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Rep. Donna Schaibley, a Republican from Carmel, announced Thursday that she will retire after nearly 10 years in office.
She’ll complete her current two-year term, but won’t seek reelection in 2024. She has served House District 24—parts of Boone and Hamilton counties—since 2014.
“My service in the General Assembly has truly been a privilege, and I want to thank my constituents for giving me the opportunity to represent them,” Schaibley, 69, said in a news release.
“During my time in the legislature, we’ve made strong progress in lowering the cost of health care for employers and patients, as well as infusing much-needed transparency and accountability in the health care marketplace,” added Schaibley, who has focused much of her legislative efforts on health care.
In the most recent legislative session, she authored a bill aimed at improving price transparency to drop employer and patient costs. Though the complex House Enrolled Act 1004 faced opposition from large health care systems, it survived after lawmakers stripped out or weakened its most debated provisions.
The law still creates a task force to oversee the state’s largest hospital systems and curbs billing practices that previously resulted in high hospital-based prices being charged for services provided elsewhere.
In 2020, Schaibley authored legislation creating a database consumers can use to compare health care prices and quality, in a bid to boost informed decision-making. The All Payer Claims Database is expected to be operational in early 2024.
She’s also authored and contributed to legislation closing a loophole in a gun violence prevention law, strengthening protective orders for victims of domestic abuse and other violence, and enabling families of children with disabilities to establish tax-exempt savings accounts for health expenses.
“Donna is an incredibly valuable member of our House team and she’s taken on tough issues, particularly those focused on reducing health care costs for all Hoosiers,” said House Speaker Todd Huston, a Republican from Fishers.
“She leads with compassion and always puts the needs of her constituents and local communities first, and we will miss her leadership at the Statehouse,” Huston added. “I look forward to serving with her over the next year as she completes her term.”
Schaibley, originally from Floyds Knobs, lives in Carmel with her husband John.
She is the second long-serving Carmel Republican to announce retirement plans in recent weeks: Rep. Jerry Torr will also serve out his term before leaving to focus on his career in title insurance.
Several other GOP lawmakers have recently made early, mid-term resignations, and another—Sen. Jack Sandlin of Indianapolis—unexpectedly died this month.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
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Ten years is long enough. We need term limits. Hats off to her.