Claims, documents, and corrections

Mark Messmer resigned the District 48 Senate seat in September 2024. On September 4, a caucus of Republican precinct committeemen selected Daryl Schmitt to fill the vacancy. Schmitt was sworn in September 10 to serve the remainder of the term, which runs through November 2026.

On December 11, 2025, the Indiana Senate defeated House Bill 1032, a mid-decade congressional redistricting bill, 31–19. The official roll call lists Daryl Schmitt among the 19 yeas and Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray among the 31 nays. Twenty-one of the Senate’s 40 Republicans joined all 10 Democrats in voting no.

Daryl Schmitt was added as a co-author of Senate Bill 424 on January 30, 2025, and voted for it on third reading. Governor Mike Braun signed it as Public Law 48 on April 10. The law allows an Indiana utility to seek recovery of approved small modular nuclear reactor development costs from ratepayers: 80 percent through periodic rate adjustments and the remaining 20 percent in its next general rate case.

The law also permits recovery for a project that is canceled or not completed, but only when the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission finds those costs reasonable, necessary, and prudently incurred. Those canceled-project costs generally earn no return unless the commission makes additional findings.

No small modular reactor has been completed anywhere in the United States, and one federally funded project was canceled in 2023 after more than a decade of work and nearly nine billion dollars in costs. WFYI reported that the bill was one of several written in 2025 to guarantee power for the AI data centers coming into Indiana, so Hoosier families carry the development risk on their electric bills and the data center industry does not.

The Indiana General Assembly’s record identifies Daryl Schmitt as a Senate sponsor of House Bill 1007. On April 15, 2025, Senate Roll Call 423 passed the bill 36–13, with Schmitt listed among the yes votes. Governor Mike Braun signed it as Public Law 217 on May 6.

The law created an expedited process for utilities to seek approval for generation and infrastructure projects serving large-load customers. Before a utility may petition for such a project, the customer must commit to reimburse at least 80% of the project costs reasonably allocated to it and provide financial assurances intended to protect existing and future customers. The statute sets a floor of 80%, rather than requiring the large-load customer to cover 100% of its allocated costs.

The law also lets the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approve specified cost-recovery mechanisms after reviewing a utility’s petition. That makes the commission’s allocation decision and the customer’s financial assurances central to whether other customers bear any project cost.

House Bill 1601 expanded Indiana’s data-center sales and use tax exemption to cover qualifying quantum-computing research, advanced-computing, and defense-infrastructure network projects. The official digest sets a minimum qualified investment of $50 million within five years.

The enrolled law allows a specific transaction award certificate for this new category to run for 50 years when the operator makes at least $50 million in qualified investment within three years after the certificate is issued. That certificate is the mechanism used to establish the project’s tax-exemption period.

On April 15, 2025, Senate Roll Call 446 passed HB 1601 by 30–18. Schmitt is listed among the yes votes. Governor Mike Braun signed the bill as Public Law 178 on May 1.

On April 15, 2025, the Indiana Senate gave final approval to Senate Bill 1 by a vote of 27 to 22. Twelve Republican senators joined all ten Democrats in voting no. The official roll call lists Daryl Schmitt among the 27 yeas. Governor Braun signed the bill the same day as Public Law 68. The law gives homeowners a credit of up to $300 per tax bill. The Legislative Services Agency projects that public school corporations will lose $744.4 million in property tax revenue over the three years starting in 2026, and local governments overall stand to lose about $1.5 billion over the same period. The law answers that loss by authorizing new local income taxes: counties may impose a rate of up to 2.9 percent beginning in 2028, and cities and towns may impose their own rate of up to 1.2 percent. The statehouse took credit for the relief, and it handed local governments the choice between cutting services and raising local taxes.

A poll of 636 registered voters in Dubois County, conducted by Public Policy Polling, found that 81 percent of voters oppose the Mid-States Corridor project. A statewide poll of 554 Indiana voters found that 74 percent want the project canceled and that 88 percent want the money redirected to local road and bridge projects. Brad organized these polls during the fight against the corridor. He paid the pollster directly, and the Property Rights Alliance reimbursed him with money that neighbors across the county contributed. Both poll documents are published in full below so that readers can check the questions, the samples, and the methods for themselves.

INDOT’s October 2025 Screening of Alternatives Report advanced two expressway options for Section 2. Alternative 2B is estimated at $1,046,914,000 for 22.90 miles, or about $45.7 million per mile. Alternative 3B is estimated at $1,099,452,000 for 23.40 miles, or about $47.0 million per mile. The report says these are 2024 construction costs and include a 20 percent contingency.