Here's what Indianapolis is asking the state legislature to do this session

Mayor Joe Hogsett announced Tuesday the legislative priorities for the city in the upcoming Indiana General Assembly session where the state legislature will write Indiana's budget for the next two years.

State lawmakers outlined several legislative priorities for 2023 late last year, highlighting affordable housing development as one of the issues that would get lawmakers' attention.

More:What lawmakers say about abortion, education and the economy ahead of legislative session

Here's what the city is asking for.

Infrastructure funding

• Adjusting the funding formula for infrastructure around the full population of the consolidated city of Indianapolis, rather than by fire service territories. The formula now does not take into account three western townships, which shorts Indianapolis money
• Restructuring the criteria for Community Crossing grant program to better scale with the infrastructure needs of more populous counties
• Refinancing older bonds, allowing for debt service to be invested back into local road funding

More:Indy's road budget has doubled in recent years. It's not enough -- and it won't last.

Anti-displacement, tenant protections and rental assistance funding

After a challenging year for Indianapolis tenants that saw, among other issues, a lawsuit filed by the city and state to hold the negligent landlord JPC Affordable Housing Foundation accountable, Indianapolis is asking the state to:

• Pass legislation to prevent displacement of longtime homeowners living in neighborhoods undergoing rapid changes in property values and taxes
• Restore the city's ability to enforce local regulations around tenant-landlord relationships, which was stripped by the state in a hotly-contested 2020 bill
• Consider renter protections, including the right to withhold rent when a landlord fails to make necessary repairs and to set up utility escrows
• Provide state funding to help Indianapolis transform IndyRent into a permanent rental assistance program
• Provide state funding to address homelessness, including for master leasing of apartment units, supportive services, and shelter operations

In last year's legislative session, Republican state legislators had killed a Democrat-sponsored bill to implement the very tenant protections that the city is asking for.

Gun laws and funding for formerly incarcerated people

• Address the proliferation of 3D-printed converters, also known as "glock switches," that transform a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic weapon, as these weapons are becoming increasingly common in Indianapolis
• Pass laws to reduce access to firearms for young people, people suffering mental illness, and convicted felons
• Provide resources for the city's Division of Re-Entry work in helping people leaving incarceration find jobs, food, rides, and mental health aid

Public health

• Help local entities prepare and respond to the next public health crisis as we emerge from the global COVID-19 pandemic
• Support people experiencing lingering effects of the pandemic, addiction and mental health challenges, and the opioid crisis
• Support food access and reduce food deserts through the city’s Division of Community Nutrition and Food Policy

Contact IndyStar reporter Ko Lyn Cheang at kcheang@indystar.com or 317-903-7071. Follow her on Twitter: @kolyn_cheang.