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Weekly Statehouse update: Property tax overhaul, Medicaid reform bill changes, birth control access

The 2025 session of the Indiana General Assembly must finish no later than April 29.
The 2025 session of the Indiana General Assembly must finish no later than April 29.

A Senate committee overhauls the property tax reform bill. A Medicaid reform bill advances to the full Senate. And a House committee approves a bill expanding access to birth control — but leaves several common forms out.

Here’s what you might have missed this week at the Statehouse.

SB 1: Property tax relief

The property tax reform legislation originally rolled every homeowner’s tax bill back to 2021 levels. But the amended version of  SB 1 is now more narrowly focused on older Hoosiers and disabled veterans, while also limiting how much local governments can collect in property taxes each year. It’s estimated to save taxpayers $1.4 billion over the next three years.

SB 2: Medicaid matters

A Senate committee removed a lifetime eligibility limit from a Medicaid reform bill,  SB 2. It still makes major changes to the Healthy Indiana Plan, or HIP — the state’s Medicaid expansion program — including  reintroducing previously halted work requirements and an enrollment cap.

Join the conversation and sign up for our weekly text group:  the Indiana Two-Way . Your comments and questions help us find the answers you need on statewide issues, including our project  Civically, Indiana  and our  2025 bill tracker .

HB 1169: Access to birth control program

The original language of a bill aimed at expanding birth control access required local health departments to provide access to condoms, long-acting reversible contraceptives and over-the-counter birth control.

The revised bill,  HB 1169, excludes condoms and long-acting reversible contraceptives. Doctors say that goes against all medical information and guidelines.

Find all the measures we're covering this legislative session on  our 2025 bill tracker .

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at  bsmith@ipbs.org  or follow him on Twitter at  @brandonjsmith5 .

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Brandon J. Smith has previously worked as a reporter and anchor for KBIA Radio in Columbia, MO. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, IL as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.