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Controversial utility bill is signed by Gov. Holcomb
A bill that will eliminate most competition for the ownership and maintenance of regional transmission lines was signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb on Monday, handing a major win to the investor-owned electric utility companies that sought its passage.
The bill had been the center of a fight among business interests with deep pockets and connections that run through the halls of the Indiana Statehouse.
What the new law does
House Bill 1420 will give investor-owned utility companies, such as Duke Energy, the first opportunity to own and maintain new regional transmission lines.
Transmission lines hang on the massive steel towers often seen cutting across the countryside. They connect the electrical grid across borders.
Previously, those projects were open to bidding by other competitors, such as national transmission companies. One company, LS Power, recently completed a 31-mile project connecting southern Indiana and western Kentucky.
Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, who carried the legislation, argued that HB 1420 will provide protections against higher energy costs.
One aspect of his legislation would require investor-owned utilities to provide information about the new transmission projects to an existing state regulatory body called the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC). If an investor-owned utility tries to pass along unnecessary costs, Soliday said, then the commission will be able to serve as a check by limiting how much utilities can charge consumers on their monthly bills.
“Because they have enforcement authority,” Soliday told State Affairs last month. “The IURC can say, ‘You are running way over what you said … You want to spend that kind of money? That’s fine, but your profits are limited.’”
Why it matters
The federal government plans to significantly expand the grid, seeking potentially trillions of dollars of projects across the country to reduce congestion.
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) — a nonprofit based in Carmel that oversees transmission in our region of the country — has already announced more than $10 billion in projects for the multistate region that includes Indiana.
Another announcement for $10 billion to $20 billion in projects is expected soon.
With so much money on the line, business interests have been lobbying for access to the work. Investor-owned utilities are financially motivated to seek the projects because of how utility regulation works: The companies pass along their costs (plus some extra to pay for investors’ profits) to Hoosiers’ monthly utility bills.
Because utility companies function as near-monopolies, opponents of the bill had sought to preserve competition for the ownership and maintenance of the projects. Put simply: Without competition, consumer advocates fear that the utility companies will drive up costs for Hoosiers.
“The larger the project, the more costs that they can recover and the more that they will then transfer those costs down to the ratepayers,” said Sen. Jean Breaux, D-Indianapolis, on the Senate floor last month. “This is simply a way for the utilities to make sure that they grab that piece of the pie for themselves and share it with nobody else.”
Consumer advocates were joined by national transmission companies in opposing the bill.
But the bill in Indiana also drew support from several labor groups, who have long-standing relationships with investor-owned utility companies and stand to benefit in the form of guaranteed work and jobs.
What happens next
Similar battles have been unfolding in several other states, too, in some cases leading to litigation. No lawsuits have been publicly announced in Indiana.
The law is set to take effect in July.
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Gov. Holcomb taps Boone County Council president to serve out remainder of Comptroller Tera Klutz’s term
Republican Elise Nieshalla, president of the Boone County Council, will serve out the remaining three years of State Comptroller Tera Klutz’s term.
Gov. Eric Holcomb announced the appointment of Nieshalla, a real estate investor, on Tuesday. As state auditor, Nieshalla will oversee the balancing of Indiana’s checkbooks and payment of all state employees.
“My appreciation runs deep for the strong financial standing of our state and the integrity in which the State Comptroller’s Office is run,” Nieshalla said in a statement. “It is truly my privilege to receive Gov. Holcomb’s appointment to serve our great state and local units of government by upholding the highest standards of fiscal responsibility and offering tremendous Hoosier service.”
Earlier this year Klutz announced she would resign Nov. 30, roughly a year after she was reelected. Klutz, who was first appointed by Holcomb in 2017, is the fourth state auditor in a row to not finish their term, enabling the sitting governor to choose a replacement.
Nieshalla was already well-known within Republican circles. She previously ran for treasurer in 2022 against three other Republicans, losing to current Treasurer Daniel Elliott at the state Republican convention. At the time, the convention loss of Nieshalla and other Republicans more closely aligned with the party establishment was seen as a rebuke of the Holcomb wing of the party.
Nieshalla, who lives in Zionsville, is also president of the Indiana County Councils Association and the chairwoman of the Association of Indiana Counties’ 2023 Legislative Committee. She has a bachelor’s degree from Oral Roberts University and a master’s degree from Indiana University.
She’ll be sworn in on Dec. 1 and will serve until at least the 2026 election when voters will have the option to choose the next state comptroller.
Holcomb praised Nieshalla in an emailed statement.
“Elise is a dedicated and proven public servant who has committed much of her professional life to bettering her community through service,” Holcomb said. “She has shared her financial expertise to help steer and shape the bright future of Boone County which gives me great confidence she’ll do the same serving Hoosiers as our next State Comptroller.”
Contact Kaitlin Lange on X @kaitlin_lange or email her at [email protected].
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Five issues likely to come up next legislative session, and two that won’t move
The gist
On Tuesday, Indiana lawmakers returned to the Statehouse for Organization Day, the ceremonial start to the legislative session, ahead of what legislative leaders are saying should be a low-key, short session.
“We’ll probably take a pretty measured approach on what we address … , maybe fine tune some things,” House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, said during an Indiana Chamber of Commerce legislative panel on Monday. “Short sessions are supposed to be for emergency items only.”
Not only will 2024 be a non-budget-writing legislative session mandated to end by mid-March, but this session also falls in the midst of a heated Republican gubernatorial primary. There’s no obvious assumed winner who can lead policy discussions ahead of the election, nor has Gov. Eric Holcomb laid the groundwork for any major policy changes in his last legislative session.
Plus, recent criminal corruption charges against a former lawmaker — and the potential for other lawmakers to be charged in connection with the case — has put a cloud over the Indiana General Assembly.
Still, some minor bills are expected to move, and something can always pop up. Here’s a breakdown of some of the issues State Affairs expects to be debated, and three that probably won’t move.
Reading proficiency
Both Huston and Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, said they want to limit the situations in which schools allow third graders to advance to fourth grade when they fail the IREAD-3, the state’s reading comprehension test.
During the 2021-2022 school year, more than 18% of students failed the test because they were not reading at a third grade level.
“When you pass that kid on, and they aren’t prepared to succeed, you’re not doing that kid a favor,” Huston said, following his Organization Day speech in which he laid out his caucus’ priorities.
Huston’s goal is to make Indiana the No. 1 state in the nation for third grade reading proficiency by 2027.
Democrats cautioned that it may be too soon to make major changes to how IREAD scores are handled in Indiana. During the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers passed a science of reading bill.
“We need to make sure that schools have the opportunity to train their teachers, to implement these strategies across the board before we start throwing new legislative hurdles in the way,” said Sen. Andrea Hunley, D-Indianapolis. “We have to give [new recommendations] time to work before we start, say, failing all children or retaining a whole class of children.”
Continuing to re-think K-12 education
Last legislative session, lawmakers passed a bill seeking to expand work-based learning in high school, but Huston emphasized during his Organization Day speech that legislators can still do more to transform the K-12 school system.
Huston said House Republicans will push to allow state money typically set aside for students pursuing a college education to be used to obtain certificates and certifications for “high demand, high wage jobs.”
“We must continue to adjust the way we think about K-12 education in order to meet the needs of all students, including those who aren’t interested in pursuing a two-or four-year degree,” Huston said. “Let’s use this session to build on skill and work-based learning, and let’s align our funding to this goal.”
This fall the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce took a delegation of Indiana lawmakers and others to Switzerland to see how the country’s apprenticeship program operates. Expect more changes in the coming years that would enable Indiana’s K-12 system to more closely mirror that of Switzerland’s.
Child care access
During his own Organization Day speech, Bray emphasized a need to expand affordable child care options for young children.
“Day care is a constant challenge from the Ohio River to the Michigan line, trying to find day care at all if you can find it and whether it’s affordable,” Bray said.
He pointed to a legislative study committee on the topic which recommended some minor reforms to the system, such as lowering the age requirement for working unassisted in an infant or toddler classroom to age 18 from 21 and requiring the state to review how it can streamline child care regulations to increase availability.
Don’t expect lawmakers to throw more money at the child care system since 2024 isn’t a budget-writing year.
Health care costs
Lawmakers passed multiple bills during the 2023 legislative session aimed at cutting health care costs, ranging from limiting physician noncompete agreements to creating benchmarks for how high hospital prices in the largest hospital systems should be.
But Bray said he expects lawmakers to offer more legislation on the topic this year in order to help drive down costs long term.
A legislative study committee on the topic backed recommendations to require more disclosures by insurance companies on their “prior authorization” process for medical care, as well as require medical providers to give lawmakers a six-month notice for mergers or acquisitions.
Water access
It’s unclear whether legislation on water access will actually pass either chamber, but the topic is almost certain to come up in discussions.
Earlier this year, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. announced plans to pump water from the Wabash River aquifer to the LEAP district in Lebanon. Tippecanoes citizens have been vocal in their opposition to the plan, and just this week the Tippecanoe County Commissioners voted to put a moratorium on high volume water exports.
Legislative leaders say they want to avoid legislating on the issue until they get more data. The Indiana Finance Authority and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce are studying the issue.
“We’re not going to take any other steps until we have an opportunity to study to make sure that there’s ample water for the projects that we’re trying to bring into the state of Indiana,” Bray said, “and we understand just how much is too much to take away from a particular community.”
But, even if leadership would rather wait to address the elephant in the room, lawmakers are almost certain to file legislation.
Issues that won’t move: Gaming
For at least the past two legislative sessions, lawmakers have filed bills to legalize internet casino gaming, or iGaming. It appeared momentum was on proponents’ sides. Until this month.
Earlier this month former state Rep. Sean Eberhart agreed to plead guilty to criminal fraud charges that federal prosecutors say stem from influencing casino legislation in return for the promise of a $350,000-a-year job.
Both Bray and Huston said Monday they don’t expect any gaming legislation to move in 2024.
During Monday’s Chamber panel, Bray said the federal investigation “makes gaming extremely hard to engage in.”
“It taints the Statehouse, it diminishes the confidence that people have in the integrity of the Statehouse, it causes an awful lot of problems and it makes it particularly difficult to engage in that kind of policy,” Bray said.
Issues that won’t move: Marijuana
Lawmakers studied the impact legalizing marijuana would have on the workforce and youth in an interim committee this fall, but the committee never issued any recommendations for legislation.
Both legislative leaders and Holcomb have emphasized their reluctance to legalize marijuana until at least after the federal government reschedules it. Huston reiterated his hesitation on Monday.
“No one has made a compelling case to me yet on why legalizing marijuana or having more people use cannabis in the state of Indiana is a positive thing,” Huston said. “So until I hear that answer, I wouldn’t expect a whole lot of change.”
Likewise, Bray said its passage “seemed unlikely.”
What’s next?
The ceremonial start of the legislative session is just that. Lawmakers won’t start moving bills until they return to the Statehouse in January.
Contact Kaitlin Lange on X @kaitlin_lange or email her at [email protected].
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Democrat Destiny Wells enters race to challenge Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita in 2024
The gist Destiny Wells, the 2022 Democratic secretary of state nominee, announced she is running for the Indiana attorney general’s office next year, hoping to oust Republican incumbent Todd Rokita. Earlier this year Rokita, a vocal supporter of social conservative causes, announced he was seeking reelection. This race could be among the more competitive races …
Indiana jobless rate steady at 3.6% after slow rise since April
Indiana’s unemployment rate remained steady for October at 3.6% after inching up each of the five previous months.
The state’s jobless rate was unchanged from September, following a slow rise from April when it was 3.0%, according to an Indiana Department of Workforce Development report released Friday.
August’s rate is Indiana’s highest since August 2021 but still remains below the national mark of 3.9%. Indiana’s rate is the same as Ohio’s and below those in Michigan (4.1%), Kentucky (4.2%) and Illinois (4.6%), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Indiana’s rate was tied for 34th highest in the country.
Indiana had about 123,000 job seekers during October, with nearly 3.3 million people employed, according to preliminary federal data.
Indiana’s October private employment topped 2.8 million people, which the Department of Workforce Development said is a new private employment peak. Industries that showed employment increases for October included construction (+2,500), private educational and health services (+2,400) and leisure and hospitality (+1,900).
“Indiana’s labor market continues to show strength for both workers and employers,” Workforce Development Commissioner Richard Paulk said in an agency statement. “Though the state set a private employment record, employers still need to fill many more critical jobs.”
Tom Davies is a Statehouse reporter for State Affairs Pro Indiana. Reach him at [email protected] or on X at @TomDaviesIND.
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