Indiana legislative leaders say they’re focused on “tweaks” to a number of ongoing issues in the 2026 General Assembly—whenever it officially begins—including property taxes, Medicaid and economic development.
Meeting Monday for the Indiana Chamber Legislative Preview event, Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray (R-Martinsville), House Speaker Todd Huston, (R-Fishers) Senate Minority Leader Shelli Yoder (D-Bloomington) and House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta (D-Fort Wayne) addressed what the Legislature is likely to consider in the upcoming non-budgetary session.
Democratic leadership said their caucus is “laser-focused” on affordability issues, while Bray and Huston emphasized they want to move more cautiously and work together with local governments on a host of issues.
Medicaid
Addressing Indiana’s ballooning Medicaid costs will be a priority for legislators in the coming session. The Family and Social Services Administration recently estimated expenses for Healthy Indiana Plan enrollees could grow from $2.9 billion in 2017 to $7.5 billion in 2027.
Last session, the General Assembly passed a law that could strip hospitals of their nonprofit status, starting in 2029, if their prices exceed state averages for individual procedures.
In the 2026 session, Bray said his main focus with Medicaid is “ to ensure people who need it are on it, and people who don’t, aren’t.”
Regarding health care costs more broadly, leaders feel patients often don’t have enough incentive or information to be able to shop for plans that keep costs down. Huston and Bray both said they’re in favor of more direct-to-employer health care models.
Bray added that there are a lot of different ways to address health care, but said he’s in favor of taking time to see how new bills impact the industry before rushing to try something new.
“Resist, if you will, the urge to every year, come up with lots and lots of new ideas,” Bray said. “Because the health care space is extremely complicated. If we pass a really good bill in 2024, it’s not firing on all pistons yet in 2025. This is a large ship and it takes a while to turn it.”
Taxes
Following last session’s major tax overhaul, local governments have been calling for changes to the law that started as Senate Bill 1, which is projected to result in $1.3 billion in property tax relief for homeowners over the next three years, but also reductions in revenue for local governments.
Both Bray and Huston on Monday said they stand by the overall structure of the law, but are open to working with local governments to amend specific provisions.
“We’re not talking, in my opinion at least, about wholesale changes, but rather tweaks to make it work a little bit better,” Bray said.
Accelerate Indiana Municipalities—which advocates for local governments—recently released a series of points in the law they want to see changed. The group’s main requests seek to reduce income tax rates for county governments and increase income tax rates for municipalities; allow income tax rates to carry over without a vote every year; and to give smaller towns a larger say in their rates.
Huston said he’s hopeful to work with, not against, local governments tax changes, but said the new framework benefits municipalities that are trying to grow.
“If you’re a community that’s growing and trying to do what it can … you’re rewarded in this new system,” Huston said.
Another significant tax item is whether Indiana will change its tax code to comply with new federal regulations passed in President Donald Trump’s budget reconciliation bill. There are 42 provisions in the federal law that will affect state tax filings, with leaders saying some are housekeeping fixes while others might require some debate.
Gov. Mike Braun had asked the Legislature to take up federal tax changes as part of a special session focused on redistricting. Bray announced Friday the Senate will not convene for that special session.
At Monday’s roundtable, Bray said he expects the federal tax items could be handled easily in early January when the Senate is set to meet next.
Data centers
Though questions posed to lawmakers were broadly about economic development, the conversation quickly turned to data centers.
Bray said hyperscale data centers from tech giants like Google, Meta and Microsoft can support communities with property tax dollars, but they often don’t bring a lot of other benefits. As grassroots opposition to data centers has grown, Bray said the Senate is likely to hear bills surrounding siting and nondisclosure agreements.
The 2025 session saw a law that exempts energy production facilities, including small-modular nuclear reactors, from local zoning processes in certain circumstances. Bray said he’s not anticipating a bill that preempts local control over zoning for data centers, but he expects there will be more discussion on the issue.
“Don’ t expect a big home run in siting reform at all,” Bray said. “It’s going to be slow and incremental over years because we’re partners with our local government folks and we don’t want to take over what they’re trying to do.”
Bray also said the state needs to reconsider the widespread use of nondisclosure agreements, or NDAs, particularly for data center projects, saying it creates a “high” level of distrust from local communities.
Redistricting
Monday’s talk focused on traditional policy issues, but hanging over the gathering is the prospect of redistricting.
On Sunday evening, President Trump attacked Braun, Bray and Sen. Greg Goode, R-Terre Haute. Braun on Monday again called for the Senate to meet and vote on new maps after saying he spoke to Trump on the phone.
During Monday’s roundtable, Bray reiterated the Senate will start the 2026 legislative session in January. Huston did not say whether the House will meet in December.
Both Bray and Huston left Monday’s event without speaking to reporters.