Statehouse Update 4
Introduction
The General Assembly reconvened on Monday, January 12, and continued its legislative activities for the 2026 Legislative Session. During the week, the House and Senate ramped up committee hearings, along with second and third bill readings, as legislators worked toward the committee report deadline (January 26). The total amount of introduced bills remains more than 700 for the session, and Ball State’s Government Relations team continues to track over 100 bills with a potential impact to University operations.
Two major addresses, the State of the Judiciary and the State of the State, were delivered to a joint session of the General Assembly on January 14. Hon. Loretta Rush, Chief Justice of Indiana, updated legislators on improvements in public safety and the challenges in attorney shortages across the state. Afterwards, Governor Braun conducted his second State of the State address, which highlighted his administration’s first year accomplishments on a variety of issues including education and tax relief. In addition to those remarks, the Governor outlined his initiatives for his second year in office, which includes a focus on affordability, healthcare, and energy.
That same day, we held “Ball State Day at the Statehouse”, an annual event that gives our University the opportunity to showcase our Colleges and other University units to help to underscore the return on investment for the state’s investment in Ball State. The event was widely attended by state legislators and executive branch officials, as well as key staff.
Below is a sample of the bills being followed by Ball State. If you have questions about these or other bills that you may have heard about, please contact the Office of Governmental Relations at gov@bsu.edu.
Bills that Moved
House Bills (HB)
HB 1004 – Various Education Matters: Makes changes to various education provisions concerning the following: (1) Certain school corporation accounting requirements. (2) The “nonpublic school” definition. (3) Recodification and state board of education (state board) transition provisions. (4) The state board’s duties. (5) Powers of the governing bodies of school corporations. (6) Public-private agreements by charter schools for the construction or renovation of schools. (7) Adoption of certain rules by the state board. (8) Department of education’s (department) duties regarding initiatives for teacher recruitment and retention of certain educators. (9) Conditions to be considered a probationary teacher. (10) Regular teacher’s contract requirements for principals and assistant principals. (11) Graduation plan requirements. (12) Instruction on alcoholic beverages, tobacco, prescription drugs, and controlled substances. (13) Recognition program criteria application. (14) Reporting on certain student expenditure information. (15) Excused absences. Relocates a provision regarding certain possession and storage of a firearm educational materials from the department to the department of homeland security. Allows use of temporary teacher contracts for teachers who have been issued an emergency permit. Removes or repeals various education and higher education provisions concerning the following: (1) Expired and expiring provisions. (2) Duties, discretionary actions, and restrictions regarding the department. (3) Posting of certain information by schools. (4) Discretionary display of certain words by qualified districts. (5) Academic receivership. (6) Staff performance evaluations regarding Indianapolis Public Schools. (7) Certain powers of governing bodies of school corporations. This bill was heard in the House Education Committee as testimony only.
HB 1024 – Veterinary Student Loan Repayment Program: Establishes the veterinary medicine student loan repayment program (program) and the veterinary medicine student loan repayment fund (fund). Provides that the Indiana state board of animal health shall administer the program and the fund. This bill passed out of the House Agriculture and Rural Development Committee (Yeas: 10, Nays: 0) and has been recommitted to the House Ways and Means Committee.
HB 1226 – Public Purchasing from Indiana Businesses: Provides a price preference to a business that is not an Indiana business but offers to provide supplies manufactured, assembled, or produced in Indiana. Provides that an Indiana business that offers to provide supplies manufactured, assembled, or produced in Indiana is eligible for an additional price preference for a contract awarded by a state agency. (Under current law, the additional price preference applies only when two or more equal bids are submitted). This bill passed the House Committee on Government and Regulatory Reform (Yeas: 12, Nays: 0) and is now scheduled for second reading amendments on the House floor.
HB 1266 – Department of Education and Education Matters: Makes various changes to education provisions concerning the following: (1) Schools eligible for grants from the Indiana secured school fund, teacher appreciation grants, grants under the robotics competition program, and funding for certain advanced placement examinations. (2) Creating and updating a list of employers that have agreed to provide career support for or interview Indiana residents who graduate with an Indiana diploma with an employment honors plus seal. (3) Creating a teaching and learning framework for the implementation of mathematics academic standards. (4) Development of a data science math pathway. (5) Establishing a process and strategies to support academic and fiscally underperforming schools, development of a plan to intervene, and submission of the process and plan to the general assembly. (6) Evaluating, approving, and publishing high quality curricular materials time lines. (7) Local board membership for a local centralized school facilities board and local student transportation board. (8) Salary differentiation regarding teachers who possess a literacy endorsement. (9) Amounts expended in participating in an interlocal cooperative included in determining amounts school corporations expend on full-time teacher salaries for purposes of teacher salary minimum funding requirements. (10) Summer school program and reimbursement administration. (11) Criteria required for eligibility of a waiver for conducting four day school weeks. (12) Oversight of career and technical education program designation. (13) Uses of teacher appreciation grants. (14) The calculation of school safety referendum distributions to charter schools with regard to virtual instruction. (15) Petitions regarding reconsidering payments of choice scholarships. (16) Eligibility for teacher appreciation grants by the department of correction. (17) Membership of the board for proprietary education. (18) The effective date regarding the changes to the definition of "eligible choice scholarship student". Provides that an emergency permit may be granted up to two times to an individual enrolled in an alternative teacher certification program if the program provides documentation verifying the individual's good standing in the program to the department of education. Creates a new qualification option for a transition to teaching program participant who seeks to obtain a license to teach in grades 5 through 12. Joins the interstate teacher mobility compact. Provides that: (1) state accredited nonpublic schools; and (2) nonpublic schools that are accredited by a national or regional accreditation agency that is recognized by the state board of education; are eligible to participate in the teacher residency grant pilot program. Removes a provision that provides that the department may not release less than 10 items per subject matter level per grade level regarding the statewide summative assessment. Removes a requirement that for a parent or student to use a career scholarship account (CSA) annual grant amount for costs related to transportation a CSA participating entity must pay a matching amount for the transportation costs. Repeals the chapter concerning the commission for higher education and postsecondary career and technical education. This bill passed the House Education Committee (Yeas: 10, Nays: 0) and was recommitted to the House Ways and Means Committee.
HB 1278 – Nursing Education Programs: Allows an institution that has been operating an eligible nursing program for at least five years to increase the enrollment in any eligible nursing program at any rate the institution considers appropriate. This bill is scheduled for a hearing in the House Public Health Committee on January 20, 2026.
HB 1283 – Public Notices: Requires the Indiana office of technology (office) to establish a state public notice website not later than July 1, 2028. Prohibits the office from charging a fee for publishing or viewing notices. Allows a person to satisfy any notice statute by publishing notice in any of the following forms of media: (1) Newspaper, including print edition or electronic edition. (2) Locality newspaper, including print edition or electronic edition. (3) The state public notice website. (4) Political subdivision website. (5) The Hoosier State Press Association public notice website. Requires the Indiana archives and records administration (administration) to establish standards and guidelines and enter into memoranda of understanding with agencies for the transfer and preservation of public notices from the state public notice website to the administration to preserve public notices for historical purposes. This bill passed the House Committee on Government and Regulatory Reform (Yeas: 9, Nays: 4) and was recommitted to the House Ways and Means Committee.
HB 1360 – Access to Public Records: Requires a public agency to establish and maintain an electronic portal for submission of public records requests that: (1) incorporates CAPTCHA or an equivalent mechanism for ensuring that a requestor is a human; (2) requires verification of a requestor's physical address; (3) indicates to the public agency whether the requestor is a resident of Indiana; and (4) automatically logs and reports submissions suspected to be automated or to have originated from known sources of phishing or data scraping. Provides for collection of a supplemental fee for processing public records requests submitted by non-Indiana residents or out-of-state entities. Allows a public agency to give priority in fulfilling public records requests to: (1) Indiana residents; and (2) requests submitted for civic, journalistic, academic, or personal use. Requires public agencies to report to the public access counselor regarding public records requests suspected of being automated, data scraping activity, or phishing activity (suspect public records requests). Provides that the general assembly may establish reasonable and narrowly tailored procedural safeguards to preserve the integrity and availability of public agency resources. Requires the public access counselor to: (1) take specified actions with regard to identifying excessive and suspect public records requests; and (2) include in the public access counselor's annual report: (A) information regarding the volume and nature of public records requests received by public agencies, including information regarding suspect public records requests reported by public agencies; and (B) recommendations to the general assembly regarding statutory or administrative remedies to excessive and suspect public records requests. This bill is scheduled for a hearing in the House Committee on Government and Regulatory Reform on January 21, 2026.
Senate Bills (SB)
SB 76 – Immigration Matters: Provides that if a certain 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 acts, the attorney general may defend the law enforcement officer, the governmental body, or the postsecondary educational institution throughout the action and shall defend such entities if required by statute. Provides that the prohibition on governmental bodies or postsecondary educational institutions limiting or restricting the enforcement of federal immigration law applies regardless of whether the enforcement is carried out by a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency. Removes the mens rea standard in the statute concerning governmental entities or postsecondary institutions violating the citizenship and immigration status information and enforcement of federal laws chapter. Provides that a governmental body that has the custody of an individual who is the subject of an immigration detainer request shall: (1) provide the judge authorized to grant or deny the individual's release on bail notice that the individual is subject to an immigration detainer request; (2) record in the individual's case file that the individual is subject to an immigration detainer request; (3) comply with the immigration detainer request; and (4) inform the individual that the individual is being held pursuant to an immigration detainer request. Requires a judge who receives notice that an individual is subject to an immigration detainer request to ensure that the notice of the immigration detainer request is recorded in the court's record. Prohibits an employer from recklessly or intentionally hiring or employing an unauthorized alien. Requires the department of correction to adopt minimum standards for county jails to ensure proper cooperation between a jail and the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including enforcement of statutory requirements concerning immigration detainers. Requires the office of the secretary to submit a report to the legislative council concerning certain information. Provides that if the attorney general, an agency, or a law enforcement agency determines that probable cause exists that an employer has hired or employed an unauthorized alien the agency, attorney general, or law enforcement agency shall provide notice to the United States Department of Homeland Security and the commissioner of labor. Provides that a governmental entity that employs a prosecuting official is entitled to investigative costs and costs in an indecent nuisance action. This bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee (Yeas: 6, Nays: 2) and is scheduled for second reading on the Senate floor.
SB 161 – Education Matters: Requires the Indiana department of education to elect to participate as a covered state in the federal tax credit scholarship program for elementary and secondary education under Section 25F of the Internal Revenue Code (enacted in Public Law 119-21, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025). Makes conforming changes to the school scholarship tax credit in current law. Requires the commission for higher education to adopt rules that prohibit certain funding from being allocated or expended, directly or indirectly, to low earning outcome degree programs. Requires the department of workforce development to: (1) establish a process to identify and approve eligible workforce training programs; (2) establish a process for institutions and programs to apply for recognition as an eligible workforce training program; (3) coordinate certain workforce training matters; and (4) require eligible workforce training programs to provide certain datasets to the department. Provides that the department of workforce development must maintain alignment with federal rules governing workforce Pell grants. This bill passed the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development (Yeas: 10, Nays: 3) and was recommitted to the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee.
SB 199 – Various Education Matters: Makes changes to the composition of the case review panel established by an interscholastic athletic association. Requires the secretary of education, not later than December 1, 2026, to identify key metrics and activities concerning civic literacy and to submit the information to the general assembly. Requires the secretary of education, not later than December 1, 2026, to identify and make certain recommendations concerning paid leave for employees following certain events and to submit the findings to the general assembly. Provides that a school in which fewer than an average of 75% of the students over the course of three consecutive years achieved a valid passing score on the determinant evaluation of reading skills approved by the state board of education must comply with certain requirements. Provides that the department of education shall determine the number of grant awards under the Indiana education scholarship account program and the career scholarship account program, and specifies the amounts to cover administrative costs for each program. Requires the 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. Provides that a social media service may not allow an Indiana resident who is an adolescent to hold an account with the social media service unless the social media service receives written consent to the adolescent's use of the social media service from the adolescent's parent or guardian. Provides that a social media service may not allow an Indiana resident who is a child to hold an account with the social medial service. Requires a social media service to configure the account of a registered user that the social media service knows, or reasonably should know, is: (1) an adolescent; and (2) an Indiana resident; in a specified manner. Provides that a social media service that violates these provisions is subject to: (1) an enforcement action by the attorney general; and (2) a civil action by the parent or guardian of the child or adolescent with regard to whom the violation pertains. Provides for restrictions on the retention, use, and collection of personal information for purposes of age verification by a social media service and provides that a social media service is subject to a civil action by an individual with regard to whom the social media service violates the restrictions. This bill passed the Senate Education and Career Development Committee (Yeas: 9, Nays: 2) and is scheduled for second reading on the Senate floor.
SB 204 – Various Education Matters: Removes a requirement that department of education (department) approved accreditors for teacher preparation programs be recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Changes certain reporting requirements for teacher preparation program admission practices. Provides that an individual who has obtained a license to teach in a charter school may be eligible to obtain an initial practitioner license under certain conditions. Removes a requirement that an individual must hold a bachelor's degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics as a component of certain pathways to receive an initial practitioner license. Provides that academic needs based salary increases may not: (1) apply to all eligible teachers in a bargaining unit uniformly; or (2) be based on certain other factors. Repeals the: (1) state educational institution (institution) annual report to the legislative council (council) and commission for higher education (commission) concerning financial aid; (2) commission report to the general assembly concerning certain institution information; (3) commission report to the council and budget committee concerning student enrollment rates; (4) student athlete cardiac arrest chapter; and (5) Ivy Tech Community College report to the budget committee concerning campus information. Expires certain physical facilities reporting requirements on June 30, 2029. Provides that if the commission does not grant approval for the continuance of a degree program, an institution must: (1) not later than six months after the commission's decision, end enrollment of students into the degree program; and (2) provide students enrolled in the degree program with the opportunity to finish their degree. Changes the reporting of disclosable gifts to January 31 and July 31 of a given year (current law requires disclosure on January 1 and July 1 of a given year). Changes certain amounts concerning construction, land purchases, and repair and rehabilitation by an institution to $3,000,000, adjusted for inflation. Removes certain employee information from the annual institution report to the budget committee. Voids a provision in the Indiana Administrative Code. This bill passed the Senate Education and Career Development Committee (Yeas: 9, Nays: 4) and was recommitted to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Looking Ahead
The General Assembly is scheduled to return on Tuesday, January 20, for their last full week of activity before the January 26 committee report deadline. Bills that are not voted favorably out of committee by the deadline will be considered dead for this session. In addition to the committee report deadline, legislators face an upcoming third reading deadline (January 29) for bills to pass their chambers of origin. Any bill that fails to meet that deadline will also be considered dead for the 2026 session. Our office will continue to monitor events and provide updates throughout the session.
