Whitney Downard and Niki Kelly, Indiana Capital Chronicle
The state’s two-year budget cleared a hurdle on Tuesday in the Senate, securing bipartisan support to move forward through the legislative process.
The portion of the budget under House Bill 1001 dedicated to funding the state’s share of Medicaid expenses continues to grow, increasing from from 15% in 2021 to 18% in 2023 and 22% in this year’s budget.
“For the last couple of years, I’ve been very concerned about Medicaid,” said Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Mishawaka. “I hope you’re all starting to see that as well.”
Mishler helms budget-writing in the Senate.
Aside from Medicaid and K-12 education, two state agencies absorbed nearly all of the increased spending: the Department of Child Services and the Department of Correction. The former overspent its last appropriation while the latter ran out of dollars to pay the per diem for local jails to house low-level felony offenders.
The Republican-led budget won the vote of Sen. David Niezgodski, a Democrat from South Bend. He pointed to funding for commuter rail in his district along with “settling the lease with the (Indiana) Historical Society,” an agreement that was in doubt following some language appearing to contradict Republican intentions.
Sen. Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis, also broke his streak of opposing the budget to support House Bill 1001 on Tuesday. The sole Republican to vote against the measure, Indianapolis Sen. Mike Young, didn’t explain his vote.
But not everyone was on board, despite the bipartisan support.
Sen. Fady Qaddoura criticized the lack of funds dedicated to shrinking the state’s outstanding waitlists for Medicaid waiver services as well as inadequate funding for curricular materials for local school corporations.
“The question is not whether or not Indiana has the resources — it is the question about the priorities. Sen. Mishler and my colleagues are correct: Medicaid is growing and public education is growing,” said Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis. “Doesn’t it concern you that two million out of 6.9 million have to rely on some form of health care provided by the government? What does that tell you about the status … the futures across the state?”
One Republican also shared her concerns about the budget moving forward.
Sen. Vaneta Becker said that while she would support the proposal on Tuesday, she “likely wouldn’t” when it returned for a final vote. She cited public education funding concerns as well as the decision to strike funding for the Women’s Commission and the Indiana Commission on the Social Status of Black Males.
“I’m very disappointed in the loss of those but the biggest thing I’m sorry about is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. It’s such a small amount when you’re looking at a $44 billion budget. It was $2 million in the first year,” said Becker, R-Evansville. “… if you’re concerned about early childhood literacy, you can’t do better than that.”
She said she hoped First Lady Maureen Braun would be able to independently raise funds for the program, as she previously said she would do.
The proposal will go to a conference committee, which allows the two chambers to negotiate final language that reflects updated data due to be released during a Wednesday revenue forecast.
What’s new in the budget
The budget now also includes a repeal of caseload ratios for Department of Child Services case workers that was never discussed publicly.
In a statement, Mishler said he worked with Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, to craft the caseload language “to help create more flexibility for DCS caseworkers since some cases require more attention than others due to the varying complexity of cases.”
The staffing rules were originally put into law under then-Gov. Mitch Daniels at a time when the system was overwhelmed and riddled with deaths.
Ron Green, a spokesperson for DCS, said the agency “monitors its family case manager caseloads, complexity of cases and allocation of assignments on a regular basis. We do this to ensure our case managers feel supported, not overburdened by the number of cases for which they are responsible and ultimately, to make sure we are operating in the best interest of children while prioritizing their safety.
“Removal of the 12-12-13 standard from Indiana law, if it passes, will have no bearing on DCS’ administrative capabilities.”
The standard means that no family case manager shall have more than:
- 12 active cases related to initial assessments, including investigations into an allegation of child abuse or neglect
- 12 families monitored and supervised under active cases related to ongoing in-home services
- 13 children monitored and supervised in active cases related to ongoing services who are in out-of-home placements
The fiscal analysis on the budget said as of April 2025, there are 890 vacant budgeted family case manager positions statewide, which accounts for 30% of all budgeted family case manager positions in the agency.
Two organizations focusing on child abuse and neglect in the state declined to comment for this story.