Republican governor of Indiana. In 2025 he signed a law allowing tolls on all existing interstate highways in the state—no state had previously attempted anything so sweeping. He also suggested on local radio that Indiana would lose federal funds if it chose not to redistrict its congressional map.
In 2025 Braun signed a law capping what non-profit hospitals can charge patients with commercial insurance. Non-profit hospitals must bring their prices below a statewide average by 2029 or risk losing their tax-exempt status—savings estimated at up to $1bn a year. Braun had hoped to go further but faced fierce resistance from the hospital industry: "It's about the best we could get done…I would call that sad." He compared hospitals to utilities: "Even if you're conservative, you're going to be interested in regulating a utility, because it's the only way you keep them in bounds." Indiana employers cited a study showing they pay among the highest hospital prices in the country through the insurance plans they sponsor.
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures.