By State Sen. Daryl Schmitt (R-Jasper)
Indiana has maintained a strong economy in recent years as industries look to expand in our state.
In fact, last year the state was second in Forbes' Best States to Start a Business rankings due in part to our business friendliness.
To continue that trend, this year I supported laws that support and strengthen our state's small businesses and protect Indiana from foreign adversaries.
As of 2024, Indiana was home to nearly 570,000 small businesses according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, and these businesses employ about 1.2 million Hoosiers. That's why I supported Senate Enrolled Act 516, which created the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation to help our state's small-business owners find ways to grow and prosper.
Small businesses are the lifeblood of our communities and often support local groups like youth sports leagues, schools and charitable organizations. Since they play such an important role in our communities, we need to ensure the state is providing the proper resources and freedom to help them thrive.
Another new law I supported this year was House Enrolled Act 1103, which prohibits state agencies from establishing offices in adversarial countries like China and Russia. In recent years, our nation's adversaries have been working to undermine our economy and steal data and other information from governments, companies and individuals.
House Enrolled Act 1103 was necessary in order to help ensure Indiana is protected from those who wish to do us harm, and I was happy to see our legislature take this problem seriously.
As always, constituents can reach out to me with any questions or concerns by email at s48@iga.in.gov or by phone at 1-800-382-9467.
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State Sen. Daryl Schmitt (R-Jasper) represents Senate District 48,
which includes Crawford, Dubois, Gibson, Perry, Pike and Spencer counties.
Click here to download a high-resolution photo.
