Porter comments on revenue forecast: ‘When the U.S. gets a cold, Indiana gets pneumonia’

Today, April 16, the State Budget Committee met to discuss the revenue forecast, economic forecast and Medicaid forecast before the close of the 2025 legislative session. 

State Rep. Gregory W. Porter (D-Indianapolis) released the following statement: 

“I’m thankful Indiana has a nonpartisan forecast because we can focus solely on the numbers. But today our numbers are unclear. We’re operating in a time of extreme uncertainty. The revenue forecast is down $2.37 billion for the next few years. We’ll be down $403 million in 2025, $963.9 million in 2026 and over $1 billion in 2027. This is an unprecedented negative change between the December and April forecasts. People knew the 2009 recession was coming back thanks to Trump’s tariffs, but this is a reality shock. 

“Federal actions could completely change our trajectory. We’re one of the most intense manufacturing states in the nation, so we could get hit hard. When the U.S. gets a cold, Indiana gets pneumonia. 

“Our budget has to be done in a week. In the past, I’ve proposed doing an annual budget during periods of uncertainty. I said we needed to move this forecast up a month. Now it’s crunch time, and we’re writing this budget with a blindfold.”