This State Update provides a summary of bills the IU State Relations team is tracking and that moved during the seventh week of session. The Indiana House of Representatives reached the third reading deadline on Monday (the Senate’s was last Thursday, Jan. 29). Bills must pass on third reading out of their originating chamber to still be eligible to become law in the second half of session. Of the 452 bills introduced in the House, only 116 or 26%, survived. The Senate passed four fewer bills—112 or 39%, of the 290 introduced. The 228 remaining bills have been assigned to the opposite chamber’s committees and have two more weeks to pass out of committee prior to the Thursday, Feb. 19 committee report deadline.
House Bills
HB 1004: Various education matters
Passed House 67-26
The bill removes and repeals various education provisions and expired education provisions in Indiana Title 20: Education. This is the second deregulation bill in a multi-year process to “cut red tape in education by eliminating unnecessary rules and regulations, freeing up resources and giving K-12 schools more flexibility to focus on educating our kids.”
HB 1099: Foreign adversaries
Passed House 72-23
This bill requires a contract between a state agency and a contractor for the provision of certain technological products or services to include a provision requiring the contractor to confirm under penalties of perjury that the contractor and the contractor’s subcontractors are not prohibited persons. This bill prohibits state educational institutions from admitting or enrolling students who are agents of a foreign adversary in a qualifying program offered by the approved postsecondary educational institution without a “foreign influence and research security review.” This bill requires an approved postsecondary educational institution to provide to the commission for higher education the number of foreign students currently enrolled in a qualifying program and the number of foreign students enrolled in a qualifying program for each academic year for the preceding 10 years. The bill prohibits certain individuals and business entities from acquiring real property located in Indiana. The bill repeals existing statutes regarding foreign ownership of agricultural land.
HB 1268: Indiana defense task force funding
Passed House 85-0
The bill provides that certain amounts appropriated for state fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27 must be used exclusively to support priorities identified by the Indiana Defense Task Force (task force) established by IC 4-3-21.5. Provides that the Indiana Economic Development Corporation shall consult with, and receive approval from, the task force prior to obligating or expending the funds. The bill requires the task force to make a report detailing the use of the funds and their correspondence to task force priorities to the State Budget Committee and the Legislative Council.
HB 1278: Nursing matters; education programs
Passed Senate Health and Provider Services 10-2. IU testified in support of the bill and highlighted the importance of accelerated graduate degree programs in meeting the state’s mental/behavioral health workforce needs.
The bill allows an institution that has been operating an eligible nursing program for at least five years to increase enrollment at any rate the institution considers appropriate. Additionally, the bill requires State Educational Institutions (SEI’s) that offer graduate degrees to evaluate whether certain mental/behavioral health graduate programs can be completed in 1 year or 5 years (if the program is combined with a baccalaureate degree). Relevant SEI’s must offer at least one such accelerated or combined program by July 1, 2028, and must report findings to the Commission for Higher Education (CHE) by November 1, 2028. Separately, SEI’s must also provide specific prescribed information to CHE by November 1, 2032, and CHE must post the reports online.
Senate Bills
SB 76: Immigration matters
Passed House Judiciary 9-4
The bill, among other provisions, provides that if a law enforcement officer, governmental body, or postsecondary educational institution is made a party to a civil suit and the attorney general determines that the suit has arisen out of certain immigration matters, the attorney general may defend the law enforcement officer, the governmental body, or the postsecondary educational institution if representation is requested. The bill provides, with certain exceptions, that if the attorney general determines that probable cause exists that a governmental entity has not complied with an immigration detention request, the attorney general may bring a court action to: (1) enjoin an act or practice constituting a violation of an immigration detention request; (2) impose a civil penalty for noncompliance with an immigration detention request; and (3) and obtain other such relief as is necessary.
SB 204: Various education matters
Heard in House Education and held for amendments
This bill, among other provisions, repeals reporting requirements related to duplicative or outdated reports in Title 21: Higher Education and changes certain amounts concerning construction, land purchases, and repair and rehabilitation by an institution to $3,000,000, adjusted for inflation. It provides that a state educational institution that has been denied approval to continue a degree program may: (1) permit students to enroll in the degree program until June 1 of the year following the denial; and (2) provide students enrolled in the degree program with the opportunity to finish their degree prior to the degree program's closure.