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Budget committee approves nearly $100M more for LEAP district, including 1,400 new acres

A screenshot of a State Budget Committee meeting. Mark Wasky sits at a table, speaking to the committee. Wasky is a White man with brown hair. He is wearing glasses and a dark suit with white shirt and light-colored tie.
Screenshot of State Budget Committee livestream
IEDC Vice President Mark Wasky testified before the State Budget Committee about the agency's latest requests for the LEAP district on June 11, 2024.

The State Budget Committee approved nearly $100 million more for the Indiana Economic Development Corporation’s controversial LEAP district in central Indiana.

Some of that money will go toward securing about 1,400 more acres of land for the project.

The new money had previously been earmarked for the IEDC to lure an advanced manufacturing company to the state. But that project is stalled, prompting the shift to the LEAP district in Boone County.

The state has spent hundreds of millions on LEAP so far. And only Eli Lilly has announced plans to locate at the site.

But IEDC Vice President Mark Wasky said there’s “strong confidence” in conversations with other companies.

“The companies involved are engaged in advanced computing, information technology component manufacturing and biopharmaceutical manufacturing, which we anticipate will result in tens of billions of dollars in capital investment,” Wasky said.

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That’s all the details the IEDC is willing to share. And Democrats, like Rep. Ed DeLaney (D-Indianapolis), said more information is needed.

“I think the number of open-ended questions, the kind of dollar amounts, the uncertainties, the lack of the report on the water study alone — I don’t think this is a matter that this body should act on today,” DeLaney said.

The new land purchases will bring the total site to around 9,000 acres.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Brandon Smith has covered the Statehouse for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He's also the host of Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state. He previously worked at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and WSPY in Plano, Illinois. His first job in radio was in another state capitol - Jefferson City, Missouri - as a reporter for three stations around the Show-Me State.