Conference priorities to help families receives funding

By Brigid Curtis Ayer

While much of the attention on the state’s budget has been geared toward property tax relief and whether slot machines will be added to Indiana’s horse racing industry, the Indiana Catholic Conference (ICC) has kept a watchful eye on the budget for another reason—to raise the dignity of lower-income families in Indiana.

Several important funding pieces to benefit lower-income families moved in and out of the state’s budget bill throughout the last days of the session, and even were moved during the final hours before the Indiana General Assembly was scheduled to adjourn on April 29 by midnight.

Access to health care for the uninsured, funding for affordable housing, scholarship tax credits and special savings accounts for low-income families topped ICC’s list of priorities which were attached in some way to the passage of this year’s state budget bill.

The budget bill, House Bill 1001, passed the Indiana General Assembly late on April 29.

“I’m pleased that several important health care provisions were included in the budget which will benefit lower-income families and children,” said Glenn Tebbe, ICC executive director, “but, unfortunately, the scholarship tax credits were removed during the final hours of the budget negotiations and did not pass.

“Health insurance for Indiana’s uninsured, which originated as part of Gov. Mitch Daniels’ ‘Healthier Indiana Plan,’ was improved upon by Democrat and Republican lawmakers as it moved through the process,” Tebbe said.

To fund this plan, Hoosier lawmakers passed House Bill 1678, which raises the cigarette tax by 44 cents per pack. Currently, the cigarette tax in Indiana is 55.5 cents per pack, but under House Bill 1678, the cigarette tax will jump to nearly a dollar, or 99.5 cents per pack.

The ICC testified before state lawmakers several times in support of this plan, and Hoosier legislators passed a budget that allocates funding for health insurance coverage for the uninsured.

It is estimated that the cigarette tax would raise $206 million annually and provide health insurance for roughly 132,000 uninsured Hoosiers. Currently in Indiana, there are 561,000 Hoosiers without health insurance.

A portion of the cigarette tax will expand the eligibility of children who qualify for health coverage in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). It is estimated that 39,000 Hoosier children will now be eligible for well care provided through this program, which include early childhood immunizations and regular doctor visits. Also expanded through the CHIP health coverage will be access to prenatal care for low-income expectant mothers. It is estimated that an additional 17,000 mothers will be eligible for prenatal care.

Also as part of the “Healthier Indiana Plan,” businesses can be given tax credits for up to half of the cost of wellness programs they institute in the workplace as a way to encourage working Hoosiers to adopt healthier lifestyles.

Lawmakers also restored funding to the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation (ITPC) program, an effort that helps Hoosiers quit smoking and works to deter young people from starting to smoke.

Additionally, the cigarette tax will provide an increase in Medicaid reimbursement for physicians and dentists who care for poor families in Indiana.

“Many of the doctors who care for poor families were beginning to turn families away because they were concerned they would not be reimbursed for their services,” Tebbe said, “but with money allocated in the state budget for this specific purpose, doctors will be able to continue their care for these families.”

Reducing homelessness by providing more affordable housing options was another ICC priority attached to the budget. The aim of the original bill, House Bill 1351, was to create a more reliable funding source for affordable housing. The funding source language in House Bill 1351 was amended into Senate Bill 500, which passed, and the allocation for the funding passed in the state budget bill.

“The good news is lawmakers have created new permanent funding streams for both the state’s housing trust fund and also for local housing trust funds,” Tebbe said. “The measure will also allow new local housing trust funds to be created in other communities.”

Currently, the city of Indianapolis and Monroe, Vanderburg and Allen counties have local trust funds.

One way these funds help poor families is by allowing eligible families to qualify for a housing subsidy.

Bill Bickel, executive director of Holy Family Shelter and Holy Family Transitional Housing in Indianapolis, a part of Catholic Charities, said that many families are one paycheck or one incident away from being homeless. A housing subsidy available through a housing trust fund could give poor families enough money to cover rent so they can remain in their residence when unexpected financial situations arise.

For a listing on the status of other ICC priority bills, go to the Indiana Catholic Conference’s Web site at www.indiana.nasccd.org, and click on legislative update.

(Brigid Curtis Ayer is a correspondent for The Criterion.) †