IN THE NEWS

More Time Needed to Assess Indiana's Work-Based Learning Overhaul, Says New Brief 

Indianapolis Business Journal 
March 25, 2024

As Indiana’s new technical education overhaul rolls out for high school students across the state, will work-based learning take hold, as intended, and transform how younger Hoosiers get job-ready?

That’s the question being asked by Indiana’s Fiscal Policy Institute in a brief published last month—the first of several in a series analyzing youth talent development.

The brief dives into House Enrolled Act 1002, a sweeping piece of GOP-backed legislation approved during the 2023 legislative session.

This first-of-its-kind model was seen as “provocative” by many who would prefer more investment in traditional Career and Technical Education, or CTE, programming, according to the IFP brief. Even so, many proponents argued “that it did not go far enough fast enough.”

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Eliminating Economic Enhancement District Eliminates Tool to Improve Downtown Indianapolis 

Indiana Capital Chronicle | January 22, 2024 

The House Ways and Means committee last week heard hours of testimony about eliminating a financing mechanism intended to pay for critical services in the Indianapolis Mile Square.

This area, which houses the seats of state and local governments, as well as marquee sporting and entertainment venues has seen better times. In 2023, Indianapolis was able to secure a provision in the state’s budget that would allow for Indianapolis to institute a fee on property owners in the heart of downtown, to pay for needed services.

Now that this fee has been locally approved, powerful interests at the Statehouse are pushing legislators to invalidate the financing tool.

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