Republican legislative leaders say Indiana made huge gains in health care and education in the 2020 legislative session. But Democrats decry missed opportunities.
House Speaker Todd Huston (R-Fishers) cites some accomplishments: loosening regulations on public schools, shielding teachers from penalties over low student test scores, sending more money for career and technical education. And he points to what he calls huge strides in health care transparency.
“This is a work that we will continue to do on this issue," Huston says. "We’re going to spend the interim working with stakeholders to figure out how we can continue to make progress on lowering health care costs.”
But Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane (D-Anderson) says Republicans ignored major issues that Hoosiers are calling for.
“One would be gun safety – nothing on that. Crickets, as they say," Lanane says. "And then also reasonable criminal justice reform by way of reasonable marijuana law reform.”
Lanane says the GOP rejected even public debate on those issues.
Contact Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.