Fixing the roads and more
Indiana House District 32 legislative & community update from Representative Victoria Garcia Wilburn
Dear neighbor,
We are now past the halfway point of the legislative session! Read on for updates from the Statehouse and our House District 32 communities. As the weather improves, I’m excited to see you out and about in the community.
As always, please reach out to my office at h32@iga.in.gov with questions, concerns, and feedback.
In service,
Supporting road funding for House District 32’s communities
On Feb. 20, the Indiana House of Representatives passed House Bill 1461 out of the chamber. The bill will provide local governments with innovative fundraising tools for road maintenance. The bill also includes provisions that would allow Marion County to receive $50 million dollars for the upkeep of roads.
The bill is now being considered by the State Senate.
The Indiana Department of Transportation announced yesterday (March 6) that several communities in House District 32 will receive Community Crossings Matching Grants for the spring of 2025. These funds can be used to build and improve local infrastructure projects, including roads and bridges.
The matching grant winners and amounts include these HD 32 communities:
Carmel - $1,171,958.89
Fishers - $1,500,000.00
Hamilton County - $1,500,000.00
Indianapolis - $1,500,000.00
Noblesville $1,500,000.00
I want to congratulate Hamilton County and the cities of Carmel, Fishers, Indianapolis and Noblesville for working hard to fund our roads and bridges and seeking out this matching grant funding to do so. I know that this funding will be put to good use maintaining our current infrastructure and executing new projects where possible. I will continue to support infrastructure funding for our district's communities so we can continue growing and attracting families and businesses.
I was also pleased to vote for HB 1461. If signed into law, this bill would give Marion County the funding it needs to maintain its roads and give Hamilton County new, innovative tools to raise funds for road maintenance. This is vital given the fact that our roads are starting to show their age. I am grateful for my partnerships with our local mayors that also made this bill a joy to support. Finally, I am hopeful that this is a step in the right direction when it comes to fixing Indiana's broken road funding formula.
Thank you to Larry in Fishers and the Hamilton County Reporter for covering this!
Cutting through the health care noise
Several bills passed the House last month that claim to lower health care costs but actually do little to make a difference on your wallet.
Both House Bill 1003 and 1004 impose new taxes and process changes on our hospitals, but real-life barriers to implementing these changes will keep Hoosiers from getting faster, better, or cheaper care. HB 1003 establishes a Medicaid Fraud Control Unit but does little to protect consumers who experience delays in care or pre-authorization denials.
HB 1666 requires health care entities, insurers, third party administrators and pharmacy benefit managers to report ownership details, including private equity interests, to the state. It also establishes the Health Care Entity Merger Approval Board to evaluate, approve or deny proposed mergers and acquisitions of health care entities and gives the state Attorney General authority to review proposed hospital mergers and acquisitions. Transparency is valuable, but transparency without reform does little to lower costs for patients.
Our community values our health deeply, so I wanted to provide this update on the potential impact of this legislation on our local community hospitals. I voted no on all three bills because I know we can do better than this to lower costs through policy changes like reimbursement rate updates and PBM reform to prioritize consumer’s wallets. Overall, the Statehouse Majority is working to put the primary responsibility for funding Medicaid on our hospital systems when this is an obligation that rests with the federal government and the state. Patients should not bear the cost of our state government refusing to play their part.
Advocating for science
It was a pleasure to speak with young scientists at Indiana Science Communication Day earlier this week and listen to them explain their research findings to me. I also spoke at the Stand Up for Science Rally at the Statehouse earlier today.
As the federal government considers cuts to NSF and NIH funding, I will always stand up for the critical role the life sciences play in our district’s economy.
Did you catch my update on the state budget process? If not, check it out here:
Celebrate National Vietnam War Veterans Day with the City of Fishers
Join the City of Fishers, a proud Commemorative Partner of the Vietnam War Commemoration, at the free public ceremony on Friday, March 28 at 2:30 p.m. at Fishers City Hall Theater (1 Municipal Drive) honoring veterans and their families who served during the Vietnam War period. Learn more at FishersIN.gov/FishersHonors.
Carmel Street Department wins Geotab® Innovation Award
The City of Carmel announced earlier this week that it has been recognized with a 2025 Geotab® Innovation Award for Fleet Sustainability in the small-medium size public sector category. These awards honor outstanding fleets that are leading the way in their use of connected vehicle technology and data insights to create better outcomes to support and enhance services to Carmel residents and businesses.
Congratulations to Carmel! As Jason Armes, Fleet Supervisor with the Street Department, said: "All of these data points help us keep our drivers safe, our fleet well maintained, streets cleaned and plowed and, with our Biodiesel program, we are doing our part to help better the air quality for the citizens of Carmel.”
Thank you to everyone who attended my Valentine’s Day coffee listening sessions!
Thank you to everyone who came out on Valentine’s Day to share their thoughts and concerns on state government with me. I appreciate your engagement! Check out this video recap here on the day.
Congrats to Fishers for launching its Aging & Wellness Task Force!
The City of Fishers has launched an Aging & Wellness Task Force to evaluate existing services available for seniors within Fishers and make recommendations for new programming and initiatives, including a potential facility dedicated to senior services.
The task force is co-chaired by Fishers City Councilman Bill Stuart and local physician and Hamilton Southeastern Board of Trustees member Dr. Juanita Albright and includes residents and care providers. As part of the evaluation phase, the task force will publish a community survey and host focus groups to identify gaps within existing offerings.
This is an exciting development for our seniors and I want to congratulate Fishers for taking a proactive approach to ensure our seniors can age well in our community.
Thank you to Riverside Intermediate students for their advocacy to make the Indiana bat our state mammal!
It’s been a privilege this session to work with the students of Riverside Intermediate and their teacher Heather Asher to file a bill to make the Indiana bat our official state mammal. While the bill didn’t receive a hearing this year, I will keep advocating alongside these students to advance it in future sessions!