Bill roundup: Here’s what’s left as the Legislature enters its final week

A basket of bills sit next to the Speaker's podium in the Indiana House of Representatives. (IBJ Photo/Cate Charron)

Lawmakers are aiming to adjourn Indiana’s legislative next week, meaning they will need to agree to changes on a few dozen bills, hash out differences in conference committee and finish the budget by Thursday.

The major hurdle will be the budget, which is typically the last bill lawmakers approve before heading home. Fiscal leaders learned Wednesday that they must account for a $2 billion drop in projected revenue while tweaking their $46 billion spending plan.   

If they need extra time, lawmakers can work through April 29, which is the statutory final day the General Assembly can be in session. 

IBJ is watching key bills that could impact the state’s economic development, health care and workforce efforts and is following developments in legislation related to property taxes and Medicaid. And of course, we’re tracking that budget bill, which will determine state spending for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 and will likely be the landing place for many issues related to taxes and spending.

Here’s the status of some of the bills we’re watching during the session, which is expected to adjourn at the end of April.

Economic development 

After eight years of former Gov. Eric Holcomb’s development-focused tenure, Braun—an entrepreneur and former CEO—wants a greater focus on entrepreneurship and small businesses.

House Bill 1489

• Creates an Indiana-Ireland commission to advance trade relations
• Author: Rep. Timothy O’Brien, R-Evansville
• Last action: House concurred 88-2, April 17
• Awaiting: Governor’s signature or veto
• Status: Progressing

Senate Bill 516 

• Creates the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation and establishes certain IEDC provisions for land sales
• Author: Sen. Brian Buchanan, R-Lebanon
• Last action: Senate concurred unanimously, April 16
• Awaiting: Governor’s signature or veto
• Status: Progressing

House Bill 1601

• Expand data center tax exemption to include quantum computing research, advanced computing and defense infrastructure with at least a $50 million investment in five years
• Author: Rep. Edmond Soliday, R-Valparaiso
• Last action: Passed Senate 30-18, April 15
• Awaiting: House concurrence or dissent vote
• Status: Progressing

Senate Bill 431

• Prohibits a company from a foreign adversary from building a data center in Indiana without an electricity usage study and requires the project to generate its own electricity
• Author: Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford 
• Last action: Governor signed into law, April 10
• Status: Law, effective July 1

Workforce 

Over the past few years, state leaders have overhauled the state’s high school curriculum and graduation requirements to prioritize career coaching and alternative paths to higher education. The state has also been working to boost training and certificate programs for young and adult learners.

Senate Bill 448

• Requires the Department of Education to prepare a plan to develop a market-driven credential program with at least three priority industry pathways
• Author: Sen. Greg Goode, R-Terre Haute
• Last action: Senate concurred 39-3, April 17
• Awaiting: Governor’s signature or veto
• Status: Progressing

Child care 

Child care—and the lack of available and affordable options—has been plaguing families in Indiana and across the country. Business leaders now worry the price and lack of options will prevent new workers from moving to the state and remove others from the workforce.

Senate Bill 463

• Adds employee training, scholarship programs and compensation for employees with a higher level of training to permitted uses of funds for the employer child care expenditure tax credit; also sets staff ratios and maximum group sizes based on certain age ranges in licensed child care centers
• Author: Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso
• Last action: Senate concurred 35-6, April 17
• Awaiting: Governor’s signature or veto
• Status: Progressing

House Bill 1253

• Allows a single-owner child care company or nonprofit, including YMCAs and school-affiliated organizations, to open multiple locations under one license
• Bill author: Rep. Dave Heine, R-Fort Wayne
• Last action: Passed Senate 48-1, April 7
• Awaiting: House concurrence or dissent vote
• Status: Progressing

Indianapolis

The capital city is a demographic and political outlier in Indiana, sometimes causing the Republican supermajority to target legislation toward conflicting priorities and initiatives. But also, as the state’s largest city, some legislation impacts its government and residents more than others.

House Bill 1461

• Address road-funding disparities through a range of funding mechanisms, including an increase to the maximum rate for county wheel and vehicle excise tax and required county bonding abilities
• Author: Rep. Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie
• Last action: House concurred 68-17, April 17
• Awaiting: Governor’s signature or veto
• Status: Progressing

House Bill 1006

• Establishes a special prosecutor unit, prosecutor review board and public prosecution fund, in part to investigate whether prosecuting attorneys are “noncompliant” with state laws. Similar legislation has previously been used to target Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears.
• Author: Rep. Chris Jeter, R-Fishers
• Last action: House concurred 61-21, April 17
• Awaiting: Governor’s signature or veto
• Status: Progressing

House Bill 1131

• Classify the town of Cumberland as an excluded city and no longer part of the consolidated city of Indianapolis
• Author: Rep. Doug Miller, R-Elkhart
• Last action: Governor signed into law, April 10
• Status: Law, effective July 1

Senate Bill 142

• Allows a court to order an expungement in certain eviction cases
• Authors: Sens. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne; Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis; and Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores 
• Last action: Senate concurred 35-1, April 16
• Awaiting: Governor’s signature or veto
• Status: Progressing

Taxes

Braun and legislative leaders have prioritized changes that would reduce property taxes and could have a significant impact on local government spending.

Senate Bill 1

• Reforms how the state collects property taxes, establishes 10% credit and includes a charter school revenue-sharing bill (previously Senate Bill 518)
• Author: Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle
• Awaiting: Governor signed into law, April 15
• Status: Law, goes into effect over the next four years

Senate Bill 451

• Continues to decrease the adjusted gross income tax rate if the state hits high revenue targets. The 2025 tax rate is 3.0%.
• Author: Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle 
• Awaiting: Governor signed into law, April 16
• Status: Law, cuts could begin in 2030

Health

Reducing the cost of health care is a major priority for policymakers. And the debate comes as the state’s Medicaid costs continue to balloon, making the low-income health insurance program a budgetary concern.

Senate Bill 2

• Reels in Medicaid’s Healthy Indiana Plan, or HIP, by applying coverage limits and work requirements
• Author: Sens. Ryan Mishler, R-Mishawaka; Chris Garten, R-Charlestown; and Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso
• Last action: Senate concurred 37-10, April 17
• Awaiting: Governor’s signature or veto
• Status: Progressing

House Bill 1003

• Enacts a range of measures to increase transparency
• Author: Rep. Brad Barrett, R-Richmond
• Last action: Passed Senate 48-1, April 15
• Awaiting: House concurrence or dissent vote
• Status: Progressing

House Bill 1004

• Penalizes large hospital systems if their prices exceed certain thresholds
• Author: Rep. Martin Carbaugh, R-Fort Wayne
• Last action: Passed Senate 29-19, April 15
• Awaiting: House concurrence or dissent vote
• Status: Progressing

Senate Bill 3

• Installs measures to push insurers and related financial officials to act in the best financial interests of their clients
• Author: Sen. Justin Busch, R-Fort Wayne
• Last action: Governor signed into law, April 16
• Status: Law, effective July 1

Water policy & utilities 

The state’s management of its natural resources and energy systems has risen to public consciousness thanks to questions about water for the LEAP District and debates about electricity for data centers.

House Bill 1007

• Creates a tax credit for expenses in the manufacturing of a small modular nuclear reactor
• Author: Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso 
• Last action: Passed Senate 36-13, April 15
• Awaiting: House concurrence or dissent vote
• Hearing in Status: Progressing

Senate Bill 424

• Establishes a framework for small modular nuclear reactor development in Indiana
• Author: Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford
• Awaiting: Governor signed into law, April 10
• Status: Law, effective July 1

Senate Bill 4

• Requires the leaders of projects that will move significant amounts of water to obtain a permit
• Author: Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford
• Last action: Senate concurred 45-2, April 8
• Awaiting: Governor’s signature or veto
• Status: Progressing

And everything else

House Bill 1008

• Creates a boundary adjustment commission that would study whether to recommend the absorption of Illinois counties that want to secede from the Democrat-led state
• Author: House Speaker Rep. Todd Huston, R-Fishers
• Last action: House concurred 64-23, April 17
• Awaiting: Governor’s signature or veto
• Status: Progressing

House Bill 1073

• Provide regulations for bare-knuckle fighting, professional wrestling, boxing and sparring through the Indiana Gaming Association
• Author: Rep. Craig Haggard, R-Mooresville
• Last action: House concurred 83-2, April 16
• Awaiting: Governor’s signature or veto
• Status: Progressing

Senate Bill 209

• Legalizes use of electronic pull-tabs, largely for use at veteran organizations
• Author: Sen. Kyle Walker, R-Lawrenceburg
• Last action: Governor signed into law, April 16
• Status: Law, effective July 1

Senate Bill 478

• Creates a three-tiered permitting system for retailing, distributing and manufacturing of both low-THC hemp products and hemp flower
• Authors: Sens. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, and Chris Garten, R-Charlestown
• Last action: Sent to conference committee
• Awaiting: Conference committee hearing
• Status: Progressing

Senate Bill 157

• Makes it easier for property owners to oust squatters in certain circumstances where trespassing law may not cover
• Author: Sen. Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton
• Last action: Sent to conference committee
• Awaiting: Conference committee hearing
• Status: Progressing

Know of a bill that should be on our radar? Contact IBJ’s statehouse reporter Cate Charron at [email protected].