Governor Mike Braun announced yesterday his 2026 Freedom and Opportunity agenda focused on kitchen table issues, making life more affordable for Hoosiers.
The agenda builds on the progress achieved in 2025, and focuses on solutions for affordability, keeping Hoosiers safe, improving education quality and choice, and new jobs and higher wages.
“I’ve heard across all 92 counties that there’s more work to be done to make life affordable. Hoosiers need solutions that help make ends meet, and my 2026 agenda is focused on tackling these kitchen table issues. Our number one focus is making life better and more affordable for Hoosiers.” – Governor Mike Braun
Below are some key priorities from the 2026 agenda.
AFFORDABILITY
Hoosiers continue to feel squeezed by the costs of inflation, especially in housing, energy, and healthcare.
Governor Braun knows there’s more work to be done. In every corner of the state, Hoosiers have been clear: wages may be on the rise, but medical bills, energy bills, and mortgages have not let up. So neither will Governor Braun.
Affordable Housing:
- Remove unnecessary and unpredictable regulations that increase costs and delay construction
- Restore affordability particularly for first-time buyers and working families
Lower Energy Rates:
- Modernize rate-setting practices and hold utilities accountable.
- Expand Indiana’s energy capacity, because more power means lower rates for families.
Reform Healthcare and Lower Prices:
- Build on historic reforms of the 2025 legislative session to continue providing relief, protecting Hoosiers from medical debt, and increasing healthcare access across the state.
- Reduce administrative burdens on providers, modernizing prior authorization, and strengthening workforce standards allow doctors to focus on patients
JOBS & WAGES
With wages rising and businesses investing across the state, Governor Braun’s 2026 plan builds on Indiana’s economic momentum by putting local communities in the driver’s seat and focusing on higher wages and new job opportunities.
Workforce Development and Wage Growth:
- Expand opportunities like Power Up Indiana that allow more workers to benefit from upskilling to higher wages, strengthening Indiana’s competitiveness in advanced manufacturing and next-generation industries.
Remove Barriers to Growth and Improve Business Climate:
- Streamline permitting and modernize outdated regulations that hold back growth.
- Pursue meaningful tort reform to eliminate hidden costs that burden employers.
EDUCATION
Governor Braun’s education agenda focuses on raising quality, empowering parents, and supporting Indiana’s teachers, and takes an entrepreneurial approach to strengthen the quality of our students’ education.
Academic Excellence & Student Well-Being
- Reduce distractions in the classroom and promote responsible technology use.
Strengthen School Choice & Early Learning:
- Build on Governor Braun’s universal school choice leadership by empowering every parent through universal access to choice scholarships and expanding early childhood options to further strengthen this ecosystem.
Support Teachers:
- Improve benefits, reduce administrative burdens, and make it easier for qualified educators to teach in Indiana.
PUBLIC SAFETY
The safety and security of Hoosiers is Governor Braun’s highest priority, and the most important responsibility of Indiana’s state government. Families should be able to trust that their children are safe from violent crime in their homes and communities.
Keeping Hoosiers Safe by Getting Tough on Crime:
- Strengthen cooperation with federal partners to continue enforcement on illegal immigration.
- Governor Braun supports amending the constitution to allow for preventative detention along with meaningful safeguards focused on repeat violent offenders, and accountability for a justice system that fails to carry out its duties.
Addressing Homelessness with Compassion and Order:
- Address root causes of homelessness while restoring safety in public spaces.
- Encourage connections to services, support local solutions, and set clear expectations for the use of public spaces.
To view Governor Braun’s 2026 Agenda, click here.
To view Governor Braun’s 2026 State of the State Address, visit IN.gov.
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