Chamber: Session ‘Not One For The Record Books’

The Indiana Chamber of Commerce has released its final report on the 2018 legislative session. The chamber says, while there were a few victories, the short session ended with several pieces of legislation deemed as priorities failing to make it to the governor’s desk.

Some of the disappointments, the chamber says, include the failure to pass bills to raise the minimum smoking age to 21, consolidate townships with populations below 1,200, and adopting a work share program.

However, the chamber says the "final exclamation point" to the Indiana General Assembly in 2018, will come during the special session ordered by Governor Eric Holcomb, which will begin in May. The chamber says Holcomb "made the right call" in ordering the special session, which will deal with, among other items, a bill to align the state’s tax code with changes at the federal level made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in December.

"That’s a big problem to not have reconciled because state taxes are based on the federal definition of adjusted gross income," the chamber said in a news release. "Without it, Hoosier businesses would incur additional compliance costs. Their required quarterly tax estimates would turn into guesses and ultimately become planning and cash flow challenges."

Indiana Chamber Chief Executive Officer Kevin Brinegar appeared on Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick last month to talk about the end of the session, which aired prior to Holcomb’s call for the special session. You can view that interview in the video above.

You can also read the chamber’s full report on the 2018 legislative session below: