INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana residents could see some changes starting on Monday, as the impacts from bills signed into law during the 2024 General Assembly begin to go into effect.
During the 2024 General Assembly, more than 750 bills were filed, the majority of which came from the Indiana House of Representatives. Out of the total, more than 100 were signed into law by Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, many of which will go into effect starting July 1.
Here are some of the bills that are expected to go into effect:
Senate Bill 1: Reading skills
A Republican-led bill, also known as the “Every Child Learns to Read” bill, was signed into law by Holcomb on March 11, a bill that some called the Indiana State Senate’s top priority bill.
Over the course of the bill’s development, and even after it was signed, there has been a lot of conversation surrounding how the bill could impact students, as well as teachers throughout the state.
According to previous reports, the bill was written to help students become more “proficient readers,” overhauling Indiana’s academic efforts in curriculum, assessment, remediation and retention.
The authors of the bill, including Indiana State Senator Linda Rogers, R-District 11, Indiana State Senator Jeff Raatz, R-District 27 and Indiana State Senator Brian Buchanan, R-District 7, stated the bill aims to ensure that Hoosier students are prepared for a successful future through the process of identifying those who need more help and retaining those who need more preparation.
Through the bill, schools will offer instruction that closely aligns with the science of reading curriculum from kindergarten through eighth grade. In second grade, students will take the IREAD assessment and passing students will be exempted from having to take it again.
Students who did not pass the assessment would have “specialized support” in third grade surrounding reading instruction. If the student does not pass the exam in third grade, the bill would require students to be held back.
Under the law, it also requires schools to provide summer school courses and individualized tutoring to students who are struggling to read.
Critics of the bill state that the retention would disproportionally impact Black and Latino students. The retention could also impact the confidence of the young students.
”I know that that has been somewhat controversial about retaining students, but how do we push someone on to the fourth grade if they can’t read?” Rogers said in previous reports.
Senate Bill 17: Age verification for material harmful to minors
Starting on Monday, Indiana residents could be required to prove their age before accessing adult content online.
Senate Bill 17, a bill that was signed into law by Holcomb on March 13, requires Hoosiers to upload sensitive documents online on adult entertainment sites to prove their age. Lawmakers said that this is aimed at protecting minors from that content.
Indiana joins other states, including Texas, Arkansas, Utah, Virginia and Louisiana, in passing similar age verification laws. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita praised the law, stating that pornography websites make the material too easily accessible for minors.
In reaction to this law, the Free Speech Coalition joined with porn website operators, in a lawsuit surrounding the age verification law. The lawsuit states that SEA 17 infringes on the First Amendment and is unconstitutional.
In a statement that PornHub posted on its website on Thursday, it criticized the bill, stating that giving a person’s identification information every time they want to visit an adult website is “not the most effective solution” for protecting users.
Officials from Aylo, the parent company of PornHub and other pornography sites and studios, said that mandating age verification without proper enforcement gives platforms the opportunity to choose whether or not to comply, driving traffic to sites with “far fewer safety measures” than PornHub.
“The safety of our users is one of our biggest concerns. We believe that the best and most effective solution for protecting children and adults alike is to identify users by their device and allow access to age-restricted materials and websites based on that identification,” the statement read. “Until a real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in Indiana.”
As of Friday, the statement was removed from PornHub’s website and the website is still able to be accessed.
The law was slated to go into effect on July 1. Early Friday evening, however, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Indiana announced that a judge blocked the state-imposed mandate requiring websites like PornHub to implement age verification techniques.
The preliminary injunction the judge issued indicated Senate Bill 17 “was likely facially unconstitutional under the First Amendment.”
Senate Bill 202 – State educational institution matters (tenure)
Higher education institutions are also expected to see a change starting on Monday, impacting the status of tenure and promotions in Indiana.
Senate Bill 202, signed into law on March 13, limits and restricts the ability of public institutions to grant tenure and promotions if the higher education employees do not abide by certain conditions “related to free inquiry, free expression and intellectual diversity.”
This includes introducing a faculty member’s students to works from a variety of viewpoints and various political and/or ideological frameworks related to their academic discipline. The bill also requires faculty to refrain from subjecting students to views/opinions around matters not related to the academic discipline they are teaching, mentoring or in their employment role.
Officials said the law establishes a rule of faculty tenure status every five years. If the employee does not follow this new bill, officials said that disciplinary action, including termination, demotion or salary reduction, could occur.
Critics of the bill said at the time that they feared that the law would hurt recruiting diverse faculty and students to Indiana higher education institutions. At the time, some said that the law “poses grave risks to university faculty and tenured professors.”
House Bill 1383 – Wetlands
A controversial wetlands-related law is expected to go into effect starting Monday. House Bill 1383 was one of the first bills signed by Holcomb during the 2024 General Assembly, signing it on Feb. 12.
According to previous reports, the law lowers the number of wetlands in the state of Indiana that are eligible to receive full protection. This comes after the state of Indiana has three classes of wetlands, class three – including the most protections, class two – including less, but some, protections, and class one – no protections.
Officials said that wetlands are highly valued for their ability to absorb nutrients within the soil, giving area farmers fertilizer in the process. The law eliminates certain wetland building requirements and creates a task force to establish a comprehensive study of wetlands throughout the state.
Supporters of the bill said that wetland protections throughout Indiana have led to an increase in the price of homes. This bill, supporters say, would help reduce costs as well as construction delays. Critics of the bill said this new law could lead to the loss of more wetlands across Indiana.
House Bill 1086 – Alcoholic beverage sales
With bipartisan support, happy hour is coming back to the state of Indiana after more than 30 years.
Holcomb signed HEA 1086 into law on March 14, allowing Indiana bars and restaurants to implement happy hours starting on Monday. Indiana first banned happy hours in 1985 and was one of eight states that had prohibited it.
Happy hour, according to previous reports, is a fixed set of times that allows bars and restaurants to serve discounted alcoholic drink specials. Legalizing happy hours would let these entities set deals for specific time periods.
The bill also includes the inclusion of allowing Indiana residents to carry out alcoholic drinks, something that was previously not allowed in the state.
Critics of the bill stated that happy hours and carry-out drinks would promote the further consumption of alcohol.
“Alcohol remains the number one drug of choice for youth and adults in our state,” Lisa Hutchinson, a member of Mental Health America of Indiana, said at the time.
House Bill 1120 – State and local administration (sister city agreements)
After many conversations surrounding sister-city agreements, a portion of an administrative bill in the 2024 General Assembly ended those agreements with “prohibited” persons or countries.
The portion of the bill, signed into law by Holcomb on March 13, said that a county, city, town or township is not allowed to enter a sister-city agreement, or any cooperative agreement, with a foreign adversary.
In the law, the phrase “prohibited person” is used, which the bill defines as a “city, town, province, county, school, college or university located in a foreign adversary.
Before this was added to the bill, many federal and state lawmakers drew attention to sister-city agreements, including a bill brought forward by Indiana Rep. Mitch Gore, D-District 89, as well as U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind. District 3, the Republican nominee for Indiana’s open U.S. Senate seat.
House Bill 1426 – Long-acting reversible contraceptives
House Bill 1426, a bill signed into law on March 12, gives hospitals new requirements for women who choose to give birth in the hospital.
The bill states that women giving birth in a hospital who are Medicaid recipients or eligible for Medicaid have the option of having a long-acting reversible subdermal contraceptive implanted after their delivery. Hospitals could also be provided a religious exemption.
Lawmakers who supported the bill previously said that the motivation behind it is Indiana’s rate of unintended pregnancies.
”Any progress we make on expanding birth control access for women in Indiana is a step in the right direction,” Indiana State Rep. Maureen Bauer, D-District 6, previously told FOX59/CBS4.
Officials previously said that because of this bill, the state of Indiana could save nearly $1.5 billion in Medicaid costs over the next three years.
Other bills
Senate Bill 9 – Notice of health care entity mergers
On March 13, Holcomb signed a law surrounding the merger of healthcare entities in the state of Indiana. The law requires entities involved in a merger or acquisition that costs $10,000 or more to provide at least 90 days’ notice to the Indiana Attorney General’s Office.
The AG’s office will then review the information under this new law, getting the chance to analyze any antitrust concerns surrounding a merger/acquisition. The office could then issue a civil investigative demand to an entity for additional information.
Senate Bill 146 – Youth employment
Under a new law, Hoosiers 18 years of age and older will be able to serve alcohol in their place of employment.
Senate Bill 146 was signed into law by Holcomb on March 12. The law allows these Indiana residents to ring up a sale of alcohol. Servers who are at least 18 years of age are also able to serve alcohol if they complete an alcohol server training program.
Senate Bill 185 – Student use of wireless communication device
Students will not be able to use their phones during instruction times in school, according to a new Indiana law.
Senate Bill 185, signed into law on March 11, requires that school corporations and charter schools adopt a wireless communication device policy, prohibiting a student from using a device during instructional times.
The bill stresses that educators could allow for students to use the device for educational purposes and the students will be able to use the device in emergency situations. The bill states that each school corporation and charter school is required to post the policy on its website.
Senate Bill 190 – State Disaster Relief Fund
Senate Bill 190, which was signed into law on March 13, will amend the state of Indiana’s disaster relief fund, changing certain requirements for eligible entities to receive financial assistance.
The bill also increases the amount of loss that can be compensated for damages to a person’s property from $10,000 to $25,000. Eligible entities include those who incurred a loss during a disaster and are located in a jurisdiction that declared a local disaster emergency.
House Bill 1021 – Green Alert for missing at-risk veterans
Starting Monday, Indiana residents will begin to see a new alert system for missing at-risk veterans.
The new Green Alert system, implemented by House Bill 1021 signed into law on March 11, is similar to the Silver Alert or Amber Alert system, specifically for at-risk veterans.
The bill identifies at-risk veterans as those who are a veteran or active duty members of the armed forces or military and have a physical or mental health condition related to their military service. The alert is released if law enforcement officials are searching for a missing veteran at risk.
House Bill 1183 – Foreign ownership of land
Recent conversations surrounding the foreign ownership of land during the recent political campaigns resulted in House Bill 1183 being signed into law by Holcomb on March 15.
Under the new law, a prohibited person may not purchase, lease or acquire a parcel of real property in Indiana or within a 10-mile radius of a military installation with certain exceptions. This includes agricultural land, a mineral right, water or a riparian right on agricultural land.
Prohibited persons include those who hold dual citizenship with the United States and countries like China, Iran, North Korea, Russia or a country designated as a threat to critical infrastructure by the governor. This bill also includes business entities held or controlled by citizens of a foreign adversary.
