Republican Gov. Mike Braun signs a slew of new executive orders on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025., at the Indiana Statehouse (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Among nine executive orders released Wednesday by Gov. Mike Braun are directives to cut a quarter of government regulations and reduce qualifications for state jobs and professional licenses, along with a mandate for state employees to return to their offices by July 1.
Braun, a Republican, detailed the new orders on his third day in office, summing up the actions as a means to make Indiana “more efficient, transparent and accountable.”
Also included in the governor’s orders is a promise to “increase transparency” by creating a new public-facing dashboard to better organize “active” executive orders. Braun gave his team a July 1 deadline to create the webpage on the state’s website, with at least quarterly updates thereafter.
“Over time you get a lot of (orders). You don’t know if they’re still being adhered to. We are going to at least tell you what we think is out there, and it should be paid attention to,” Braun said. “It’ll be accessible, and I’ll let you know what your government is doing.”
I don’t think anyone can make the case that we maybe need more, broader regulations, more stipulations through government, and we’re a state that actually has been pretty good at avoiding it. That doesn’t mean there’s a lot of low hanging fruit to pick.
– Indiana Gov. Mike Braun
Braun maintained that the move to reduce regulation will improve Hoosiers’ investments into state government without reducing the quality of services.
“Whenever you’re doing something like this, there’s always risk associated. … Most governors — and I’m going to say even most legislators — are generally risk averse. I can tell you, if you’re naturally risk averse, you’re going to be in a broad band of mediocrity,” Braun said.
“I don’t think anyone can make the case that we maybe need more, broader regulations, more stipulations through government, and we’re a state that actually has been pretty good at avoiding it. That doesn’t mean there’s a lot of low hanging fruit to pick,” he continued. “The proof will have to be in the pudding when it comes to how you run things more efficiently. … When it comes to these kinds of things, I’m not doing them unless I feel there’s a large disproportionate likelihood that it’s going to be beneficial. No one ever gets anything right absolutely and all the time, (and you have to be) smart enough to know how to make adjustments along the way. But I think we’ll benefit from that.”
In all, Braun has signed 19 executive orders, including ones that create his new cabinet structure.
Changes for state employees
While Braun’s “return to work” order acknowledges that remote work for state employees “was appropriate” during the COVID-19 pandemic, “its continued scale must be reevaluated to align with the fundamental mission of public service: ensuring accountability, responsiveness, and efficient service delivery to Hoosiers.”
Former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb’s public health emergency first issued in 2020 at the onset of the pandemic was ended in March 2022. Braun’s order emphasized that “the conditions necessitating non-traditional work environments” have since “significantly improved.”
The order stipulates that by July 1, “all state agencies will require all full-time employees to work in the office, facility, or field location assigned by their agency, and not from a remote location.”
That’s a departure from current willingness throughout many state offices to allow workers to log some or all paid hours from home. In 2024, Indiana agencies reported that nearly 10,600 employees worked more than 7.3 million hours remotely, according to Braun’s order.
The governor said “limited exceptions” can be made for some employees to work on hybrid or remote schedules, as long as they’re located “within the geographical boundaries of Indiana.” Any such exceptions will have to be approved by the state’s personnel department.
Employees “who have not yet demonstrated satisfactory performance in their job functions” or who “are not currently demonstrating satisfactory performance” are not eligible for remote work, though.
“I’m not going to cast stones upon anyone that made a decision back then. All I can tell you is I think that was an overreaction,” Braun said of previous policies to allow state employees to work remote and hybrid schedules. “The bulk need to get back to do the job here, because I think we’re going to get better results from it.”
A separate order directs the state personnel department to remove postsecondary or graduate degree requirements if not deemed “necessary to perform the job duties” of any current or future state job openings.
Instead, hiring managers “are encouraged to prioritize skills-based hiring practices, emphasizing relevant experience and competencies,” including workforce experience, apprenticeships, career and technical certification, and military services — rather than degree requirements, except where legally mandated.
“In the enterprise I ran for 37 years, some of our best employees were just good at what they wanted to come and do for you. And we need to have a system that recognizes merit, not necessarily qualifications, knowing the importance of both,” Braun said. “This is going to attract a broader pool of talent. I know it works, and it’s going to again engage more Hoosiers in the process.”
Another of Braun’s directives additionally calls for all state agencies to review their occupational licensing rules and remove degree requirements “that are not demonstrably related to job performance.”
Background check requirements, character and fitness interviews, and exclusions based on criminal offenses “without a clear relationship to the job responsibilities of the regulated profession” should be nixed, too, according to the order. The same goes for training hour requirements “that exceed industry standards without clear justification.”
“(Professional requirements) are important to make sure there’s a certain standard. When they become overbearing, they start to exclude,” Braun said. “We want to ensure that Hoosiers can more easily pursue careers, and businesses have access to a skilled workforce, without unnecessary obstacles.”
Other government ‘efficiency’ reforms
An order focused on “key performance metrics” will task the Office of Management and Budget with creating a dashboard to “measure and monitor the effectiveness of our state agencies,” Braun added.
“This will make sure we’re tracking progress of what’s been done in the past, and especially anything we’re going to be doing from here forward,” he said.
By 2029, the governor also wants state agencies to delete at least 25% of their existing administrative rules as a way to reduce”regulatory burdens on businesses and citizens.”
“That is giving more than enough time to get it done. In any effective enterprise, especially in the real world … they get these kinds of things done in a much tighter time frame,” Braun said. “We’ll also conduct a review of existing regulations, making sure they are necessary and effective, compare them to best practices in other states. There is a treasure trove of things you can do in any state government by looking at the other 49.”
Braun’s other executive orders aim to reduce non-statutorily required spending; replace “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) throughout government policies and programming with “merit, excellence and innovation” (MEI); effectively close the Office of the Chief Equity, Inclusion and Opportunity Officer created by Holcomb; and require the state to begin using a cloud-based computing framework to “streamline” procurement.
Indiana Senate Democratic caucus specifically admonished Braun’ elimination of DEI initiatives within state government, calling the move a “regressive action” that “threatens to undermine Indiana’s progress toward building a state that works for all Hoosiers.”
“This decision is not just a step backward; it’s a direct attack on the values of equity and inclusion that should define us as a state,” said Sen. Andrea Hunley, D-Indianapolis. “Inclusion isn’t just a buzzword — it’s a necessity for Indiana to thrive in the modern era. Stripping DEI efforts is a disservice to every Hoosier who believes in fairness and opportunity.”
Holcomb signed more than 150 orders during his eight-year tenure. Many were issued amid the pandemic — like mask mandates and stay-at-home orders — drawing ire from members of his own Republican Party. As of Wednesday, state webpages housing those orders were no longer active, however.
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