SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- It's a new year, so Indiana lawmakers are working on new laws. The Indiana legislature convened for the first time in 2026 on Monday.
As is tradition in the Indiana House of Representatives, for the first session of the new year, the minority party leader gets the floor to outline their agenda. House Democratic Leader, Rep. Philip GiaQuinta of Fort Wayne, took to the podium to outline what state Democrats call the "Working Hoosiers Agenda."
"Hoosiers need government that will stand up to corporate greed and protect working-class folks," GiaQuinta said. "Corporate monopolies are driving up electricity costs. Tariffs are driving up the cost of groceries. Quite simply, we have to tackle the cost-of-living crisis now."
Giaquinta says Democrats want to take Governor Mike Braun's tax reform law, which passed last year, back to the drawing board.
He also says nearly 300,000 Hoosiers will pay roughly double for their healthcare insurance premiums. So, part of the Working Hoosiers' Agenda includes a bill to stop medical debt from affecting one's credit score.
Another bill filed would create a public database where local grocers must report and publish the prices of grocery store staples.
Some other bills on the table for lawmakers to consider this year deal with data centers and their utility usage, including one requiring data center operators to get a consumption permit from the Department of Natural Resources.
There's also voting legislation--- one proposing the elimination of straight ticket voting--- and another allowing same-day voter registration.
After Rep. Giaquinta's speech, the Majority Floor Leader, Rep. Matt Lehman of Berne, outlined Republican priorities. He touted the state's population growth, said tax cuts have saved Hoosiers more than 20 billion dollars, and said he's proud they've passed a balanced budget the past seven years.
"We're going to have, again, another deregulation bill," Lehman said. "Regulation, regulation, regulation, needs to be deregulated, deregulated, deregulated. And we've been doing that, and we're going to continue to do that."
The deadline to file bills in the Indiana House of Representatives is Wednesday at 2 p.m.
From authorizing the death penalty by firing squad to social media bans for minors, Indiana senators are filing bills to possibly become law in 2026.
After rejecting President Trump's pressure campaign for mid-decade redistricting in Indiana, one bill would prohibit future mid-decade redistricting attempts. One bill would strengthen Indiana's immigration laws and ensure local law enforcement follows through on ICE detainer requests, something the attorney general has accused the St. Joseph County Police Department of not doing in a now-dismissed lawsuit.
Some deal with tenants' rights, like a bill that would protect tenants from landlords selling their property in the middle of a lease. Some deal with healthcare, like one bill to cap insulin prices at 35 dollars.
One bill would ensure young students still learn cursive. And one would make the breaded tenderloin the official sandwich of the State of Indiana.
The full list of bills from the Indiana General Assembly can be found on the Indiana General Assembly website.
Below is a non-exhaustive list of bills filed in both chambers of the Indiana Congress for the 2026 legislative session.
Senate bills to monitor:
- Senate Bill 7 - Regulates carbon sequestration projects; they need county approval.
- Senate Bill 11 - Authorizes the use of a firing squad for the death penalty.
- Senate Bill 12 - Prohibits the use of ranked choice voting.
- Senate Bill 15 - Would create a "foster youth bill of rights."
- Senate Bill 17 - Allows municipalities to create a local air pollution control agency that would enter contract with IDEM.
- Senate Bill 21 - Would make the breaded tenderloin the official state sandwich of Indiana.
- Senate Bill 24 - Would establish a state-administered retirement program.
- Senate Bill 53 - Would prohibit future mid-decade redistricting attempts.
- Senate Bill 58 - Requires cursive still be taught in schools.
- Senate Bill 61 - Mandates radon disclaimers when selling property.
- Senate Bill 73 - Would make masking at a public assembly a misdemeanor.
- Senate Bill 76 - Deals with immigration and mandates local agencies respond to ICE detainer requests. Sounds very reminiscent of the AG's accusations against SJCPD.
- Senate Bill 79- Would create a state working group to monitor power and water needs of data center projects. Mandates data center operators submit reports on their power/water usage.
- Senate Bill 81 - Amends SEA1.
- Seante Bill 83 - Utility matters.
- Senate Bill 85 - Healthcare debt and costs.
- Senate Bill 88 - Education: switch to the Classic Learning Test and incorporate the importance of waiting until marriage to have children.
- Senate Bill 109 - Would keep terminated pregnancy reports private.
- Senate Bill 114 - Would make IURC commissioners an elected position.
- Senate Bill 117 - No tax on period/menstruation products.
- Senate Bill 120 - College athletes prohibited from making proposition bets on their own sport.
- Senate Bill 122 - Immigration; similar to SB76.
- Senate Bill 127 - Would protect tenants from landlords selling property in the middle of a lease
- Senate Bill 129 - Social media banned for ppl 16 and under unless there's verifiable parental consent
- Senate Bill 131 - Creates a psychiatric care ombudsman (aka watchdog) office
- Senate Bill 132 - Bans noncompete agreements for anyone who makes less than $150K/year.
- Senate Bill 137 - Allows loved ones to petition the court for involuntary substance use disorder treatment.
- Senate Bill 138 - Would allow for school chaplains.
- Senate Bill 140 - Establishes doxxing as a crime.
- Senate Bill 143 - Eliminates statute of limitations for Level 3 felony rape and child molesting.
- Senate Bill 150 - Caps insulin at $35.
- Senate Bill 154 - Prohibits race-based hair discrimination.
- Senate Bill 156 - Would make using a dating app an aggravating factor in sex offense cases.
- Senate Bill 160 - Makes masking an aggravating factor in criminal offenses.
- Senate Bill 175 - Makes excessive speeding a Class C misdemeanor
- Senate Bill 181 - Requires landlords to give at least 5 days' notice before filing an eviction.
- Senate Bill 186 - Would establish the Hoosier family leave insurance program and trust fund.
House bills to monitor:
- HB 1011 - Allows for and regulates assisted suicide.
- HB 1014 - Classifies sonography as radiation and regulates sonography.
- HB 1020 - Establishes the access to birth control program.
- HB 1027 - Would allow people to opt out of having the BMV sell their data.
- HB 1034 - School cell phone ban.
- HB 1036 - Department of Child Services must conduct an in-person assessment before closing an investigation or discharging a child.
- HB 1039 - Immigration: law enforcement must comply with detainer requests, same as SB76.
- HB 1042 - Would allow crypto as an option in regular public investment programs.
- HB 1043 - Data centers must obtain a consumption permit from DNR.
- HB 1050 - Medical debt cannot be a lien against a consumer's residence.
- HB 1051 - Medical debt cannot affect one's credit score.
- HB 1059 - Allows school corps to display commercial ads on school buses.
- HB 1064 - Regulates drones; makes repeated operation over real property a nuisance.
- HB 1065 - Ban on gratuities for public officials.
- HB 1067 - Would publicly report grocery staple prices.
- HB 1073 - Requires ISP to fund rape kits and eliminate backlog.
- HB 1075 - Creates K-12 mental health and substance abuse screening.
- HB 1086 - Would require 10 Commandments be displayed in school libraries and classrooms.
- HB 1093 - Requires schools to track and report bullying.
- HB 1102 - Allows ABA in schools.
- HB 1104 - Bans NDAs in economic development agreements.
- HB 1107 - Creates a state bullying ombudsman.
- HB 1110 - IDEM to adopt max PFAS levels; establishes PFAS chemical testing and remediation fund.
- HB 1113 - Tenants' rights; requires the landlord to repair essential services within 24 hours of notification.
- HB 1116 - Requires operators of virtual currency kiosks to be licensed as money transmitters.
- HB 1119 - Authorizes the death penalty by firing squad.
- HB 1133 - Eliminates straight ticket voting.
- HB 1148 - Allows same-day voter registration.
- HB 1151 - Exempts IN from daylight saving time.
- HB 1158 - Schools must stress the importance of a high school diploma, full-time employment, and waiting until marriage to have children.
- HB 1160 - Requires schools to administer the naturalization exam (would be needed to graduate high school).
- HB 1172 - Requires ISP to obtain data on rape kit backlog.
- HB 1178 - Social media access for minors.
- HB 1182 (and 1183)- Defines "digital sexual image" and offenses for possession of such.
- HB 1191 - Decriminalizes possession of 2oz or less of marijuana.
- HB 1198 - Makes it a misdemeanor to enter the restroom not aligning with one's sex assigned at birth.
- HB 1199 - Prohibits changing one's birth certificate gender.
- HB 1203 - Would require animals used for research to be put up for adoption.
- HB 1217 - Regulates stablecoin.
- HB 1218 - Eliminates straight ticket voting.
- HB 1220 - Prohibits declawing cats.
- HB 1231 - Batteries must be recyclable to be sold.
- HB 1232 - Requires public schools teach the Bible as literature.
- HB 1233 - Makes masking at public assemblies a misdemeanor.
- HB1239 - IDOH to establish max PFAS contaminant levels.
- HB 1245 - IURC to conduct study of data center electricity demands.
- HB 1248 - Advanced DNA testing for cold cases.
- HB 1250 - Requires DOC to notify before the release of a serious violent felon.
- HB 1287 - Requires IDOC to select an execution team from the general assembly.
- HB 1295 - Hospitals to disclose born-alive infant care.
- HB 1297 - Regulates data centers and high-water users.
- HB 1298 - Makes THC a schedule III controlled substance.
- HB 1310 - Requires lethality assessment for domestic violence incidents.
- HB 1312 - Allows the death penalty for "aggravated child molesting."