Senate GOP bucks affordability for MAGA agenda
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Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray (R-Martinsville). Photo: Arika Herron/Axios
Three of the four legislative caucuses are focused on issues of affordability this year, but one is taking a different direction.
The big picture: Every year, Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate release a small list of priority issues and bills.
- While hundreds of pieces of legislation are filed and dozens passed, the priorities of the Republican supermajority are usually among those that make it across the finish line.
Zoom in: This year, both Democratic caucuses and House Republicans released agendas focused on helping Hoosier families making ends meet — including making housing more affordable and lowering utility bills.
- Meanwhile, the Senate GOP has three priorities — addressing fraud in Indiana's welfare programs and preventing illegal immigrants from claiming benefits; a constitutional amendment to give judges more discretion to hold suspects without bail; and a pledge to not reopen the state budget to restore cuts made last year, despite having extra revenue.
What they're saying: "More and more Hoosiers are saying they cannot afford their lives in this state," Senate Minority Leader Shelli Yoder (D-Bloomington) said Thursday. "That is a problem. That is a crisis, and we need to do all that we can to respond."
- Yoder added that the GOP not prioritizing those issues "is really disturbing."
Between the lines: Part of the Senate Republicans' agenda aligns with the Trump administration, which recently froze funding for child care and social services programs in five states, citing concerns over "systemic fraud."
- One of those states is Minnesota, which Senate Republicans listed as a reason to address fraud and abuse here.
The intrigue: At last check, Trump was ticked off with Indiana's Senate Republicans for failing to pass a redistricting bill that would have delivered him two more seats in Congress.
The other side: Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray (R-Martinsville) said his caucus works on bills to make life more affordable for Hoosiers "all the time," citing numerous tax cuts passed in recent years.
- "These are things we feel like are important," he said of this year's agenda. "The idea of making sure that government is run efficiently and correctly without a lot of fraud is really important to, probably, everybody in this building."
- "And we've seen some of that fraud play out in states like Minnesota, for instance. It's important to people. It's important to us."