Whitney Downard
CNHI Statehouse Reporter

INDIANAPOLIS – The Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee on Tuesday amended a House bill containing more than $1 billion in tax cuts and eliminated all of the proposed cuts.

The committee introduced the amendments and adopted them without any discussion and conformed the bill to Senate Bill 1, which modifies guidelines for Indiana automatic tax refund to include Hoosiers with no tax liability.

“I think if we really want to be fiscally responsible, we really want to focus on paying down our debts first,” said Bremen Republican Sen. Ryan Mishler, a key player in crafting Indiana’s biennial budget. “Giving away money is great, but I think we pay our debts first.”

Bill author Rep. Tim Brown, R-Crawfordsville, repeated his stance on the need for the tax cuts, saying the money belonged to Hoosiers.

“This isn’t our money; it’s the citizens’ money,” Brown said. “We’re going to take less of it, and that (was) the crux of the bill.”

The committee also added language from Senate Bill 390 regarding food and beverage taxes, which would phase out over the next 20 years, and language that stops the Hoosier Lottery from expanding online without the General Assembly’s authorization.

The bill previously included an income tax reduction, the repeal of a utility tax and a tax cut for business personal property.

Committee Chair Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, previously said he wouldn’t support the bill’s tax cut for business personal property, which would hurt local governments depending on the revenue, without a replacement revenue. That tax cut was a priority for Gov. Eric Holcomb, the only one he announced in his annual State of the State.

Justin McAdam, one of Holcomb’s deputy directors, said the business personal property tax was an economic issue, as Indiana has the highest tax in the nation, and three of Indiana’s neighbors have no business personal property tax at all.

“We know that this issue is important to businesses as they’re making decisions about whether to relocate to the state of Indiana,” McAdam said. “The governor is trying to modernize our economic development tools, and we’re really trying to place ourselves, position ourselves, to be competitive with other states.”

Some business associations testified and urged the Senate to re-adopt the business personal property tax cut.

This article was made available through Hoosier State Press Association.