One month left in Indiana legislative session

Axios

01-04-2025

It's crunch time at the Indiana Statehouse.
The big picture: There is one month left in the legislative session, and the biggest task, writing the state's two-year budget, is still far from finished.
Promised property tax overhaul and school funding reform are also still outstanding, likely not to be tackled until just before next week's committee deadline.
Here's what we're watching this week:
🟢 Transgender athletes ban nears passage
House Bill 1041 would ban transgender women from participating in women's sports at public and private colleges — expanding Indiana's similar ban at the K-12 school sports level.
The Senate could vote on it as early as this week.
If the bill isn't amended on the Senate floor, it would head to Gov. Mike Braun, who is expected to sign it.
🟢 IPS, charter schools "alliance"
A proposal to create a body that would study how best to manage all public school buildings within the Indianapolis Public Schools district will likely be added to Senate Bill 373 on Wednesday. The "Indianapolis Local Education Alliance" would also look at how to merge transportation services.
The House Education Committee will vote on the amendment and bill this week.
😬 Partisan school boards to get a vote
Senate Bill 287, a bill to make Indiana's school board elections partisan, has been sitting on the House's third reading calendar for a week.
Why it matters: This often signals that the author isn't confident the bill will pass when called for a final vote.
House Speaker Todd Huston told reporters last week that it should get called down, but he wouldn't say whether he thought it would pass.
Zoom in: After several years of trying, this is the first time an effort to make the races partisan has gotten this far, but there's still disagreement on how best to do it.
The Senate would have school board candidates follow the same nomination process as any other political candidate, while the House version skips primaries and still provides a nonpartisan option.
⏳ Energy bill awaiting recommitment hearing
House Bill 1007 is aimed at growing the state's energy capacity, in part by embracing small nuclear reactors. It's a priority bill for House Republicans, but it's not had a smooth road.
The latest: It passed out of the Senate Utilities Committee last week on partisan lines, over the objections of consumer advocates worried that the cost of bringing on large-load users like data centers will fall on average Hoosiers.