On this edition of “All INdiana Politics,” State lawmakers and Gov. Mike Braun said a cigarette tax hike and several spending cuts will close a revenue gap state budget analysts discovered last week.

The majority of Statehouse Democrats opposed the 2025 budget — crafted over four months and passed by Republicans early Friday morning — decrying unvetted last-minute additions and cuts.

Gov. Mike Braun will have the sole power to hire and fire the Indiana University Board of Trustees under the budget bill approved in the early morning hours of Friday.

News 8’s Phil Sanchez brings in two members of Indiana’s best political team, Democrat Lara Beck and Republican Whitley Yates, to discuss lawmakers changing the Indiana University governance, higher education making cuts to operations and repairs, local public health being cut to $40 million per year, nonprofit hospitals facing new rules, lawmakers approving the DEI ban, and more.

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