Merit Institute Merit

The Indiana Government Transparency & Performance Act (IN-GT&P)

Indiana state companion to GT&P. Extends the Indiana Access to Public Records Act (Ind. Code Ch. 5-14-3), Open Door Law (Ch. 5-14-1.5), State Board of Accounts oversight, and the Indiana False Claims and Whistleblower Protection Act.

THE INDIANA GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY & PERFORMANCE ACT (IN-GT&P)

Vehicle: State passage. Indiana General Assembly, regular session. Primary referral to House Government and Regulatory Reform and Senate Public Policy; civil-service provisions to House / Senate Employment, Labor and Pensions.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE

This Act may be cited as the “Indiana Government Transparency & Performance Act (IN-GT&P).”

SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT

The General Assembly finds that Indiana operates a robust transparency regime under the Access to Public Records Act (Ind. Code Ch. 5-14-3) and Open Door Law (Ch. 5-14-1.5); that the State Board of Accounts audits State agencies under Ind. Code Title 5 Art. 11; that agency performance reporting operates under Ind. Code Ch. 4-13 and the biennial budget process; that the Indiana State Personnel Department administers State employment under Ind. Code Title 4 Art. 15; that the State Employees’ Bill of Rights under Ind. Code Ch. 4-15-2.2 and whistleblower provisions under Ind. Code Sec. 4-15-10 protect reporting employees; and that the Indiana False Claims and Whistleblower Protection Act under Ind. Code Ch. 5-11-5.5 provides a broad state qui tam reward mechanism. This Act extends these frameworks.

TITLE I — DEFINITIONS & COORDINATION WITH INDIANA LAW

Sec. 101. Definitions

  1. (a) “State agency” has the meaning assigned in Ind. Code Sec. 4-13-1-1.
  2. (b) “SBOA” means the State Board of Accounts under Ind. Code Title 5 Art. 11.
  3. (c) “FCWPA” means the Indiana False Claims and Whistleblower Protection Act under Ind. Code Ch. 5-11-5.5.

Sec. 102. Coordination with Existing Indiana Law

  1. (a) This Act shall be construed consistently with:
  • Ind. Code Ch. 5-14-3 (Access to Public Records Act).
  • Ind. Code Ch. 5-14-1.5 (Open Door Law).
  • Ind. Code Title 5 Art. 11 (State Board of Accounts).
  • Ind. Code Title 4 Art. 13 and Art. 15 (state administration; State Personnel Department).
  • Ind. Code Ch. 4-15-10 (whistleblower; state employees).
  • Ind. Code Ch. 5-11-5.5 (FCWPA).
  • Ind. Code Ch. 4-22-2 (Administrative Rules and Procedures Act).

TITLE II — STATE-AGENCY OUTCOME PUBLICATION

Sec. 201. Indiana Agency Outcome Dashboard

  1. (a) The Indiana Office of Management and Budget, in coordination with SBOA, shall maintain an Indiana Agency Outcome Dashboard (“IN-AOD”).
  2. (b) Each State agency shall publish, for each major program in its biennial budget submission, machine-readable performance data describing cost per unit, output volume, and outcome measurement.
  3. (c) IN-AOD shall be published in machine-readable form and updated at least quarterly.

Sec. 202. Integration with Biennial Budget Submissions

  1. (a) Beginning with the biennial budget cycle following the effective date of this Act, each State agency shall include IN-AOD data in its budget submission to the State Budget Agency.

TITLE III — STATE CIVIL-SERVICE ACCOUNTABILITY

Sec. 301. Published Performance Expectations

  1. (a) Ind. Code Title 4 Art. 15 shall be applied so that each executive-level and director-level State-agency position’s appointing authority establish, and publish, annual performance expectations tied to the agency’s budget-submission performance measures.
  2. (b) Failure to satisfy published expectations for two consecutive review cycles shall constitute grounds for non-retention consistent with existing Indiana State Personnel Department authority.

TITLE IV — REGULATORY PARTICIPATION

Sec. 401. Indiana Regulatory Participation Dashboard

  1. (a) The Publisher of the Indiana Register, in coordination with agencies that adopt rules under Ind. Code Ch. 4-22-2, shall publish an Indiana Regulatory Participation Dashboard displaying, for each pending rulemaking, docket status, comment text, and summary disposition.
  2. (b) Dashboard is informational.

TITLE V — WHISTLEBLOWER REWARDS

Sec. 501. False Claims and Whistleblower Protection Act Reward Alignment

  1. (a) Ind. Code Ch. 5-11-5.5-6 (awards to persons bringing an action under FCWPA) is hereby amended so that a qui tam relator may receive a share of proceeds aligned with the federal range under 31 U.S.C. Sec. 3730(d).
  2. (b) Amounts payable shall be drawn from amounts recovered to the State.

TITLE VI — IMPLEMENTATION & GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 601. Severability

If any provision of this Act is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect the remainder.

Sec. 602. Effective Date

This Act shall take effect July 1 of the year following enactment.

Canonical federal version: GT&P. Other Indiana bills: IN-ACSA, IN-MEWRA, IN-AI-Workforce.