STATEWIDE, (WOWO) — Taxpayer funded SUV’s like the ones recently purchased by Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales and Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith were the inspiration for a bill that’s been sent to Governor Braun’s desk.

That’s the sentiment from State Rep. Mitch Gore (D-Indianapolis) who wrote the bill. It would require state entities to only purchase non-luxury vehicles.

“I was getting irked. I would walk through the Statehouse parking lot over the summer. I’d see this real nice Yukon Denali and Suburban with a state plate. I just thought, ‘This is wrong,” said Gore in a Monday morning interview with 93 WIBC’s Kendall and Casey.

Gore says it was more than just the purchases of the vehicles that makes him angry.

“Think about all of the gas it costs. What happens if you bang up one of the rims that’s on it? That’s certainly a possibility in Indianapolis with all of the potholes,” said Gore.

Gore says some office holders and state educational institutions have been exempt from some of the vehicle purchasing requirements.

“That’s what the bill does. It rolls all of those people into the definition of a government entity and then it says you have to get the standard model and not buy a luxury vehicle,” said Gore.

Beckwith drives to the Indiana Statehouse in a 2025 Chevy Tahoe High Country SUV. Gore says Beckwith could easily trade that in, return some money to the state, and have a car that’s just as nice.

Morales drives around in a taxpayer-funded $90,000 GMC Yukon Denali that he bought last summer.