Legislators have finalized a bill to support prenatal programs, pay down pension debt, and send you a check.
Bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate overwhelmingly approved a plan to send you a $200 tax rebate as a buffer against inflation. The checks are a little smaller than the $225 Governor Holcomb originally proposed, but legislators made more people eligible by expanding the rebate to people who don’t file income taxes.
The money is on top of the $125 rebates paid earlier this year under Indiana’s automatic rebate law. Thousands of taxpayers who haven’t received those checks yet will receive a single check with both payments. Those who don’t file returns will have to file one next year to claim the $200 payment.
The bill addresses a Senate Republican priority by earmarking a billion dollars of Indiana’s $6 billion in reserves for the state’s unfunded pension debt. And the package authorizes $80 million in new spending on health programs for pregnant women and new moms.
Governor Holcomb has said he’ll sign the bill as soon as it reaches his desk.
