Inside Indiana Business • 07/16/2025

Innovate or Perish: On economic and environmental health, the same rule applies

For decades, policy debates around environmental protection and economic growth in Indiana and across the nation have been characterized by a “zero sum” philosophy; most of us have been trained to think that supporting one is tantamount to opposing the other. But a growing body of evidence proves the truth is just the opposite: the health of Indiana’s environment has never been more closely intertwined with the health of the state’s economy.

Inside Indiana Business • 04/04/2025

Property taxes and the new 'pop' economics

Watching a clown make balloon animals at a birthday party is a surprisingly intuitive lesson on the principles of Boyle’s law, which says that the pressure and volume of a gas – like air in a balloon – are inversely proportional. Squeeze one part of a balloon and the increased pressure will cause other parts to expand. Apply the right amount of pressure at precisely the right points and you end up with a cute balloon weenie dog. Apply too much pressure on any one point and you risk popping the whole thing.

indychamber.com • 03/10/2024

Legislative Update: Finish Line Edition

If you find yourself needing a breather now that the 2024 Indiana General Assembly session is over, remember that you were advised in our week three update that this short session would be both a sprint and a marathon. Consider John Stephen Akhwari’s finish in the 1968 Summer Olympics men’s marathon in Mexico City. Early in the race, the Tanzanian Akhwari was knocked to the ground as a group of runners jockeyed for position. His knee was bloodied and dislocated in the fall, and most observers as...

indychamber.com • 03/02/2024

Legislative Update: Leap Day Edition

He never won an Olympic gold medal in the long jump, but U.S. Track and Field star Mike Powell holds other notable claims to fame. In 1991 and ‘92, Powell notched the longest “wind-assisted” and standing long jumps in Sestriere, Italy and Tokyo, Japan respectively. Thirty-three years later, Powell’s record leap of 29 ft., 4 ¼ in. in Tokyo still stands, making it the longest-standing long jump world record since records have been kept.  


Yesterday’s Leap Day had the Indy Chamber team in the mo...

indychamber.com • 02/23/2024

Legislative Update: Row, Row, Row Your Boat Edition

The Ballad of Harbo and Samuelsen, often performed by once-and-again local band Hogeye Navvy, tells the incredible story of two young Norwegian Americans who, in 1896, became the first people ever to row across an ocean when they paddled across the North Atlantic Ocean in 55 days. 127 years later, their time record has yet to be broken by another rowing duo. To achieve their remarkable feat, Harbo and Samuelsen reportedly rowed 18 hours every day and took turns getting three hours of sleep at ni...

indychamber.com • 02/16/2024

Legislative Update: All-Star Edition

Anyone who’s had the good fortune to walk anywhere in Mile Square this past week shouldn’t be surprised to find themselves humming Carly Simon’s 1977 hit “Nobody Does It Better.” Downtown Indy has been humming with energy in the run-up to this weekend’s NBA All-Star game—we’d be only mildly surprised if suddenly every driver, cyclist, and pedestrian inside the Inner Loop broke into synchronized song and dance.  


Yes, Indy is preparing to do what Indy does best: roll out the welcome mat to vis...

indychamber.com • 02/09/2024

Legislative Update: Super Bowl Halftime Show Edition

It’s been a quiet week at the Indiana Statehouse, with lawmakers on break since Tuesday as the 2024 session hit the halfway mark. The respite was perfect timing for the Indy Chamber team, given how much we still have to do to be ready for Sunday’s Super Bowl Halftime Show party— since that’s most of what we’ll be tuning in to watch. With thanks for this bit of scheduling serendipity, we say pass the nachos! It’s the Indy Chamber legislative update—Super Bowl Halftime Show edition.


Let’s Get I...

indychamber.com • 02/02/2024

Legislative Update: Eyes on the Prize -- Black History Month Edition

This week marked the start of Black History Month, so we’re taking our cue from some of the most memorable pearls of wisdom Black Americans gave through the ages—words to live—and, perhaps, to legislate—by. Read on for this week’s Indy Chamber legislative update: Black History Month edition. 

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”—Tim Notke via Kevin Durant 

NBA phenom Kevin Durant popularized this saying, allegedly coined by American high school basketball coach Tim Notke...

indychamber.com • 01/26/2024

It’s a Marathon AND a Sprint: Track and Field Edition

Confucious is credited with having said, “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” These may be great words to live by, but they won’t help you get through an Indiana General Assembly “short session,” which we’ve begun thinking of as a marathon that lawmakers and stakeholders run at a sprint. Lace up those sneakers! It’s time for this week’s Indy Chamber Legislative Update: Track and Field Edition. 

“If it’s not hard, you’re not dreaming big enough.”—Shalane Flannigan...

indychamber.com • 01/19/2024

Legislative Update: And The Award Goes To...

The filmmakers behind the 2004 blockbuster “The Day After Tomorrow” depicted a sudden ice age and resulting calamitous shenanigans. The abrupt arrival of sub-zero temperatures in central Indiana this week had some Hoosiers wondering if the film’s producers might have been onto something.  

The one place in Indianapolis that wasn’t cold this week: inside the Indiana Statehouse, where Session is already in high gear. No disrespect to any of Monday night’s Emmy Award winners, but some of the mos...

indychamber.com • 01/12/2024

Like Déjà vu All Over Again: Yogi Berra Edition

Major League Baseball phenom Yogi Berra was always destined for the Hall of Fame. His legendary career behind the commentator’s mic nearly eclipsed the public’s memory of his career on the field. His comical, apt, pointed, convoluted, but somehow essential take on a play or player could make us laugh until we cried.  

Comical, apt, pointed, convoluted, and essential could also be used to describe the legislative process. To help you make sense of it all: behold! The inaugural 2024 Indy Chamber...

indychamber.com • 05/08/2023

Legislative Update: Famous Last Words Edition

Legend has it these were the final words of the incomparable German composer Ludwig Van Beethoven, uttered as he lay dying—in the middle of a thunderstorm, no less—on the night of March 26, 1827.
It’s unlikely that anyone on the Indy Chamber will summon such erudition when that final dark and stormy night comes for us. In any case, we’re not dying, and these aren’t our final words—but the Indy Chamber’s Business Advocacy team will be catching our breath over the next few weeks as we plan for the...

indychamber.com • 05/01/2023

Legislative Update: The Greatest Spectacle in Racing Edition

If you’re the type of person who held on to see the end of the 2004 Indy 500, you likely enjoyed last Thursday’s marathon session at the Indiana General Assembly (IGA). Or maybe you’re just the kind of person who likes to watch things go around and around. Either way, the 2023 Indiana General Assembly session is, as they say, in the books.
Time for a quick check on Indy Chamber’s 2023 Legislative Priorities to evaluate who got lucky, who’s hoping for a better ride next year—and whose face is get...

indychamber.com • 04/21/2023

Legislative Update: One Day More! The Broadway Edition

As the end of April comes into view and the deadlines for final reading of bills in the Indiana General Assembly having passed this week, legislators have a little over “One Day More!” to ensure their priority bills make the cut. Happily, like members of a Broadway audience when the intermission lights flicker, the Indy Chamber’s priority bills made it to their seats before the curtain closes on the 2023 legislative session. Read on to see which ones will have the Hoosier state humming for years...

indychamber.com • 04/07/2023

Legislative Update: Weird, Wild Stuff -- The Dogs of Chernobyl Edition

Indy Chamber April 7 Legislative Update: The Dogs of Chernobyl Edition 
Those of us old enough to remember a bemused Johnny Carson pronouncing some new piece of information “weird, wild stuff” as host of The Tonight Show are almost certainly old enough to also remember the catastrophic accident at Chernobyl.
As the 40th anniversary of the world’s worst nuclear disaster approaches, scientists have been turning this radioactive lemon into some very interesting lemonade by taking a closer look at t...

indychamber.com • 04/03/2023

Legislative Update: Surprise Party Edition

The start of April has us all thinking about spring showers, Easter Eggs, and the broken hopes of busted basketball brackets—surprises abound, and with roughly four weeks left in the 2023 Legislative Session, we’re keeping our eyes peeled. Read on to see what’s popping up as the clock is winding down.
 
No [Big] Smooth Ride
While we all imagine a morning commute as smooth as a Sam Perkins’ three-point shot, our current reality is a bit bumpier. Long before he and fellow Tar Heel Michael Jordan w...

indychamber.com • 03/17/2023

Legislative Update: Kiss Me, I'm ... Flying a Kite in a Storm

Writing in “Poor Richard’s Almanac” in 1738, Benjamin Franklin posited that to live a fulfilled life, one must “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” While the Indy Chamber’s Business Advocacy team always hopes to do the former with these weekly updates, this past week members of the Indiana General Assembly looked to do the latter.
Read on for highlights of IGA action on Indy Chamber legislative priorities for the Indy Region and some perspicacious pearls of prude...

indychamber.com • 02/24/2023

Legislative Update: The Knives Out Edition

The action this week at the Statehouse—and there was a lot of it—had us thinking about double-edged swords. To see which IGA bills we think should make the cut—or need a cut, read on…
 
Dicing, mincing, julienne, and chiffonade
Whichever of the classic techniques you choose, these bills need some precise trimming:
HB 1499 – While we certainly understand the importance of affordability for attracting and retaining residents—as well as the call to provide relief to taxpayers grappling with rising...

indychamber.com • 02/13/2023

Indy Chamber Legislative Update: The Two-Minute Drill Edition

As the clock ticks down to “halftime” of the 2023 IGA session, let’s look at our first-half stats on the Indy Chamber’s legislative priorities and make some second-half predictions:
 
These…could…go…all…the….way! 
Moving into the endzone as halftime approaches are SB 1, SB 4, and HB 1449. SB 1, authored by Senator Mike Crider, has been passed to the Senate floor. Nothing so far has impeded SB 1’s march down the field or impinged upon its potential to be a game-changer for Hoosiers’ mental and be...

indychamber.com • 02/01/2023

Indy Chamber Legislative Update: Obscure Holiday Edition

If you’re still experiencing a case of the Monday blahs, take heart. Monday was “National Bubble Wrap Day”, so grab yourself a wad of the ubiquitous packing material and pop along as we catch you up on last week’s Statehouse action: 
Anyone who wandered into the Statehouse this past Thursday could be forgiven for thinking someone had declared it “Indiana Pacers Day” given the amount of blue and gold folks were wearing. No, it was the Indiana Department of Health team and the Governor’s Public He...