The ninth week of the short session marked significant milestones as Thursday was the final day for House bills to be heard in Senate committees and Senate bills to be heard in House committees. Bills that did not receive a hearing or pass a committee are no longer eligible to move forward. Due to the compressed legislative calendar, next week will be the final week of the short session, greatly reducing the time for conference committees before the legislature adjourns Sine Die.
House Bills
HB 1004: Various education matters
Passed Senate Appropriations 8-3
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.”
Senate Bills
SB 76: Immigration matters
Motion to concur with House amendments filed in the Senate
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. The bill provides that a governmental body or postsecondary educational institution may not create a policy or resolution that restricts another governmental body from cooperating with federal officials regarding information of the citizenship or immigration status of an individual as long as the request does not conflict with federal law.
SB 88: Various education matters
Passed House Education 7-3
The bill, among other provisions, requires a state educational institution (SEI) to accept the Classic Learning Test (CLT) examination to the same extent the SEI accepts the ACT or SAT examination with respect to admission criteria.
SB 199: Various education matters
Motion to dissent with House amendments filed in the Senate
This bill requires the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, not later than December 1, 2026, to evaluate accrediting agencies of state educational institutions and to report the commission's findings and recommendations to the general assembly. The bill requires state educational institutions to obtain approval from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education to continue degree programs with low enrollment or those classified as “low-earning outcome programs” per the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1087d).
SB 204: Various education matters
Passed House Ways and Means 16-8
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. The bill prohibits health profession education programs from requiring students to receive immunizations as a condition of participating in required clinical training if the student, or parent, if the student is a minor, objects on religious grounds. The bill requires a state educational institution to award course credit for a satisfactory score on an AP exam in which the AP exam corresponds to the state educational institution's course in the core transfer library.
SB 256: Foreign agent registration, foreign terrorist organizations, and foreign adversaries
Passed House 93-0
The bill requires certain persons acting on behalf of a hostile foreign country to register with the attorney general. The bill establishes a procedure to deny state benefits to persons who aid a foreign terrorist organization. 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.