Indiana's 2025: A Year of Pro-Business Wins and Regulatory Setbacks
When states adopt policies that welcome investment and innovation, the results speak for themselves. Indiana's 2025 demonstrated exactly why pro-business leadership matters and why well-intentioned but misguided regulations can undermine economic progress. As the year draws to a close, it's worth examining what the Hoosier State got right, and where lawmakers veered off course.
The Wins: How Indiana Became a Top Destination for Business Investment
Indiana entered 2025 with momentum, and state leadership capitalized on it. From landmark tax reform to historic corporate investments, the state showed what happens when policymakers prioritize growth over obstruction.
Tax Relief That Actually Works
On April 2025, Senate Bill 1 was passed, delivering over $1 billion in tax relief to Hoosier businesses and residents. This wasn't symbolic reform. It was transformational policy that directly encourages investment and growth.
The legislation raised the De Minimis Exemption threshold from $80,000 to $2 million, meaning business property worth up to $2 million per county is now tax-exempt. For 2026, any business with less than $1 million in personal property pays nothing. By 2027, that threshold rises to $2 million.
Perhaps more significantly, the law eliminated the 30% minimum valuation floor on depreciated business assets. Previously, even fully depreciated equipment carried a 30% taxable value. That's gone. The message to businesses is clear: invest in equipment, modernize your operations, and Indiana won't punish you for it.
This is the kind of policy that makes states business-friendly. It reduces friction, lowers costs, and signals that Indiana understands what drives growth: capital investment and business confidence.
Amazon Doubles Down on Indiana with $15 Billion Investment
In November 2025, Amazon announced a $15 billion investment in Northern Indiana to build a new data center campus focused on AI innovation. The project will create 1,100 permanent jobs, deliver 2.4 gigawatts of data center capacity, and generate massive economic ripple effects across the region.
This isn't Amazon's first rodeo in Indiana. Since 2010, the company has invested over $30 billion in the state, supported more than 50,000 direct and indirect jobs, and generated nearly as much in tax revenue. The new data center builds on that foundation, and it comes with real benefits for everyday Hoosiers.
Amazon's investment is projected to save Indiana residents over $1 billion over the next 15 years. Yes, you read that right: a big-business investment that actually lowers costs for consumers. Amazon has also committed to offering data center technician programs and STEM education opportunities for K-12 schools, ensuring the next generation of Hoosiers can compete in high-tech industries.
Governor Braun's Economic Development Strategy Delivers Results
Governor Mike Braun's administration has made economic development a centerpiece of its agenda, and the results are undeniable. Indiana now ranks 12th nationally for doing business, with particular strength in site readiness, workforce development, and energy infrastructure, according to Area Development.
The administration's approach has been comprehensive: incentives, programs, tax relief, and coordinated public-private partnerships. In 2025 alone, Indiana:
Helped companies plan to create over 10,000 new jobs paying an average wage of over $40 per hour
Launched the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation to support founders and startups
Facilitated the launch of 372 new businesses, creating nearly 1,300 jobs and securing nearly $70 million in small business funding through the Indiana Small Business Development Center
Supported 36 startups in raising at least $500,000 each through accelerator programs
These aren't just statistics; they represent real families earning higher wages, real entrepreneurs taking risks, and real communities benefiting from expanded opportunity. Indiana is earning national recognition as one of the best states to do business, and Governor Braun's leadership is a major reason why.
HarperCollins Returns to Domestic Manufacturing
In August 2025, HarperCollins Publishers announced a stunning reversal: after outsourcing distribution overseas in 2010, the company would build a massive 1.6 million square foot supply chain facility in Brownsburg, Indiana. The facility, slated to open in 2028, will ship more than 300 million books annually to over 100 countries.
The project will create 400 full-time supply chain and logistics jobs, plus 375 construction jobs. It features state-of-the-art automated technology designed to boost supply chain visibility and control.
This announcement is significant for what it represents. With the right business climate, companies will reinvest—even if prior strategy took them elsewhere. HarperCollins' decision to bring jobs back to the United States is a testament to Indiana's pro-business environment and the leadership of Governor Braun and agencies like the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.
The Setbacks: When Regulation Replaces Market Solutions
Despite these wins, 2025 wasn't without missteps. Two pieces of healthcare legislation, Senate Bill 140 and House Bill 1004, demonstrate how well-meaning attempts to "fix" healthcare costs can backfire when policymakers ignore market realities.
Senate Bill 140: Regulating Pharmacy Benefit Managers
In May 2025, Indiana passed Senate Bill 140, which imposed new regulations on Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). The bill prohibits third-party administrators from requiring plan sponsors to contract with specific PBMs or charging different fees based on PBM choice. It also mandates reporting and compliance requirements under the Indiana Department of Insurance.
Proponents argued the legislation would lower costs for patients. But the Indiana Chamber of Commerce explicitly opposed the bill, warning that it would "unnecessarily increase costs for employers and employees." The Chamber argued that "mandating excessive and prescriptive contractual terms, including minimum dispensing fees, will disrupt market-driven negotiations, creating additional financial burdens without addressing systemic challenges in healthcare."
The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste echoed those concerns, issuing a coalition letter opposing SB 140. The organization argued the bill would impose excessive regulations on PBMs and plan sponsors serving businesses, unions, state employees, and other health organizations—potentially raising costs by banning mechanisms that currently deliver savings.
Here's the problem: healthcare is expensive because of rising costs from manufacturers and providers, not because market-based solutions are failing. Regulatory interventions that ban cost-saving mechanisms don't address root causes—they just add complexity and squeeze employers and employees who are already struggling.
House Bill 1004: More Healthcare Regulation
Similarly, House Bill 1004 aimed to regulate hospitals with requirements that, while intended to improve transparency and accountability, risk adding bureaucratic burden without corresponding benefits. When states layer regulation on top of an already convoluted healthcare system, they often make problems worse, not better.
The challenge with bills like SB 140 and HB 1004 is that they operate from a flawed premise: that more regulation equals better outcomes. But in healthcare, as in most markets, innovation and competition—not mandates—drive efficiency and affordability. Indiana's leadership should focus on empowering consumers and businesses to negotiate better deals, not imposing one-size-fits-all rules that stifle flexibility.
What Indiana's 2025 Teaches Us
Indiana's 2025 is a case study in contrasts. When the state embraced pro-business policies—tax relief, incentives, streamlined processes—it attracted billions in investment and created thousands of high-paying jobs. When it turned to regulation, it risked undercutting the very market mechanisms that control costs.
The lesson is simple: capital flows where it's treated best. States that welcome investment, reduce barriers, and trust businesses to innovate will win. Those that pile on regulations, second-guess market solutions, and treat businesses as obstacles will fall behind.
Indiana got far more right than wrong in 2025. Senate Bill 1, Amazon's $15 billion data center, HarperCollins' return to domestic manufacturing, and Governor Braun's economic development strategy are all proof points of what pro-business leadership can accomplish.
But the regulatory missteps—particularly in healthcare—serve as a reminder that good intentions don't guarantee good policy. As Indiana heads into 2026, lawmakers should double down on what's working: creating conditions where businesses can invest, innovate, and deliver value to consumers. And they should resist the temptation to regulate their way to prosperity.
Because at the end of the day, what's good for business is good for Hoosiers—and the data proves it.