You can make a difference
We will meet this Thursday, Feb. 6, at 6pm at the Portage Library, 2665 Irving St. in Portage. If you haven’t already done so, you can sign up here: https://www.mobilize.us/indivisiblenwi/event/749427/
We’ll have updates, calls to action, and time to work in our group, sharing what we’ve done so far and planning immediate actions.
We’re hosting a self-care event via zoom the following Thursday, Feb. 13, also at 6pm Register here: https://www.mobilize.us/indivisiblenwi/event/753093/
Once you’ve registered, you will receive your zoom link.
Then save the date for Thursday, Feb. 27 at 6pm at the Merrillville Library. State Representative Earl Harris will join us to talk about how a bill becomes a law in Indiana. He’ll also give us updates on legislation. Registration will be coming soon.
For now many bills are still in committee. Each bill must pass through committee to be voted on on the House or Senate floor. Some bills have passed through committee to the Senate or House floor for a vote. And a few have already passed the House or Senate and now will be considered in the non-originating chamber.
- The committee to which each bill has been assigned is given and if you click on the committee it will take you to that committee’s page.
- Then scroll down to the bottom of the page to see links to committee members, including the chair. If a bill is of concern to you and there hasn’t been a hearing, contact the committee chair.
- If a committee vote is pending, contact all members.
- If it passes, contact your representative (for House bills) or senator (for senate bills).
- If it passed the House, it will move to the Senate; contact your senator.
- If it passes the Senate, it will move to the House; contact your representative.
Learn more about pending Indiana legislation from the bill tracker at MADVoters.org
They have identified the good and the bad, summarized each bill into simpler terms, linked emails for easy communication, flagged bills coming up on the schedule, and more! With over 100 bills on the tracker, it’s a comprehensive overview of significant bills that will impact equity and progress in Indiana. It links to each bill and also to the committee to which its been assigned. You can click right on the link to the committee chair to email him or her. View the bill tracker here.
Another excellent bill watch is from the Indiana State Teachers Association: https://www.ista-in.org/our-advocacy/bill-watch
And a comprehensive list: https://www.hannah-in.com/Report_Custom.aspx?sid=xIeqAAfDN2A%3d&rid=pNDAyx4jysY%3d
Another good bill tracker from Indiana Broadcasting Stations: https://ipbs.org/projects/2025billtracker/index.html
Note that the text under each bill is not necessarily a description of a bill, but rather the title of the article in which the bill is discussed. Click on that text to link to the article.
Indiana Legislation
Most of the following is from MadVoters Bill Watch.
Passed out of the Senate, now goes to the House. Contact your representative: https://iga.in.gov/legislative/find-legislators/
SB 430 Grants for participation in the 287(g) program.
Establishes the 287(g) agreement grant program. Provides that a “287(g) agreement” refers to an agreement entered into under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Allows the department of homeland security to provide grants to assist certain local law enforcement authorities in entering into and carrying out law enforcement under a 287(g) agreement.
Passed out of the House, now goes to the Senate. Contact your state senator: : https://iga.in.gov/legislative/find-legislators/
HB 1002 Educational matters
The bill is over 130 pages long! In sum, it provides a pathway to eliminate many public school programs, services, and requirements: Removes requirement that IN Secretary of Education have educational experience, live in Indiana, or have a college degree. Guts rights and responsibilities delegated to both State Board of Education and local elected school boards, and removes required offices on the board. Allows a public school district to be completely “charterized” – that is, public school districts governed by locally-controlled, elected school boards could be completely dissolved and replaced with charter schools governed by non-elected, appointed boards instead. Exempts charter school board members from submitting a statement of economic interest, reduces oversight of charters, and repeals language prohibiting discrimination. Removes consideration of cultural competency in developing school environment. Allows students to drop out at 16 without a qualifying reason. Allows schools to cut transportation services with just one year’s notice. Amended from original bill. ICPE’s Notes.
These bills have passed through committee to the chamber floor for a vote. Contact your legislator:
https://iga.in.gov/information/find-legislators
SB 289 Nondiscrimination in employment and education. “Limitations on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Requires Indiana’s school corporations, charter schools, state agencies, and political subdivisions to publicly post all training and curricular materials related to topics such as diversity, equity, inclusion, race, ethnicity, sex, and bias on their websites, with specific details about the materials’ origins and accessibility. This will have a chilling effect that changes how topics around race, gender, and bias are taught or addressed. Schools will face restrictions in how they handle diversity and inclusion initiatives, limiting some of their educational practices.. View Call to Action. Prohibits the funding of DEI programs, officers, and initiatives at state agencies, state universities, and health professional licensing boards. This would eliminate training, programming, activities, policies, and procedures that explore allyship, antiracism, intersectionality, social justice, privilege, bias, and more.
Contact your state senator: : https://iga.in.gov/legislative/find-legislators/
Senate Bill 284 Early voting
“Hoosier voters could see in-person early voting slashed from a month to 2 weeks under legislation moving to the Indiana Senate’s floor
Under current law, voters can cast ballots in person for 28 days ahead of elections. After a Monday amendment,

Senate Bill 284 would reduce that period to 14 days. It originally would’ve cut the period to just seven days.” Passed out of committee to the Senate floor.: (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Early voting is critical for voter accessibility and improved turnout. Indiana has one of the lowest voter turnout rates, and this bill would worsen turnout.

Contact your state senator: : https://iga.in.gov/legislative/find-legislators/
Senate Bill 201 Closed primary elections
This bill “would add new text to voter registration forms: “Would you like to choose your political party? If you wish to vote in a primary election, you must first choose your political party affiliation and may only vote that party’s ballot in the primary election…also requires county voter registration offices to affiliate every registered voter with either the Democratic or Republican Party based on their last primary election vote. A voter would be able to change parties at any time by using a new voter affiliation form — except for a “blackout period” 119 days before a primary election.” (Indiana Capital Chronicle) Passed out of committee to the Senate floor. Contact your state senator: : https://iga.in.gov/legislative/find-legislators/
Still in committee, but action is imminent
Education
SB 287 School board matters
MadVoters: “Makes school board elections partisan. School boards govern public schools, and selection of these offices should be based on relevant experience and commitment to the good of the school, its students, and its teachers, not partisan affiliation that is largely irrelevant to the responsibilities of this particular office. Sign the Petition” Committee vote is scheduled for 2-10. Contact members of the committee: Elections (Senate) Email Chairman Gaskill
SB 523 School chaplains
Permits chaplains to work or volunteer in public schools, offering both secular and nonsecular advice and guidance. Public schools are not Sunday schools. Students shouldn’t feel pressured or evangelized at school. Hearing is scheduled for Feb. 5.
Education and Career Development (Senate)Email Chairman Raatz
SB 442 Instruction concerning human sexuality
If a school provides any instruction to students concerning human sexuality, the school board must include details about the instruction in a conspicuous place on the school’s website, and obtain written request for consent for instruction concerning human sexuality. Prohibits a school from using learning materials that concern human sexuality unless approved by the school board. “Human sexuality instruction” has not yet been defined by Indiana Code, so this bill will create a chilling effect on any mention of or reference to LGBTQ+ people or topics.Committee hearing scheduled for 2-5. Education and Career Development (Senate)Email Chairman Raatz
SB 257 Civics education
Specifies certain ideas as “shared principles” and requires schools to prioritize these principles (federalism, republicanism, limited government, popular sovereignty, and more), while prohibiting instruction that fosters a different national identity, heritage, or culture that is contrary to shared principles (such as racial discrimination, gender discrimination, class struggle, privilege, and more). Requires schools to help foster a national identity, heritage, and culture established by an aspiration to certain shared principles. Creates a process for a parent or community member to request an investigation if they believe instruction is not aligned to shared principles. This bill essentially requires schools to participate in propaganda, provides an investigation process into teachers who are accused of not complying, and elevates the narrative of the status quo while silencing and invalidating experiences of marginalized people. Education and Career Development (Senate)Email Chairman Raatz
Support:
SB 403 Charter school requirements
Holds charter schools accountable to the access to financial data requirements required of local schools, and requires that at least one member of the charter school board be appointed by the fiscal body of the county in which the charter school is located. Charter schools lack oversight, accountability, and local control, and this bill would help correct that. Hearing is scheduled for Feb. 5.
Education and Career Development (Senate)Email Chairman Raatz
Health
House Bill 1003 Health matters
“The bill “has six facets, according to author Rep. Brad Barrett, all with an aim to lower health care costs. An 18-page amendment was accepted by committee members and chiefly dealt with “site of service” language.
Barrett emphasized that the bill was still a work in progress and anticipated additional amendments in the coming days, comparing the bill’s inner workings to pulling a loose thread.” (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Passed out of the Insurance Committee and now goes to the Ways and Means Committee.
House Bill 1592 “prohibits FSSA from implementing waitlists if there are available slots under its federal waiver. If no slots are available, the state must apply for more.
FSSA isn’t utilizing all of the available slots. The state’s PathWays waiver notes that “the State’s budget process drives the number of annually available waiver slots.”
A previous estimate found that waitlists would likely save the state $232.2 million across fiscal years 2024 and 2025. Adding additional slots “will result in a significant increase in state Medicaid expenses if approved by the federal government,” according to the fiscal note.
The waitlists have left at least 10,231 disabled and elderly Hoosiers without services, which can include in-home care and assisted living…Due to the price tag associated with the waitlist elimination, the bill’s future is uncertain. It must get an additional nod from the House Ways and Means Committee before moving into the fiscally restrained Senate.” (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
HB 1241 Trauma informed care
Establishes the trauma informed care commission to study and make recommendations for use by health, educational, and other social service providers on best practices with respect to children, youth, and families who have experienced trauma. Adverse experiences have a huge economic impact as well as a personal impact, and improving awareness of and care for trauma can help individuals as well as our communities. View Call to Action. Committee hearing Feb. 5.
Family, Children, and Human Affairs (House) Email Chairman Dale DeVon
SB 317 Health care debt and costs
Adds new rules for hospitals in Indiana, and changes how healthcare debt is handled: Hospitals must offer patients a chance to pay medical bills through a payment plan, and inform patients about any charity care programs they offer. For hospitals with more than $20 million in yearly revenue, they must check if patients qualify for charity care before billing for emergency or necessary medical services, and if eligible, offer to enroll the patient in the charity care program. Hospitals must give patients a good faith estimate of out-of-pocket costs before billing them for emergency or necessary medical services. Health care debt cannot be taken from an Indiana consumer’s earnings through garnishment, and health care providers cannot report health care debt to credit agencies for consumers with an income under 500% of the federal poverty level. Consumers can ask for their health care debt records to be removed from their credit file if they are reported incorrectly. Health care providers cannot charge more than 3% interest on unpaid medical bills, providers can’t take collection actions while the consumer is appealing a denial of insurance coverage, and health care debt cannot be used to place a lien on a person’s home or personal property. Violating these rules is considered a deceptive act, which the attorney general can act on. Overall, the bill aims to protect consumers from unfair billing practices and to make medical debt more manageable for patients. Health and Provider Services (Senate)Email Chairman Charbonneau Hearing was Feb. 5.
Voting and elections
Oppose
HB 1679 Various election matters
Outlines several changes to election and voting laws – one that would require a county voter registration office to conduct a “voter list maintenance program” at least once every 30 days. These programs can be unreliable and will flag and purge actual eligible voters, in addition to failing tp protect data privacy. Read more. Health and Provider Services (Senate)Email Chairman Charbonneau Committee hearing was Feb. 5
Other
Oppose
Senate Bill 1 will be the primary property tax relief vehicle this session — a response Mike Braun’s proposals.
It follows Braun’s four-pillar plan that includes immediate property tax cuts for homeowners, as well as the introduction of a cap to limit future growth. Other portions of Braun’s proposal include transparency on tax calculations and reforming the tax referendum process.
“It also includes a $50 million per year cut to the local public health funding program.
Homeowners aged 65 and older, who have minor children or who are low-income would see increases capped at 2%. The legislation would also raise the homestead deduction for houses worth less than $125,000 and require a property tax transparency portal to go live by 2026…Braun has repeatedly emphasized that in order to help “struggling” taxpayers, relief will “have an impact on local governments.”
Jason Johnson, the governor’s deputy chief of staff, maintained before the Senate committee that Braun’s administration wants to protect “vital” police and fire services, as well as schools. But just as “state government is having to tighten its belt,” Johnson said the governor’s team is asking local units “to follow lead” and keep taxpayers “front of mind.”
County, city and town officials appeared less willing, however.
The proposed tax cuts could cause local governments across the state to lose $1.2 billion in property revenue in 2026, according to a legislative fiscal analysis. ”
Still in committee. Tax and Fiscal Policy (Senate)Email Chairman Holdman