John KrullThis column was originally published by TheStatehouseFile.com
By John Krull
TheStatehouseFile.com
January 29, 2025
Perhaps the most important moment in Indiana Gov. Mike Braun’s first State of the State address came at the beginning, before he even dove into his prepared text.
Braun looked around the chamber of the Indiana House of Representatives and said it was good to be back. He pointed to the spot where he sat as a first-year lawmaker 10 years ago.
It was a subtle reminder to the members of the Indiana General Assembly that Braun is the first Hoosier governor in more than 20 years to have experience as a state legislator.
His message was unmistakable. Braun was telling the assembled representatives and senators that, in his heart, he was one of them.
That’s how he delivered the half-hour-long speech—as a kind of unquestioning soliloquy for those of like mind.
Braun said—several times—that he was eager to collaborate with anyone.
It was a claim undercut by his actions, the executive orders he had signed in the first days of his governorship. Collaboration depends upon consultation and negotiation, not top-down directives from an executive branch that is, according to the Indiana Constitution, supposed to execute rather than initiate policy changes.
In these early stages of his leadership of the state, Braun already has established himself as more of a divider than a unifier.
The state legislature’s Black caucus skipped his speech to protest his executive order unilaterally ending state Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs. The Black lawmakers instead held a rally to highlight their concerns.
They likely didn’t make much headway.
Thanks to one of the most ruthlessly gerrymandered district maps in America, Braun will deal with a state legislature that is about as likely to question one of his proposals as a dog is to pause before chowing down on red meat.
Certainly, the lawmakers weren’t in a questioning mood while Braun spoke.
If they were, they would have asked, among other things, how the new governor was going to pay for the tax cuts for which he called.
He acknowledged, somewhat disingenuously, that his property tax relief plans would have an impact on local governments.
In truth, the impact would be severe. Braun would reduce the size of the state’s budget by shifting burden down to local communities, forcing elected officials in Indiana towns and cities to deal with what would amount to unfunded mandates from the state.
For that reason, even Republican mayors around Indiana have balked at endorsing Braun’s plan. They know when someone’s trying to stick them with the tab.
The overwhelmingly Republican legislators, though, applauded the idea because they like the idea of cutting taxes and letting someone else figure out how to pay for their folly.
Braun also vowed that he would crack down on illegal immigration.
Just where in the Indiana or U.S. Constitutions he found the authority for an Indiana governor to do this is not clear.
But, again, the GOP lawmakers were not of a mind to ask questions.
If they had been, they might have inquired why the governor felt the need to thunder that he would stop Indiana from being home to sanctuary cities for undocumented immigrants.
It’s already illegal for any Indiana municipality to provide such a sanctuary.
Perhaps the legislators forgot they already passed such a law. Or maybe they think the rest of us are too stupid to read it.
The other parts of Braun’s speech were the typical self-congratulatory bombast and boasting of a monied man who wants to run government like a business.
Businesses get to dispense with products, services or ideas that are too costly or don’t bring in enough money.
Governments in a country such as ours don’t get to—or at least aren’t supposed to—write off citizens who are high-cost, low-yield, such as the elderly, the ill or the poor. In this land of liberty, everyone is supposed to have the same rights, even when protecting those rights becomes expensive.
Maybe Braun has the skills to address concerns about his proposals and the assumptions driving them.
But the fact is that he didn’t even have to try.
As Braun pointed out at the start of his maiden State of the State speech, he was talking to a group of old friends, folks who think like he thinks and want what he wants.
Even if what he wants isn’t entirely grounded in either law or reality.
John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students. The views expressed are those of the author only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.