Indiana

Recognizing the Town of Chesterton. A SENATE RESOLUTION recognizing the Town of Chesterton for its renovated town hall and fire station.

Honoring Floyd Central High School Navy Junior Reserves Officers Training Corps Rifle Team. Honoring Floyd Central High School Navy Junior Reserves Officers Training Corps Rifle Team.

Stadium authority. Establishes the northwest Indiana stadium authority (stadium authority) for the purpose of acquiring and financing certain facilities. Sets forth the powers and duties of the stadium authority. Establishes the northwest Indiana stadium board (stadium board) for the purpose of financing, constructing, equipping, operating, and maintaining a capital improvement. Specifies the composition of the stadium board and sets forth the powers and duties of the stadium board, including the issuance of bonds and notes to finance a capital improvement. Amends and adds provisions that apply to the Indiana finance authority. Amends provisions in the Lake County and Porter County food and beverage tax chapter. Amends provisions in the Lake County innkeeper's tax chapter. Authorizes the city of Hammond to impose an admissions tax. Requires amounts collected from the city admissions tax to be distributed to the stadium board or its designee. Authorizes a redevelopment commission of the city of Hammond to establish a professional sports development area in the city designated as the northwest Indiana professional sports development area and tax area. Authorizes the city of Hammond to establish a northwest Indiana stadium development district. Specifies the duties and authorities of the district and the uses of the incremental tax revenue captured in the district. Requires the Indiana Sports Corporation, beginning July 1, 2027, to ensure that 20% of the money received by the Indiana Sports Corporation each biennium is used for events supported by the northwest Indiana stadium authority and that not less than 20% (instead of 30%) of the money received by the Indiana Sports Corporation each biennium is used for events that are conducted outside of both Marion County and Lake County. Requires certain projects to be reviewed by the budget committee before the Indiana department of transportation proceed with contract letting.

Adoption and foster care matters. Prohibits a governmental entity from discriminating against a person in adoption and foster care matters based on the person's sincerely held religious belief, unless the discriminatory act as applied to the person is required to advance a compelling government interest and is the least restrictive means of advancing the interest. Specifies that a governmental entity may consider whether a person involved in adoption or foster care matters shares the same religion or faith tradition as a child or the child's parent when considering placement of a child. Allows a person to bring a cause of action against a governmental entity for discriminating against the person, or raise a violation as a claim or defense in a judicial proceeding, and allows for certain remedies. Provides that there is a two year statute of limitation for a discrimination claim.

Expressing appreciation to the Indiana State Medical Association and the Indiana Academy of Family Physicians for the "Doctor of the Day" program. A SENATE RESOLUTION expressing the Indiana State Senate's sincere appreciation to the Indiana State Medical Association and the Indiana Academy of Family Physicians for coordinating and operating the "Doctor of the Day" program and to the dedicated doctors who participated.

Recognizing the 70th anniversary of The Arc of Indiana and honoring its enduring leadership and advocacy for Hoosiers with intellectual and developmental disabilities. A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION recognizing the 70th anniversary of The Arc of Indiana and honoring its enduring leadership and advocacy for Hoosiers with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Confined feeding operations. Creates a preapplication process for the approval of confined feeding operations. Provides that the department of environmental management (department) must refund a confined feeding operation application fee under certain circumstances. Provides that certain confined feeding operations do not need to use certain equipment for solid manure produced by livestock. Prohibits the department from requiring an existing confined feeding operation permit holder, who is applying to expand an operation, to update a previously approved facility or structure. Establishes certain requirements for earthen berms at manure storage facilities. Requires the department to: (1) designate an employee as the point of contact for information on confined feeding operation applications; and (2) distribute the contact information of the designated employee to all operating confined feeding operations.

Congratulating Eli Lilly and Company on 150 years of advancing health, science, and a better future for Hoosiers and people around the world. Congratulating Eli Lilly and Company on 150 years of advancing health, science, and a better future for Hoosiers and people around the world.

Auto dealer matters. Requires a dealer to collect and retain certain identifying information from a potential purchaser. Beginning July 1, 2026, requires a transport operator to either: (1) have an established place of business with a physical Indiana address; or (2) provide the secretary of state (secretary) with proof of the transport operator's valid registration from the United States Department of Transportation authorizing the transport operator to operate within Indiana; to apply for a registration number. Provides that a dealership that operates without a license from the secretary commits a Class A infraction.

Honoring Roni Embry. A SENATE RESOLUTION honoring Roni Embry on her retirement.

Children in need of services. Requires the department of child services, subject to certain procedural safeguards, to have in-person contact with an alleged victim of child abuse or neglect: (1) before concluding an assessment; and (2) before dismissing or terminating a pending child in need of services case with the juvenile court.

Local government matters. Provides that individuals who are appointed to certain boards, committees, or other bodies in a county that does not have a consolidated city, serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority as long as: (1) the officeholder who appointed the individual continues to hold the office; or (2) the board, committee, or body that appointed the individual retains all of the same members who served when the individual was appointed. Provides that, in the case of a reorganized political subdivision, the oath of office of the town board of police commissioners is administered by any of the individuals granted notary powers. Staggers the terms of a nine member local board of health. Provides that the county executive, excluding a county containing a consolidated city, may set the salary of a county administrator subject to: (1) salary parameters established; or (2) approval; by the county fiscal body. Provides that each county executive, excluding a county containing a consolidated city and certain employees, shall adopt and maintain a written personnel policy, employee handbook, or equivalent document establishing minimum standards for county employee conduct, performance, and workplace expectations. Requires the executive of a county or municipality (unit) to preapprove any of the following actions of the unit's park and recreation board, if the cost exceeds the lesser of $500,000 or 10% of the park district's annual budget: (1) Exercising eminent domain powers. (2) Entering into a contract. (3) Acquiring real or personal property. (4) Making capital improvements. Adds public defenders to those officials whose home addresses may be restricted from public property data base websites.

Insurance coverage for public safety employees. Provides that a public safety employee who: (1) becomes disabled on or after January 1, 2020; (2) receives a Class 1 or a Class 2 impairment benefit; and (3) is eligible for group health insurance coverage for the public safety employee and the public safety employee's spouse or dependents; must pay no more than the amount that the public safety employee would have been required to pay if still serving as a current active public safety employee employed by the local unit public employer. Specifies that the public safety employee must file a written request for insurance coverage with the employer before June 1, 2026, or within 90 days after the public safety employee begins receiving disability benefits, whichever is later. Specifies that if a public safety agency closes, merges, or otherwise ceases to exist, the local unit public employer that caused the public safety agency to cease to exist, shall continue to provide certain insurance coverage. Provides that a surviving spouse or dependent of a public safety employee who dies in the line of duty must pay the same amount that the public safety employee would have been required to pay if still serving as a current active public safety employee employed by the local unit public employer for coverage selected by the surviving spouse or dependent under the group health insurance program.

Boards and commissions. Creates the agricultural promotion and regulation task force to study various agriculture related topics. Makes changes to requirements for the readoption of administrative rules. Repeals, merges, consolidates, or otherwise modifies various boards, commissions, and other governmental bodies. Modifies or establishes various funds. Makes changes to the membership, duties, and operations of various boards, commissions, and other governmental bodies. Expands the applicability of a statute concerning county hospital governance to Perry County, Spencer County, and Orange County. Repeals the fire prevention and building safety commission (commission). Transfers the commission's responsibilities and administrative rules to the department of homeland security. Makes certain changes to the administration of building and safety statutes and building and safety codes. Makes an appropriation.

County policies. Specifies that county residency requirements do not apply to: (1) public defenders (except for the chief public defender); (2) employees of a public defender office; (3) judicial officers; or (4) court personnel.

Memorializing Lee Hamilton. A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION memorializing Lee Herbert Hamilton.

Securities and investment adviser representatives. Exempts a merger and acquisition broker from registering as a broker-dealer under certain circumstances. Requires an applicant seeking to register as an agent of a broker-dealer in Indiana to pass financial industry regulatory authority (FINRA) examinations unless certain exceptions apply. Requires an applicant seeking to register as an investment adviser representative in Indiana to pass FINRA examinations unless certain exceptions apply. Provides that under certain circumstances an agent of a broker-dealer or an investment adviser representative may have the validity of the individual's FINRA qualifying examinations extended. Requires an investment adviser representative to participate in a continuing education program.

Electric utility affordability. Requires an electricity supplier, other than a municipally owned utility, that is under the jurisdiction of the Indiana utility regulatory commission (IURC) to do the following: (1) Beginning with the first monthly billing cycle that begins after June 30, 2026, apply a levelized billing plan (plan) to all active residential customer accounts: (A) for service provided under the electricity supplier's standard residential tariff to a household that is eligible for and has applied for assistance from the state's home energy assistance program; and (B) to which a plan does not already apply. (2) Not later than April 1, 2026, offer each customer a mechanism by which the customer may opt out of a plan at any time without penalty. (3) Not later than July 1, 2026, for any plan offered by the electricity supplier and applied to an active customer account, amend or design the plan so that plan's account reconciliation mechanism is applied at such times during a calendar year to reflect typical seasonal patterns of electricity usage by residential customers, but not more than two times during a calendar year. Prohibits an electricity supplier from referring to or promoting a levelized billing plan as a "budget billing plan" unless the levelized billing plan also provides other specified forms of relief for customers. Authorizes the IURC to adopt rules to implement these provisions. Amends existing law granting the IURC the authority to take certain actions with respect to the rates and services of public utilities during emergency circumstances, as judged by the IURC, to provide instead that the IURC may recommend that the governor declare a disaster emergency or proclaim a state of energy emergency during which the IURC may take such actions. Specifies that the emergency must result from: (1) a national economic depression; (2) an act of war; or (3) a disaster of unprecedented size and destructiveness. Provides that an electric utility, other than a municipally owned utility, may not terminate residential electric service to a customer on any day with respect to which the National Weather Service has forecast, not earlier than 48 hours in advance, a heat index of at least 95 degrees for the location where the customer receives service. Requires an electricity supplier, other than a municipally owned utility, that is under the jurisdiction of the IURC for the approval of rates and charges to report to the office of utility consumer counselor (OUCC) on a quarterly basis certain data concerning residential customer accounts. Requires the OUCC to annually compile and summarize the information contained in the reports and include the summary in the OUCC's annual report to the interim study committee on energy, utilities, and telecommunications. Provides that an investor owned electricity supplier that is under the jurisdiction of the IURC for the approval of rates and charges must petition the IURC for approval of any change in its basic rates and charges through the submission of a three-year multi-year rate plan (MYRP). Beginning in 2026, requires each electricity supplier to file its first petition with the IURC for approval of an MYRP according to a prescribed schedule. Provides that the base rates for the first rate year of an MYRP shall be established by the IURC in the same manner that base rates would be established in a proceeding for a change in basic rates and charges that occurs outside an MYRP. Specifies that in a petition to the IURC for a multi-year plan, an electricity supplier must include certain information in its case in chief. Provides that for each rate year in an electricity supplier's MYRP, the following apply: (1) A customer affordability performance metric and an associated performance incentive mechanism (PIM) that: (A) is based on the electricity supplier's performance in meeting the customer affordability performance metric; and (B) provides financial rewards or penalties to the electricity supplier based on that performance. (2) A service restoration performance metric and an associated PIM that: (A) is based on the electricity supplier's performance in meeting the service restoration performance metric; and (B) provides financial rewards or penalties to the electricity supplier based on that performance. Sets forth the methods by which the IURC must calculate the prescribed performance metrics and determine the associated PIMs. Sets forth specified findings the IURC must make in approving an electricity supplier's MYRP. Provides that at any time before the expiration of an electricity supplier's approved MYRP, the IURC may, upon its own motion, or at the request of the OUCC or the electricity supplier: (1) examine the electricity supplier's rates under the MYRP; (2) conduct periodic reviews with opportunities for public hearings and comments; and (3) adjust the base rates or PIMs under the MYRP. Beginning in 2029, requires the IURC to include in its annual report certain information about: (1) the status of electricity suppliers' MYRP filings and current MYRPs; (2) electricity suppliers' calculated performance metrics for the current rate year; and (3) the impact of all applicable PIMs on customer rates. Requires the IURC to adopt rules to implement these provisions. Requires an electricity supplier, other than a municipally owned utility, that is under the jurisdiction of the IURC to offer, not later than July 1, 2026, a low income customer assistance program (program) that provides financial assistance to low income residential customers for the payment of monthly bills for utility service. Requires an electricity supplier to annually fund its program in an amount equal to: (1) at least 0.2% of the electricity supplier's jurisdictional revenues for residential customers; plus (2) any contributions from governmental agencies or programs or from other third parties. Provides that if a customer who applies for assistance is eligible for assistance under the program, the electricity supplier shall enroll the customer in the program. Provides that an electricity supplier may, but is not required to, petition the IURC for approval to recover eligible program costs. Provides that "eligible program costs" do not include costs recovered by the electricity supplier through contributions that are provided at no cost to the electricity supplier. Beginning in 2027, requires the IURC to include each year in its annual report specified information concerning each electricity supplier's program with respect to the most recently concluded state fiscal year. Requires the IURC to adopt rules to implement these provisions.

Memorializing Reverend Jesse Jackson. A SENATE RESOLUTION memorializing Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson.

Honoring Floyd Central High School Navy Junior Reserves Officers Training Corps Rifle Team. Honoring Floyd Central High School Navy Junior Reserves Officers Training Corps Rifle Team.

Indiana department of environmental management. Amends, repeals, or adds certain terms. Makes certain changes concerning the purpose, structure, and powers of the department of environmental management (department) or the environmental rules board. Prohibits the department from basing a decision solely on federal risk values that have not been promulgated through federal rulemaking. Instructs the department to avoid the use of federal risk values that are at or below background concentrations in air, water, soil, or sediment. Makes certain changes to various boards or funds. Eliminates or amends rulemaking provisions. Makes certain changes to hearing and permitting processes. Changes or eliminates certain reporting requirements. Makes various changes to the water pollution statutes. Makes various changes to the solid waste and hazardous waste management statutes. Repeals or amends various sections regarding: (1) hazardous substances; (2) the voluntary remediation programs; (3) regional water districts; and (4) citizen lawsuits. Amends provisions concerning the establishment of certain fees and the use of fee schedules. Repeals the division of pollution prevention and the office of voluntary compliance. Makes conforming, stylistic, and technical changes.

Education matters. Amends provisions, beginning July 1, 2027, regarding use of the Pokagon Indiana education fund to make payments to Indiana public or private institutions of higher learning or workforce development and training programs. Provides that, in addition to conditions established in current law to convert an existing public elementary or secondary school, an existing public elementary or secondary school may be converted into a charter school if certain other conditions apply. Allows, if the conditions are met, the governing body of a school corporation to: (1) convert more than one existing public elementary or secondary school within the school corporation; and (2) operate two or more conversion charter schools under a single charter. Prohibits the governing body of a school corporation from being the authorizer of a charter school and entering into or having a participating innovation network charter school agreement with the charter school at the same time. Amends provisions regarding participating innovation network charter schools to allow an organizer to enter into an agreement with more than one school corporation. Amends requirements regarding the location of a participating innovation network charter school and terms of an agreement. Amends the duties of the department of education with regard to participating innovation network charter schools. Makes conforming changes, including changes to the complexity index. Requires parental notification if a school determines a student is at risk of not achieving grade level proficiency in mathematics.

Urging the Legislative Council to assign the topic of air conditioning units and other landlord-tenant matters. A SENATE RESOLUTION urging the Legislative Council to assign the topic of air conditioning units and other landlord-tenant matters to the appropriate interim study committee.

FSSA fiscal matters. Amends the duties of the office of the secretary of family and social services (office) concerning home and community based services waivers (waiver). Requires: (1) a provider of waiver services to provide certain documentation to a waiver recipient; (2) a waiver recipient to review the documentation and report errors or inconsistencies; and (3) the recipient's case manager to provide assistance to the recipient in reviewing the documentation and reporting any errors or inconsistencies. Establishes a time frame in which the bureau of disabilities services must review and approve or deny requests for an increase in service units provided to certain individuals with a disability. Creates an exemption for presumptive eligibility standards. Provides reimbursement exemptions under certain Medicaid programs when operating under a value based health care reimbursement agreement. Provides that a provision prohibiting the office from reducing reimbursement for home health services expires June 30, 2027. Requires the office to collaborate with certain entities to develop a new reimbursement methodology for home health services. Specifies that public notice of at least six months (rather than one year) must be provided before a health facility service reimbursement that results in a reduction in reimbursement may be changed. Provides that a claim by the estate recovery unit of the office of Medicaid policy and planning (estate recovery unit) is forever barred unless the estate recovery unit files a claim in the court in which the decedent's estate is being administered not later than nine months after the date of death of the decedent.

Honoring Officer Brian Elliott Honoring Officer Brian Elliott