As we wrap up this 2025 budget-writing session of the Indiana General Assembly, here’s a brief summary of how the REALTOR® agenda fared at the statehouse:

An aside on the process: Many of the bills that have made it through the process (technically, enrolled acts at this point) still have one more step, even though the General Assembly has adjourned.

After being signed by the Speaker of the House, the Senate President Pro Tempore and the Lieutenant Governor, bills head to Governor Braun, who has seven days from receipt to either sign or veto them (they can become law without his formal stamp of approval on the eighth day).

You can keep an eye on the queue of bills awaiting gubernatorial action here.

Over the past week, state lawmakers scrambled to dig out of a two-billion dollar budget hole, the result of a massive downward revision in the state revenue forecast accounting for economic volatility.

In this climate, it’s the job of your Government Affairs team to be on guard against worst-case scenarios – among them legislators seeking out a new source of revenue to fill funding gaps that hits your bottom lines, like a sales tax on services.

It turns out budget negotiators were pursuing new revenue options, ultimately raising tobacco taxes to generate more than $800 million in new general fund collections over the two-year budget cycle (primarily dedicated to covering Medicaid expenses).

But as the General Assembly rebuilt the budget, we’re excited to report that full funding for residential infrastructure remained in the final plan: Lawmakers retained a $50 million biennial appropriation to help local governments finance the costs of new housing projects, starting from the ground up – the streets and sidewalks, sewers and stormwater systems that must be accounted for before new homes can rise from their foundations.

Indiana’s Residential Infrastructure Assistance Program is notable as one of the first times IAR has sought an explicit state appropriation for housing development, as a key recommendation of the Housing Task Force co-chaired by REALTOR® legislative champions Representative Doug Miller and Senator Linda Rogers.

Now, after an initial infusion of $75 million for state-backed infrastructure loans in the 2024-2025 budget, the program can count on another $50 million over the next two years to sustain the revolving fund as repayments start to come in.

This infrastructure funding represents a big win for housing when you consider how the revenue forecast forced many state agencies and departments to tighten their belts, with a 5% cut for most.

Legislators opted to continue a planned schedule of state income tax cuts and keep overall budget reserves in the 10% range deemed ‘prudent’ by fiscal experts.

We’re appreciative that the General Assembly recognizes the impact of Indiana’s long-term housing shortage on affordability and the prospects of attainable homeownership for Hoosier families.

We know that the grassroots advocacy of REALTORS® (with more than 350 in-person meetings between REALTORS® and legislators via several IAR sponsored activities this session!) and our ability to use your MLS data to show the scale of our inventory gap played a major role in keeping residential infrastructure top of mind in a tough budget climate.

Ultimately, the Senate followed the House in passing the budget early Friday morning before dropping the final gavel just before 2:00AM.

Property tax reform deserves a special call-out as one of the dominant topics this year where IAR and REALTOR® advocates played a key role.

Senate Bill 1 has already been signed by Governor Braun, meaning much-needed relief for homeowners is on the way – in brief:

We’ve already talked about the big budget win for residential infrastructure; we also worked closely with REALTOR® champion Representative Doug Miller to ensure this hard-fought funding goes to communities where it will be put to best use and deployed quickly to shovel-ready projects:

HB1005 addresses funding eligibility for the Residential Infrastructure Assistance Program, prioritizing infrastructure loans for communities that embrace pro-housing policies. It also allows developers to bypass local permitting bottlenecks by submitting private inspections that meet public requirements while avoiding undue delays. The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and awaits Governor Braun’s signature.

We’ve also talked to legislators about Indiana’s aging existing housing stock, which leaves thousands of units vulnerable to being lost to disrepair, dilapidation and vacancy each year. The budget notes this issue by establishing a new Home Repair Matching Grant Program with $250,000 in pilot funding – a positive step towards reinvesting in existing stock and another IAR legislative priority.

This session is memorable for what passed (property tax reform), but also the potentially negative proposals that we successfully fended off or stifled before any serious consideration:

We also supported a reasonable solution to a property rights concern – unlawful ‘squatters.’  Senate Bill 157 heads to the Governor’s desk, addressing the removal of unlawful squatters from a property while balancing concerns over whether a new law could be misused in place of the eviction process (or exploiting verbal or ‘handshake’ lease agreements). The bill narrowly defines "squatter" while requiring responding law enforcement to remove them when certain conditions are met.

Pending Governor Braun’s approval, we’ll also be able to remember this session for important updates to real estate licensure and business practices – changes supported by your Legislative Policy Advisory Group and Board of Directors to protect consumers and strengthen brokerages.

House Bill 1347 (Real Estate Matters) is also waiting for Governor Braun’s pen to advance industry professionalism:

While we take a moment to catch our breath and enjoy our accomplishments this session, IAR’s government affairs staff are already targeting issues to consider addressing next session. No rest for the weary!

For example, even with the pushback from local government over the fiscal impact of property tax relief, the idea of government reform and modernization gained limited traction in the legislature. We’ll continue to make the case for elimination of township government as a largely obsolete layer of government that’s allowed to collect and reserve hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax revenues that could be directed more efficiently through county or municipal governments.

The consolidation of separately-elected offices that perform administrative rather than policymaking roles is another opportunity to ‘work smarter’ with finite resources (we did have an engaging debate on assessors and assessment modernization this year thanks to REALTOR® Representative Ed Clere, who also authored HB1347).

But these are topics for the summer and sessions to come; in the meantime, watch for another wrap-up report next week as Governor Braun ratifies the final outcomes of the past few months at the statehouse over the next seven days.

Click below for more details on housing-related bills in the homestretch of session:

And check our progress against our pre-session priorities with the 2025 Indiana REALTOR® Legislative Agenda: