Dozens of state employees laid off over budget cuts

Zoom in: The Indiana State Library was one of the hardest hit, losing 16 employees, according to Department of Education spokesperson Courtney Bearsch, and seeing its funding cut by 30% for the next two years.

• Nearly every division from the state library was affected, according to two former employees who were impacted by the cuts. Axios granted anonymity to former employees who feared repercussions.
• The eight-person historical bureau, which runs the state's historical marker program, has been slashed to just one. Two people who recently left were not replaced and five more were laid off on Tuesday.
• A former employee tells Axios that now only two or three new markers are likely to be completed in a year, rather than the 15-20 that were being added at the request of local communities annually.

What they're saying: "It was so quick," one former employee tells Axios. "There was no heads up. We weren't even able to hand off our projects … it's all just gone."

• The employee said several employees working from home were fired over the phone.

The big picture: Lawmakers passed a biennial budget earlier this year, cutting most state agencies' funding by an average of 5% for the fiscal year starting July 1.

• Gov. Mike Braun first pitched the cuts in January, before a dismal revenue forecast — driven partly by federal policies and spending cuts — forced lawmakers to cut an additional $2 billion from their spending plan.
• Braun said the state government needed to become more efficient.

By the numbers: Across the state's various education agencies, 43 unfilled positions were eliminated and 39 employees were laid off, Bearsch said.

• That includes the 16 at the library, 14 at the School for the Deaf, six at the Department of Education and three at the Commission for Higher Education.
• The Office of Commerce cut $7.4 million by eliminating 49 positions "to align more closely with Gov. Braun's strategic goals" and the new budget, spokesperson Erin Sweitzer said.
• The majority of the positions were eliminated through attrition, but 12 people were laid off this week — eight from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, three from the Indiana Destination Development Corporation and one from the Governor's Workforce Cabinet, according to Sweitzer.

Plus: The Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, a nonprofit that receives a state appropriation, was also affected.

• Spokesperson Carla Knapp said it cut eight full-time positions (three of which were vacant), two part-time positions and 13 intermittent/seasonal positions throughout the system.
• This is 8% of the museum's permanent positions, Knapp said.
• Although regular hours remain in place across all 12 sites, she said the "ability to fully support some community events at the historic site locations is affected as well as events outside of regular hours."

Between the lines: A difficult economic outlook — primarily driven by President Trump's tariffs, according to state economic forecasters — created tight budget constraints for lawmakers. However, that didn't stop them from funding some expensive priorities.

• Planned income tax cuts were kept on schedule, though some lawmakers suggested pausing them, and the state's private school voucher program was made universal in the second year of the state budget at a cost of more than $100 million.

The last word: "I loved what I did," said a second former library employee, who spent nearly a decade there.

• "I took pride in my work. I knew I had a job I could feel good about. It's just a shame that it ended this way."