Indiana
What Hoosier leaders in and outside the U.S. Capitol thought of Trump’s Inauguration Day
Former Vice President Mike Pence is in attendance at the inauguration of Donald Trump
Their relationship imploded after Pence refused Trump’s commands to block the certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.
President Donald Trump was sworn in on Monday as the 47th president of the United States with representatives from Indiana watching both inside the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol and at watch parties around Washington, D.C.
The Monday ceremonies were held inside for the first time in 40 years due to intense cold temperatures in Washington, D.C., and around the country. It meant only members of Congress and special guests could attend the official inauguration events inside the U.S. Capitol.
Despite the weather and last-minute event changes, Hoosiers were there, including members of Indiana’s congressional delegation, Gov. Mike Braun and former Hoosier Vice Presidents Mike Pence and Dan Quayle.
For Trump’s loyal supporters from Indiana, Monday’s inauguration marked a historic day. It capped off a political comeback for Trump after he lost the 2020 presidential election to now-former President Joe Biden. In the last four years, Trump faced impeachment, numerous legal cases and two assassination attempts prior to winning the 2024 presidential election.
“It was really one of the greatest days in American history and the biggest political comeback we’ve ever seen since our country’s beginning,” Indiana U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, who ran for senate in 2024 with Trump’s endorsement, told IndyStar Monday afternoon. “President Trump delivered a great speech reasserting America’s strengths and our role in the world. It’s great to have a president again who actually believes that America is the greatest country in the history of the world and we’re going to be even greater.”
Inside the Capitol
Some members of Indiana’s congressional delegation posted photos and videos to social media to share what the ceremonies looked like inside the U.S. Capitol.
U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym, who represents the 2nd Congressional District in northern Indiana, shared messages in videos on his X account, including after Trump’s inaugural address in which Trump slammed policies of the outgoing Biden administration, outlined his initial executive orders and called his inauguration a new “Golden Age” for America.
“He has laid out a clear vision for this country to make America great again, a positive vision, forward looking,” Yakym said in a video posted to X. “Now the time has come to get to work to deliver on the promises that we all made to the American people.”
Monday’s inauguration was not the first for Indiana U.S. Sen. Todd Young, who has represented Indiana in both the House and the Senate. Trump’s decisive victory in the 2024 election and winning rare non-consecutive terms, were also part of what made the inauguration a historic day, Young said.
Young was among Republicans who at times were critical of Trump’s 2024 campaign, but told IndyStar it was important to be at the inauguration because Trump is “our president.”
“Every single American should pray that he succeeds in restoring security and prosperity to the American people,” Young said Monday afternoon.
Indiana’s senior senator, who is respected by many Republicans and Democrats alike, emphasized it’s time for Republicans to get to work and said he believes he is positioned to help Trump succeed by “building bridges across the political aisle.”
“We campaign in flourishes, but we have to govern around certain specific policies, and those policies to have any enduring value need to be developed in a bipartisan way,” Young said. “That’s how I can be helpful.”
Indiana state Treasurer Daniel Elliott had planned to see Trump’s inauguration in person with his wife and son, but the last-minute move to hold the ceremonies inside the capitol changed those plans.
Elliott and his family still traveled to Washington, D.C., but instead bounced back and forth between watch parties held by the Indiana Republican Party and Hoosier members of Congress to view the inauguration.
It was not in person, but Elliott said there was excitement and energy among Republicans to see Trump take the oath of office again.
“It’s been a momentous experience, even if I didn’t get to be right where I thought I was going to be,” Elliott said. “I wouldn’t have chose anywhere else to be, and to be able to be with my family and be able to show my son that, look we are part of the greatest country ever, and someday it’s going to be his turn to be one of those people who helps lead our country.”
Protests in Indianapolis
Back in Indianapolis, a small group of protestors bundled up to attend an anti-Trump rally at Monument Circle in Indianapolis on Monday afternoon, despite the bitter cold.
“There are to be some dark days ahead. So does that mean that we hide out in our homes, blanket over our heads, waiting for the next four years to pass?” asked Medley Byers, co-chair of the Central Indiana Democratic Socialists of America. Byers was one of a handful of speakers from left-leaning political organizations including IDOC Watch and the Indy Liberation Center.
“No,” the crowd shouted back. Members held up signs addressing issues ranging from income inequality to war in the middle east.
“Of course not,” Byers said. “We can’t afford to do that, and the people we care about can’t afford for us to do that.”
Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at brittany.carloni@indystar.com or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter/X@CarloniBrittany.
Gov. Mike Braun asked state regulators to reconsider their decision to greenlight a $71 million rate increase for AES Indiana, doubling down on his condemnation of a move that could leave Indianapolis residents with higher electrical bills for years.
Braun wrote in a June 18 news release that he had asked Indiana Utility Counselor Abby Gray, who heads the office representing ratepayers in proceedings before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, to petition for a rehearing of the AES rate case.
Gray indicated in the release that her office would submit the petition shortly. No petition had been posted on the IURC’s online docket as of this story’s publication.
The rate increase, which was approved by the IURC on June 17, was substantially less than the $192 million increase that AES initially requested. It was also less than the amount proposed in a settlement last October between AES and major electricity consumers.
But the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, which Gray leads, came out strongly against any increase to AES’s base rates. In September, the OUCC called for a $21 million reduction instead.
As the Republican Party grapples with rising discontent over affordability, Braun has used opposition to rising utility rates to telegraph that he’s committed to keeping costs down for Indiana residents. He signed a law in February that allows the state to make rate-setting decisions that reward or penalize utilities based on metrics including affordability.
In March, he told reporters that he would take on Indiana’s five investor-owned utilities, describing himself as the “new sheriff in town.”
And after the IURC voted 3-1 to approve the AES rate increase, he wrote in a post to X that he was “deeply disappointed.”
Braun wrote in the June 18 news release that he had appointed Gray, a longtime OUCC lawyer and judge, to her current post because he knew she “would help me fight for Hoosiers.”
According to AES’s estimates, the rate increase will cost households an additional $5 per month for every 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity they use, beginning in July. A second hike will take effect in January.
Tilly Robinson is a Pulliam fellow for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at tilly.robinson@indystar.com.
The Protect College Sports Act, legislation meant to introduce and codify sweeping reforms related to college athletics, passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday morning.
It now heads to the Senate floor.
The bill passed out of committee by a 19-9 vote. Indiana Republican Sen. Todd Young voted no, his decision reflecting Big Ten concerns over the bill.
A spokesman for Sen. Young told IndyStar, “Senator Young hopes that additional changes can be made to the bill to address concerns raised by the Big Ten.”
Co-sponsored by Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), the Protect College Sports Act represents Congress’ most substantial success so far in a yearslong effort to bring legislative reform to college athletics. Since before the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders in college sports — including the NCAA, member conferences and schools, and other major players — have lobbied for national solutions to what have become state and regional problems.
Several pieces of legislation have been introduced across the last several years, only to fizzle long before reaching the floor of either chamber. The SCORE Act, introduced last year in the House of Representatives, gained some traction and passed out of committee, but was never brought to the floor.
Which makes Thursday’s news meaningful. Moving the Protect College Sports Act to the Senate floor, while not a guarantee of any outcome, potentially takes the bill past a threshold no other such piece of reformative legislation has yet been able to cross.
Cruz told Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger on Thursday that Cruz believes Sen. Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is committed to introducing the bill to the Senate floor soon.
The bill provides a legal framework for a host of potential reforms and protections for college sports. It grants limited antitrust protection to the NCAA, places limits on certain things including potential conference realignment, builds safeguards meant to protect non-revenue and Olympic sports, addresses potential broadcast rights reforms, and more.
It enjoys significant backing, and not just among leaders in college sports. This week, the NFL, its players’ association, the National Basketball Players Association and Major League Baseball all voiced their support for the bill.
Two key constituencies not in lockstep on the bill voiced their own concerns Thursday.
In a joint statement issued just after 10 a.m. Thursday, the Big Ten and SEC — far and away the two most powerful conferences and arguably two greatest power centers, full stop, in college athletics — suggested they still hold significant reservations over the bill.
“From the outset, we identified a set of essential revisions to the PCSA necessary for the long-term sustainability of college athletics,” the statement read. “We have worked with both majority and minority staff to advance those revisions, which focus on better supporting student-athletes and stabilizing the college sports environment. We continue to believe revisions are needed to secure our support for the bill.
“Despite our sustained engagement and good faith efforts, these critical revisions have not been accepted.”
The statement went on to note the “several Commerce Committee members that share our concerns and support these recommendations.”
Young is one of several members of the committee representing a Big Ten state, including one of three Republicans. He is the only Republican member of the committee whose state contains multiple schools in the conference.
Allowing for those reservations, Thursday’s news is still significant. It marks the first time a bipartisan bill on the subject has reached this point in the Senate and, should it be brought to the floor, it would be the first such legislation to reach that stage, in either chamber.
The bill could be brought to the Senate floor as early as July, though that timeline remains fluid.
(INDIANA CAPITAL CHRONICLE) – The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission voted 3-1 Wednesday to approve a $71 million electricity rate increase for AES Indiana customers.
That is about 37% of what the utility initially requested and lower than a settlement agreement proposed in October.
Neither Gov. Mike Braun nor consumer advocates are happy with the outcome.
“My top priority is affordability, which is why I am deeply disappointed by the IURC’s approval of another AES rate increase,” he said. “Hoosiers have spent years tightening their belts and making tough financial decisions. It’s time for utility companies to do the same.”
Members of the commission didn’t explain their votes Wednesday. IURC Chair Andy Zay focused his remarks on the process.
“There’s a lot of eyes on this order and what we’re doing today,” he said. “What is before you on the floor is a nearly a year’s worth of work, evidence, deliberations, and considerations that bring us to this moment in this decision. None of this was taken lightly. I want to thank my colleagues for the patience and working through this amongst the auspice of affordability, which is certainly a hot topic now, as well as the resiliency, reliability that we see in this increased demand in electricity.”
The Office of Utility Consumer Counselor last year recommended that state regulators deny AES Indiana’s request for a $193 million base rate increase — instead proposing a $21 million reduction in current rates.
“The AES rate order issued today is an outrage and Hoosiers deserve better!” Counselor Abby Gray said in a statement Wednesday. “Governor Braun has made it clear that ratepayer affordability is a priority, far more than just a ‘hot topic’ as described by the chairman of the IURC today. This order fails the governor’s call to overhaul how utilities are regulated in order to lower bills for ratepayers.”
Gray’s office represents Hoosier ratepayers in regulatory cases.
“The order approves a substantial profit margin for shareholders in addition to a rate increase for customers,” she continued. “It even requires ratepayers to pay approximately $3 million to AES lawyers and experts.”
AES Indiana provides electricity service to about 490,000 homes and businesses in Indianapolis and some nearby areas.
The utility originally sought $193 million in rate increases. The previously proposed settlement agreement dropped that to $91 million, while the final, approved settlement agreement lands at $71 million.
Three IURC members supported the increase: Zay, David Veleta and David Ziegner.
Commissioner Bob Deig voted no. A fifth member, Anthony Swinger, recused himself because he worked on the case previously when he was on the consumer counselor’s office staff.
Ben Inskeep, program director for ratepayer advocacy group Citizens Action Coalition, said utilities across the country often ask for a larger increase than they need, knowing that regulators will disallow “roughly half” of it.
“The latest AES Indiana fuel adjustment clause proceeding shows AES Indiana is actually not only earning all of their allowed profit but over-earning by $19 million their return amount,” he said. “They’re already extremely financially successful at this moment in time, so it’s rather bizarre to even get an extra $71 million dollars approved here.”
Inskeep also noted that the increases will fall disproportionately on residential customers over commercial and industrial users.
Brandi Davis-Handy, president of AES Indiana, said the company has maintained some of the lowest rates in the state for more than a decade “through disciplined planning and a focus on efficiency. We applied the same approach here by working closely with stakeholders to make balanced decisions that keep the system reliable, limit customer impact, and align with the state’s energy pillars.”
AES said for a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month, the increase will be less than $5 per month per phase. Phase one rates will be implemented in July 2026 and phase two rates will be implemented in January 2027.
The final order says the utility “will not seek to implement a change in basic rates and charges as a result of its next base rate case before January 1, 2030.”
A new law, however, requires all utilities to file a multi-year rate case in 2029, though implementation wouldn’t happen until 2030.
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