INDIANAPOLIS -Despite language in the proposed state budget that could put the Indiana Historical Society (IHS) headquarters in jeopardy, Gov. Mike Braun’s office now maintains the intention is not to force the nonprofit to give up its building.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle reported last week that provisions in the state’s draft spending plan could leave the historical society in a bind.
In Braun’s proposed spending plan — and the House-approved version — Republican budget writers penned language that appears to terminate the state’s contract with the Indianapolis-based institution.
The historical society owns the downtown Indianapolis building where its headquarters, museum, and archives are housed. It does, not, however, own the land on which the building sits.
The contract in question — in tandem with a provision in state code — allows IHS to pay $1 per year to lease that land from the state, and in return, Indiana’s Department of Administration (IDOA) handles various operational maintenance costs.
In its current form, the state budget would repeal that existing code in Indiana law. Another section cobbled into the budget pulls language directly from the cancellation clause of the IHS contract.
The cancellation provision makes clear that “[i]f the Director of the State Budget Agency makes a written determination that funds are not appropriated or otherwise available to support the continuation of this Lease, the Lease shall be canceled.”
A joint statement said, “The Indiana Historical Society and the Braun Administration are cooperatively working toward an agreeable solution.”
Read more of the Casey Smith story for the Indiana Capital Chronicle and Local News Digital, here.
