Indiana Gov. Mike Braun says his administration got almost nine in every 10 agency and agenda bills over the finish line during his second session.
“We developed a strategy for delivering those priorities, and with the partners in the General Assembly, we were throughout (session), weighing in on bills,” he told reporters during a Monday news conference, held at his office in the Indiana Statehouse.
He highlighted measures moving utility companies to performance-based rates, giving workers a one-year break on tips and overtime taxes, setting up the financing structure for a potential Chicago Bears get, slashing environmental regulations and cracking down on unauthorized immigration.
Braun also celebrated social media restrictions for kids and a school-day cellphone ban.
State agencies nabbed 32 of their 35 bills, losing out in just three cases — including a push to legalize online Hoosier Lottery games — according to an administration tally. And 19 of the 23 bills backed by the administration also passed, although proposals on tort reform and nonprofit hospitals failed.
“That’s an amazing percentage,” Braun said. “… That’s because every day, every week of the session, (Deputy Chief of Staff) Jason Johnson and our team that interacted with the legislators made sure that those priorities were in there — and avoided … (what) would have been the first vetoes of my administration.”
He said he would have vetoed House Enrolled Act 1038, which authorizes a new casino in the Fort Wayne area, if lawmakers hadn’t reinserted a provision letting local residents vote in a referendum.
GOP state senators handed Braun a stunning defeat in December, when they voted down a governor- and president-backed plan to redraw Indiana’s two blue congressional districts red.
Still, Braun said, his relationship with lawmakers is “good.”
“I get along with almost anyone, regardless of the issue, always willing to talk about it,” he said. “And my relationship with the legislators would be good. … Very much open conversation, transparent. We want to work together. If you look at these results, that’s pretty impressive.”
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