax on gasoline for two 60-day periods heading into an election. It saved motorists more than $46 million.

At that time, gas was nearing $2 a gallon; the savings were between 8 and 10 cents per gallon.

O’Bannon cited a 1981 statute allowing him to declare an energy emergency if “an existing or projected shortfall of at least eight percent (8%) of motor fuel or of other energy sources that threatens to seriously disrupt or diminish energy supplies to the extent that life, health, or property may be jeopardized.”

The law doesn’t specifically mention fuel taxes, but it allows the governor to “suspend the provisions of any state statute regulating transportation or the orders or rules of any state agency if strict compliance with any of the provisions would prevent, hinder, or delay necessary action in coping with the energy emergency.”

Authority unclear

But in 2007, then-Gov. Mitch Daniels asked the Attorney General’s Office whether he had the authority to suspend the sales tax on gas.

The letter, signed by then Chief Deputy Attorney General Gregory Zoeller, said it was “clear that a suspension of a sales tax is not among those powers enumerated by this statute nor does it fall with the same category of those within the 1981 act.”

“Without further legislative action granting the governor the authority to suspend the gas tax, we agree that this authority is not within the intent of the 1981 statute,” the letter continued.

A message to Rokita’s office seeking clarity on authority wasn’t immediately returned. All AG opinions are non-binding.

“We feel this is within the latitude of what I’m able to do,” Braun told reporters Wednesday, citing the cumulative effect of inflation.

“The emergency was created by conditions outside our control,” he said, “and that was done in D.C. — not particularly on fuel, but in many of those years it was way above $4. We’ve been carrying that burden for a long time.”

The executive order said the ongoing war with Iran “has threatened the global supply of oil,” with 20% to 25% of the world’s crude oil production shipped through the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials have blocked the strait in recent weeks.

When asked about the 8% shortage requirement, the governor’s office cited the executive order.

Braun praised President Donald Trump for negotiating a two-week ceasefire with Iran, which he said should lead to lower fuel prices over time.

“This is big news,” Braun said. “You can already see it in the markets. We’ll begin to see that peace dividend over time, and there’s now clarity in terms of what they’re doing.”

Legislative reaction

Half a dozen Senate Republicans released statements supporting the move, including the chamber’s leader.

“Senate Republicans have led on issues of affordability for years, resulting in one of the lowest costs of living in the country for Hoosiers, but the recent spike in gas prices is still leaving many Hoosiers feeling undue pressure on their budgets,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville. “With affordability top of mind right now, I’m supportive of temporarily suspending the state’s sales tax on gas.”

Many of those in support are facing primary challenges and have been attacked for earlier votes to raise the gas tax.

Markle Republican Sen. Travis Holdman, who is locked in a tough reelection race, called on Braun to suspend the gas tax moments before he did so.

“Despite everything we have done at the Statehouse to maintain our state’s low cost of living, the current price of gas is adding too much pressure on Hoosiers and their wallets,” Holdman said. “Today, along with some of my colleagues, I am calling on Gov. Braun to provide relief at the pump for Hoosiers by using his legal authority to suspend the state’s tax on gas.”

House Democrats backed the suspension on Wednesday but questioned the timing.

House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne, noted the caucus repeatedly called for a suspension back in 2022, when gas prices jumped amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I want to be clear: House Democrats support this suspension, but Gov. Braun and Statehouse Republicans are only cleaning up a mess that they helped create,” GiaQuinta said in a Wednesday news release. “Hoosiers are tired of unstrategic and unfocused foreign wars that cost American lives, drive up gas prices and raise the cost of living.”

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The drive for political retribution against Republican state senators who didn’t support Indiana congressional redistricting has taken a blow with a candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump ending his campaign.

Trump last month backed Bluffton City Councilman Blake Fiechter’s challenge to high-ranking state Sen. Travis Holdman — even before Fiechter got in the race.

But he cited trouble organizing a campaign ahead of the May 5 primary for the District 19 seat in northeastern Indiana, covering all of Adams, Blackford, Jay and Wells counties and part of Allen County.

“If it had just been a Wells County district, it would have felt much easier,” Fiechter told WANE 15 of Fort Wayne on Friday. “But with it being spread out and not having anyone day-to-day helping me, fending all these calls and making connections. It came down to a lot of those little details just creeping up.”

Fiechter did not return a message Monday from the Capital Chronicle seeking comment. He filed his candidacy last month nearly a week after Trump’s social media endorsement was posted, with the president calling Holdman a “RINO” — for Republican in name only — and “an America Last politician” for opposing the redistricting bill.

Trump’s social media posts have used similar wording in endorsing primary challengers to four other Republican senators who voted against his demand for redistricting aimed at helping the GOP win all nine of Indiana’s U.S. House seats.

Holdman, who has been a senator since 2008, is the Senate’s third-ranking member as majority caucus chair and his chair of the influential Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee.

Marty Obst, an Indiana Republican operative and former Trump campaign staffer who leads the pro-redistricting group Fair Maps Indiana, has said his organization and others would “spend seven figures” in support of the GOP  primary challengers.

Obst did not immediately reply Monday to a message seeking comment about Fiechter’s decision.

Fiechter’s name will still be listed on the primary ballot because the deadline for withdrawing has passed.

WANE reported that Fiechter said he received advice from some Republican leaders, but not enough help with campaign workers and money.

“I felt like I was on a raft alone trying to navigate,” he said.

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The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to giving Hoosiers a comprehensive look inside state government, policy and elections. The site combines daily coverage with in-depth scrutiny, political awareness and insightful commentary.

You can read the original version of the story here.

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President Donald Trump has taken direct aim at a high-ranking Indiana state senator who voted against the congressional redistricting plan by endorsing a potential Republican primary challenger.

A social media post from Trump Thursday night blasted Sen. Travis Holdman as a RINO — Republican in name only — “who, for whatever reason, voted against Redistricting in Indiana, in a District that I won by 39 points, which puts the United States Congress in jeopardy.”

Trump’s post said he would give “my Complete and Total Endorsement” to Blake Fiechter, a Bluffton City Council member whom the post called “a True America First Patriot.”

Holdman, who has been in the Senate since 2008, is the chamber’s third-ranking member as majority caucus chair and also is chair of the influential Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee.

Holdman is seeking reelection in Senate District 19 that includes all or parts of Adams, Allen, Blackford, Jay and Wells counties in northeastern Indiana.

Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Gov. Mike Braun and other redistricting supporters have repeatedly threatened political vengeance against Republican legislators who opposed Trump’s demand for a redrawing of Indiana’s U.S. House maps aimed at helping the GOP win all nine seats.

“We could have easily picked up two seats in Indiana, so Holdman, an America Last politician, put our Majority in the House of Representatives at risk, thereby putting our Country in a very dangerous position in losing some of the magnificent gains that we have made over the last year,” Trump’s post said.

Holdman did not immediately reply Friday to messages from the Indiana Capital Chronicle seeking comment.

Holdman made himself a Trump target in November by announcing: “The message from my district has been clear — they do not support mid-cycle redistricting, and therefore I cannot support it.”

He was among 21 Republicans who joined all 10 Democratic senators in opposing the redistricting plan when it failed in a 31-19 vote on Dec. 11.

Trump’s endorsement of Fiechter is the first the president has made since he started making his political threats months ago.

Fiechter is a real estate broker who is in his first term as an at-large member of Bluffton’s city council after winning election in 2023.

Fiechter did not immediately respond to email messages seeking comment about his political plans.

He had not filed a candidacy for the Senate seat or opened a state campaign fundraising committee by midday Friday, according to Indiana Election Division online records. The candidate filing deadline for the May primary is Feb. 6.

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The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to giving Hoosiers a comprehensive look inside state government, policy and elections. The site combines daily coverage with in-depth scrutiny, political awareness and insightful commentary.

You can read the original version of the story here.

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Senate Republicans on Tuesday backed away from the most significant parts of Gov. Mike Braun’s property tax cut proposal.

Instead, their version of relief includes tightening requirements for schools to advance certain referendums, limiting how much property tax levies can grow and introducing a credit for first-time homebuyers.

The cost to units of government would be just shy of $300 million in the first year, according to the author.

Three Democrats voted against the measure, citing the lack of relief for renters and the uncertain impacts on schools. It moved out of the committee on a 10-3 vote.

An amendment struck large portions of Gov. Mike Braun’s property tax relief proposal, including the annual 3% cap on the growth of property tax bills. Senior citizens, families with children and low-income Hoosiers had growth capped at 2% under Braun’s plan.

It also removed increased deductions for homeowners. Overall, Braun’s plan would have resulted in an immediate 21% reduction in the average homeowner tax bill.

Under the new Senate proposal, taxpayers would see $1.4 billion in savings over the next three years. Braun’s plan would have saved $1.1 billion in its first year and $1.6 billion in its third year.

Sen. Travis Holdman, who authored Senate Bill 1, introduced the amended version in committee on Tuesday. Pulling back on Braun’s plan lessened the hit on local units of government, which rely on property taxes to pay for services like law enforcement, parks, libraries and fire safety.

“We have worked consistently with the governor’s office to get this to a good spot,” Holdman said. “We just think there’s a fine line that we have to walk to make sure that we are careful to be responsible to local government and, at the same time, provide some tax relief.”

In a statement, Braun’s office said the plan took “steps in the right direction” but said he would continue to work with legislators on the administrative priority.

“The Governor will carefully review the changes to his plan and looks forward to working with the House and Senate to strengthen the amended bill to include broad based and immediate property tax cuts for Hoosier homeowners who have been hit the hardest by skyrocketing home value inflation.”

Provisions of the Senate plan

The wide-ranging amendment introduced to the bill restricts school referendums to general election ballots in even-numbered years. Schools also can’t introduce such questions in back-to-back years, though there are exceptions for funding teacher salaries or school safety measures.

Much of the language mirrors Senate Bill 8, authored by Sen. Brian Buchanan, R-Lebanon. Buchanan said that referendums would need to include the total amount of money that would be raised by levying a property tax.

“There are some revisions to the ballot question in trying to make that very practical and straightforward for the voters,” Buchanan said.

Republican senators also opted to incorporate provisions from Senate Bill 9 into their property tax relief proposal, which freezes the maximum levy growth quotient for 2026 and then caps it for the following two years.

The maximum levy growth quotient currently limits how much local property tax levies can rise in a year based on a six-year rolling average of non-farm personal income growth. Because of inflation, it rose to 5% in 2023 compared to 3.4% in 2019. Lawmakers last year put in an artificial cap of 4% — when, without the cap, the maximum would’ve been 5.5%, according to the Indiana Office of Management and Budget.

The amended bill would freeze it for 2026 and then it could increase 1% in 2027 and 2% in 2028.

Previously, local units of government could petition to exceed that cap but they will no longer have that option — instead, they can place it before voters in a ballot question.

Sen. Linda Rogers, R-Granger, described a new method for counties to provide individual property tax relief though a payment deferral program, which she’d authored under Senate Bill 6. That process is coupled with deductions for disabled veterans and seniors.

“This is an opportunity for them to be able to help a homeowner that may be going through some very difficult times, or maybe a senior that’s on a fixed income,” Rogers said.

Homeowners will have the option to defer $500 of their property income tax annually until their home is sold. However, it’s unclear how many counties will opt to create such a program.

Finally, the bill introduces a first-time homebuyer tax credit, a first for Indiana. The credit assists those with incomes up to $75,000 buying a property that costs up to $250,000. Qualified individuals can get a $2,500 credit for five years after purchase.

Initial reaction

The Indiana Capital Chronicle reached out to a handful of local organizations to get an initial reaction to the amended bill.

Denny Costerison, speaking on behalf of the Indiana Association of School Board Officials, noted that the new version “lessen(ed) the negative impact on school corporations and other local government units,” but flagged concerns for educators.

The new cap on levy growth will “significantly” reduce property taxes collected over the next three years, which impacts budgets for local schools. Additionally, schools will be prohibited from issuing new general obligation bonds for two years after a current bond expires, he said.

“Many school corporations use this procedure on an annual basis to supplement their operating fund,” Costerison noted.

“Regarding school referendums, we appreciate the revised language … making it more understandable for voters,” Costerison said. “And that school operating and safety referendums will not be subject to the newly created one-year ‘cooling off’ period before another referendum could be proposed.”

Other entities called it an improvement from the original version.

David Bottorff, with the Association of Indiana Counties, highlighted the relief included for veterans, senior citizens and first-time homebuyers.

His organization also supports limiting referendums to even-numbered years, which have higher turnout.

But he said “the zero levy growth for 2026, and the limit(s) below inflation growth for 2027 and 2028 is a concern as locals will have increased expenses in operations for utilities, health care for employees, criminal justice, road maintenance and other critical government functions.”

Various other bills — including ones on personal property tax and assessed values of agriculture land — could further erode county revenues, leaving the governments with fewer resources.

Matt Greller, the chief executive officer of Advancing Indiana Municipalities, said he looked forward to working with both lawmakers and Braun’s team to finalize the bill. Future conversations could include a “possible replacement source” for shortfalls, Greller said.

“It does not serve Hoosier taxpayers well to overhaul the current system in a manner that does more harm than good. An unbalanced approach represents the worst possible outcome for taxpayers and the governmental units they rely on for safe, livable, affordable, and well-maintained and well-appointed communities,” he concluded.

The bill now moves to the full Senate for further consideration.

Editor-in-Chief Niki Kelly contributed to this story.

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The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to giving Hoosiers a comprehensive look inside state government, policy and elections. The site combines daily coverage with in-depth scrutiny, political awareness and insightful commentary.

You can read the original version of the story here.

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INDIANAPOLIS -- A proposal just one step away from Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb’s desk could get infants surrendered under the state’s safe haven laws to adoptive families more quickly.

But some lawmakers fear its provisions could violate the rights of regretful or unaware biological parents. New anti-vaccine provisions also snarled debate.

“This is probably the best thing that we have ever done,” said bill author Travis Holdman, R-Markle, of Indiana’s 20-year-old safe haven law.

He told lawmakers earlier this month that it saves infants and can help desperate biological parents.

The law allows people to give up unwanted infants anonymously – as long as there are no signs of abuse – and lays out procedures for safe surrenders and legal custodies.

Shift emphasizes outside agencies, adoptions

Holdman’s Senate Bill 345 defines a safe haven infant as one 30 days old or younger and who’s been voluntarily left by a parent with an emergency medical services provider or in a newborn safety device often called a baby box.

The Department of Child Services has taken surrendered infants into custody for the last two decades. The legislation would let licensed child-placing agencies do the same.

“DCS, it sort of gets bogged down in the bureaucracy,” Holdman told the Capital Chronicle. “I believe it’s just another opportunity for a licensed child-placing agency to stand in the place of DCS, and just to provide more options for those families that are interested in adopting infants.”

Holdman’s proposal attempts to skip foster placements in favor of adoption. It tasks the outside agencies with placing infants into pre-approved adoptive homes “without unnecessary delay.”

DCS had one infant in its custody for a whopping 22 months, the bill’s House sponsor — Joanna King, R-Middlebury — said on the floor this month.

She said getting placing agencies involved could get children “placed with their forever famil(ies) much sooner.”

The goal is to “minimize the number of moves that a child’s going to have. We want to provide security as soon as possible,” Adoptions of Indiana leader Meg Sterchi told lawmakers at a hearing.

That placement doesn’t mean biological parents can’t return and assert their rights, she said.

But the legislation does make it easier and faster to eliminate those rights.

Fights over parental rights

Senate Bill 345 requires DCS and the outside agencies to file petitions — within 15 days of taking custody — to terminate the legal relationship between surrendered infants and their biological parents.

The proposal lays out what that petition should include and how to give public notice on it, so that parents who regret the surrender or didn’t know of the infant can take the child back.

But if they don’t respond to the public notices or ask for custody within 28 days, the legislation says they’re “irrevocably” implying consent to the ending of their parental rights.

Multiple lawmakers of both parties — most of them lawyers by trade — said the time period was too short, and that biological parents should get more opportunity to go to court.

Sen. Susan Glick, R-LaGrange, noted in a hearing last month that it’s an “irreversible decision to terminate parental rights.” Later, she expressed concern for fathers who don’t know of their children.

“We’re talking [less than] 30 days for them to discover that they have a child and come forward without any more information than ‘Baby Boy X has been surrendered,'” Glick said.

Adoptions of Indiana’s Sterchi countered that fathers have the entire nine months of the pregnancy in addition to the proposed time period.

“Having sex with a woman is notice enough that there could be a pregnancy,” Sterchi said. “… There has to be some responsibility on the part of the father to engage.”

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The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to giving Hoosiers a comprehensive look inside state government, policy and elections. The site combines daily coverage with in-depth scrutiny, political awareness and insightful commentary.

You can read the original version of the story here.

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INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Senate Republicans want to see if the state can ditch its individual income tax, and one influential economic policy group thinks the change couldn’t come sooner. For another, it’s a matter of how the state replaces the revenue source.

Individual income tax revenue was nearly 39% of Indiana’s total revenue haul in 2022, according to the Indiana State Budget Agency. A two-year blue ribbon commission from Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, would review state and local taxes with a goal of eliminating the individual income tax within the decade.

That deletion is Americans for Prosperity-Indiana’s highest priority this legislative session, which began last week.

The conservative interest group said it wanted lawmakers to “simplify the tax code and eliminate the state income tax to allow Hoosiers to keep more of their hard-earned money” in a news release Wednesday. For more on Americans For Prosperity’s Indiana agenda go here.

The conservative-leaning Indiana Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, said it saw potential in the idea but urged a responsible approach.

The tax brought in $8.1 billion in fiscal year 2022.

“It’s, I think, not feasible that you would eliminate that tax and not replace it with something else. That’s much too large of a portion of the revenues that go into the state general fund,” said chamber President and CEO Kevin Brinegar in a media call Wednesday.

“[The chamber’s position] depends on what you replace it with,” Brinegar said, adding that one of the blue ribbon commission’s primary tasks should be to find a replacement revenue source that could be “better for jobs and economic growth than imposing an income tax.”

That’s particularly attractive to prospective residents when combined with warm weather, like Florida and Texas, Brinegar said — but “it may not be as appealing in Indiana where we haven’t repealed winter yet.”

Americans for Prosperity also pushed lawmakers to take greater control of internal agency rulemaking, legalize marijuana, fund families to opt out of public schools and health care reforms that minimize government and insurance involvement.

The chamber, meanwhile, highlighted bills on economic development grants, energy planning, data privacy and tax breaks for pass-through business entities.

Brinegar also pleaded with lawmakers to “spend less time on peripheral social issues and more time on things that will move our state forward.”

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The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to giving Hoosiers a comprehensive look inside state government, policy and elections. The site combines daily coverage with in-depth scrutiny, political awareness and insightful commentary.

You can read the original version of the story here.

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