Mayors, city councilors, utility leaders and economic development experts from around central Indiana gathered Wednesday to discuss more coordination involving the boom in data center development.
Provisions of Senate Bill 270, which the House approved on Tuesday, would require townships with poor performance scores to merge with other townships or some cities.
The Indiana Senate is considering language that would see local governments get potentially significant payments from data center operators seeking to build in their towns.
The Bears are prepared to invest about $2 billion for the stadium project in Hammond, according to Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers.
As amended Thursday, Senate Bill 27 creates a financial framework for the construction of a new stadium and puts to rest speculation as to where that stadium might be built.
In a statement released Thursday morning, the Bears said they are “committed” to continuing their exploration of a targeted development site near Hammond.
Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness said he appreciates an attempt to compromise on rental cap ordinances, but feels the Legislature isn’t listening to what local communities want.
An Indiana House committee on Tuesday endorsed a melding of differing Senate and House bills that supporters said will improve local government efficiency.
The bill requires the Indiana Economic Development Corp. to set aside $50 million in tax credits — out of the agency’s total allotment of $300 million — for specific regional items. It also establishes rules for the state’s new drone-testing site.
House Roads and Transportation Committee Chair State Rep. Jim Pressel did not take a committee vote on the legislation and pulled it from the agenda.
House Bill 1333 would require data center developers that receive sales tax exemptions to give 1% of the abatement to local governments.
Critics say the township model is outdated and inefficient and adds an unnecessary layer of government. Legislation from both chambers of the Indiana Statehouse would pare down township government.
Joyce, an Indianapolis native and former André Carson campaign staffer, has stepped into a newly created cabinet role within Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration.
Language buried in a bill about local finances would override ordinances in Carmel and Fishers and prevent other local governments from restricting or banning rental properties.
All nine U.S. House and 100 Indiana House seats are up for election this year, along with half of the 50 Indiana Senate seats. The candidate filing period ended at noon on Friday.
Several Democratic election officials, and some Republicans, have spoken out. Placing voting under control of the federal government would represent a fundamental violation of the Constitution, they note.
Philip Foust, a Republican, worked in the Prosecutor’s Office from 2015 to 2021 and saw “how dramatically it has drifted from its core mission,” he said in a press release announcing his candidacy.
Secretary of State Diego Morales maintains that his office followed state law, but that hasn’t stopped many candidates from refiling this week at the Indiana Election Division office ahead of Friday’s deadline.
Local Democrats who have a stronghold on Indianapolis generally oppose intervention from the Republican supermajority that passes policies at the Indiana Statehouse, but Indianapolis Republicans are willing to invite it.
The proposed project from Seattle-based Sabey Corp. was on the docket for Thursday’s Metropolitan Development Commission hearing examiner meeting, but the company asked for it to be rescheduled.
