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Heading into a packed legislative session at the Indiana Statehouse, the Indy Chamber plans to focus its lobbying efforts on quality-of-place and human resources issues.
The chamber’s policy priorities include developing the state’s workforce pipeline, reforming the road-funding formula, instituting a higher cigarette tax and refreshing the state’s venture capital fund, according to its legislative agenda released Tuesday.
“The ideas that we bring forward we will always articulate as something that’s going to be beneficial to all Hoosiers,” said Taylor Hughes, chief strategy officer and chief of staff for the Indy Chamber. “We need to figure out how to leverage some of the momentum we have economically to punch a little bit higher above our weight class.”
Workforce development
Workforce development, attraction and retention continue to be a major chamber focus to grow the state’s talent pipeline, Hughes said.
Chamber officials are putting their support behind policies that increase graduate-retention program funding, incentivize workforce participation and support students through the education and employment transition. The chamber continues to push for workforce policies they’ve supported previously, such as increasing child care options, establishing an Indiana Work Share program and allowing driving cards for immigrants, it said.
As the adoption of work-based learning and apprenticeships gain speed, Taylor said the chamber is looking to further develop policies to increase student and employer participation. That largely boils down to access to more opportunities, so the chamber supports the development of a statewide framework to encourage employer engagement in the Indiana Apprenticeship Pathway program.
Limiting the number of college graduates leaving the state is also top of mind, Hughes said. The agenda proposes the state increase graduate-retention program funding and consider individual tax incentives for graduates.
Road-funding formula
Improving the state’s transportation infrastructure is a critical component to continued economic development, and Hughes said the current road-funding formula is not pro-growth. The chamber is pushing to reform the formula so high-traffic areas receive more financial support to upgrade infrastructure.
“The way that we distribute the dollars that we invest in our roads and infrastructure has nothing to do with where the traffic is,” Hughes said. “It just has to do with where the center line miles are. For us, that’s a sort of antiquated way to fund this.”
However, Hughes said, increasing revenue is needed to ensure road dollars are not taken away from other areas. The chamber’s agenda suggests lawmakers weigh non-fuel-dependent revenue streams—such as tolling, tolled high-occupancy lanes, regionally based tax options or a mileage-based user fee pilot—as gas tax collections continue to decline.
The chamber also supports the collaborative redesign efforts of the Inner Loop and subsequent efforts to reconnect downtown neighborhoods and promote economic development.
Cigarette tax
The chamber has lobbied unsuccessfully since 2018 to raise the state’s cigarette tax as a means to promote better health outcomes. With the state’s Medicaid burden rising, Hughes said the idea has increased interest both for public health and revenue purposes.
Indiana’s current cigarette tax is 99.5 cents per pack, which is the 39th lowest tax rate among states, and hasn’t been increased since 2007. The chamber’s proposal seeks to increase Indiana’s tax to at least $2 a pack.
The chamber estimates that the tax hike would lead to $356 million in new revenue annually as well as reduced smoking rates over time.
Medicaid is in crisis, Hughes said, and it can be helped through a tax policy that promotes less smoking and reduces the financial consequences of public health woes.
Venture capital
Just like the Indiana Technology and Innovation Association and TechPoint, the chamber backs renewed support of the Indiana Next Level Fund, which is used to make venture capital investments in state companies. It also supports creating a tax environment that is inviting to new growing businesses.
“The most important thing is to create an environment as a state where it’s a really incredible place to start a new company and for companies that have made bets on this place,” Hughes said. “We think that economic dynamism that’s created by a more healthy capital environment is something that we need to continue to invest in as a state.”
Lawmakers greenlit the Next Level Fund in 2017, replacing the Next Generation Trust Fund, with a $240 million initial investment. ITIA Executive Director Jennifer Hallowell said in November that a new installment is needed as the first allocation nears its end.
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