Wednesday, March 9, 2022
The 2022 legislative session has come to a close. Below are some of the items Senate Republicans prioritized and passed this session.
Automatic Taxpayer Refund
An additional 900,000 Hoosiers are now eligible for the state's automatic taxpayer refund through Senate Enrolled Act 1. After hitting high reserve levels in 2021, $545 million will be returned to hardworking Hoosiers and $545 million will go to teacher pension obligations.
School Funding Stability for Quarantined Students
To ensure funding stability for our schools, Senate Enrolled Act 2 will retroactively adjust Indiana's school funding procedures for brick-and-mortar schools to account for the children who were considered virtual students during the fall of 2021 because they had to quarantine at the start of the school year. Whether a student is considered "virtual" or "in-person" during the fall of 2021 will now be based on their attendance for the total semester and allocate funding accordingly. The Indiana Department of Education estimates this change will prevent a $4.8 million cut in funding for our schools.
Responsibly End the Public Health Emergency
In conjunction with the governor, the General Assembly was able to safely end the public health emergency in Indiana by passing House Enrolled Act 1001. HEA 1001 ensures the state can continue receiving certain federal benefits and can hold voluntary community vaccination clinics as needed without further executive orders. This bill also includes important protections for employees of businesses that choose to institute a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, since most Hoosiers agree taking this vaccine should be a personal choice.
To view these bills and others that passed this session, click here.
