In this episode of Indiana Statehouse Week in Review, MADVoters’ Director of Advocacy Kaitie Rector walks us through the major bills that moved or surfaced this week at the Indiana General Assembly, with a focus on affordability, democratic governance, public health, civil rights, and the steady expansion of state power at the expense of local control. From housing and utility costs to Medicaid, immigration enforcement, environmental deregulation, education governance, and abortion access, we break down what each proposal does, who it affects, and why advocates should be paying attention now.
MADVoters Bill Tracker: https://www.madvoters.org/bill-tracker
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0:00 Intro / How we’re approaching the weekWe set expectations for the episode, explain how to follow bills, and talk about using the IGA and MADVoters tools to track what’s moving and what’s already dead.
5:00 HB 1001 – Housing affordabilityWe discuss this as an “affordability” priority bill focused on housing, raising concerns about how proposals framed as increasing supply or efficiency can undermine local control and tenant protections.
5:05 HB 1002 – Utility affordabilityDiscussed alongside HB 1001 as part of the affordability agenda, this bill focuses on electric utilities and rate impacts, with skepticism about whether it meaningfully lowers costs for everyday Hoosiers.
9:45 SB 1 – Human services eligibility and administrationWe talk at length about Medicaid and SNAP changes, emphasizing how tightening eligibility and adding administrative hurdles causes eligible people to lose benefits through paperwork failures, not fraud.
13:15 SB 12 – Ban on ranked-choice votingWe frame this as a preemptive, anti-democratic move to outlaw a reform Indiana isn’t even using, purely to block future local experimentation.
16:10 SB 76 – Immigration enforcementWe discuss how this bill strengthens immigration enforcement and forces the state to defend those actions, highlighting both the political signaling and real human consequences.
24:15 HB 1423 – Indianapolis Public Schools governanceThis is a major segment: we explain how the bill strips power from the elected IPS board and shifts authority to an appointed structure, effectively setting up a state takeover aligned with charter interests.
28:45 SB 277 – Environmental deregulation (IDEM)We describe how this bill weakens environmental protections by changing statutory requirements and limiting enforcement, increasing risks to communities and neighbors.
32:05 SB 267 – Influence campaign / protest reportingFramed as “transparency,” we explain how this bill targets protest activity and political expression, creating chilling effects on organizing and dissent.
35:30 SB 200 – Political access in schools (no slide)This bill comes up organically without a slide; we discuss how it limits school discretion by requiring access for outside political or advocacy groups.
38:10 HB 1065 – Ban on gratuities for public officialsWe note this as a rare piece of genuinely positive legislation aimed at reducing corruption and unethical gift-giving.
39:50 HB 1066 – Government vehicle purchase limitsDiscussed as a common-sense accountability measure to prevent misuse of public funds for luxury vehicles.
41:40 SB 85 – Medical debt protectionsFlagged explicitly as good news, this bill strengthens protections for patients facing medical debt and aggressive collection practices.
43:30 SB 91 – Syringe exchange extensionWe emphasize the public-health stakes, explaining how syringe exchange programs save lives and what Indiana risks if the program expires.
46:05 SB 182 – Legal sex definitionsDiscussed as a dangerous, ideologically driven bill that erases trans and nonbinary Hoosiers from statute and invites further discrimination.
49:20 SB 236 – Abortion pills and reporting requirementsWe spend extended time on how this bill escalates abortion criminalization, chills medical care, and creates spillover harms for miscarriage and pregnancy treatment.
53:20 SB 285 – Criminalization of homelessnessWe describe how the bill punishes unhoused people while preempting local governments from pursuing humane, evidence-based solutions.
56:40 HB 1086 – Ten Commandments in classroomsWe close the bill discussion by calling this an unconstitutional culture-war bill mandating religious displays in public schools.
59:10 Wrap-up and calls to actionFinal thoughts on advocacy priorities, tracking bills, and where listeners can still intervene.
MADVoters Bill Tracker: https://www.madvoters.org/bill-tracker
Support MADVoters: https://www.madvoters.org/donate-here
Progressive Indiana Network is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
