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Indiana public schools—both K-12 school districts and universities—would no longer be able to employ or hire lobbyists under legislation filed this week by an Indianapolis Republican.
Language in House Bill 1313, filed by Rep. Andrew Ireland, states that public schools cannot hire lobbyists or contract with lobbying firms, nor can those bodies give money to a nonprofit organization that represents public education groups.
Ireland said he authored the bill because he’s concerned about school districts hiring lobbyists with money that could be going toward the classroom.
“At the end of the day, this is a taxpayer protection bill. This is an opportunity to reign some of that in,” Ireland said. “We have a number of individual schools hiring lobbyists—using taxpayer money—sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.”
Ireland did not specify the districts.
What does the bill do?
Ireland’s bill targets lobbyists, which state law define as anyone who receives more than $500 a year to attempt to persuade legislators or anyone who incurs more than $500 in expenses on lobbying activities. Anyone who spends or receives more than that amount is required to register as a lobbyist.
Under the bill, public schools specifically would be barred from using lobbyists—whether they have them on staff or pay a lobbying firm.
More pertinent to K-12 schools, the bill also prohibits public dollars from going to nonprofit groups that primarily represent public schools or pay for public school lobbyists. That would apply to groups including the Indiana School Board Association, the Indiana Association of School Principals and the Indiana Small and Rural Schools Association.
The bill, as written, applies to school corporations and “state educational institutions,” but charter schools are not included. If a public school violates the language, they are subject to a lawsuit.
The bill also clarifies that an employee of a public school system is able to testify before the Legislature or communicate with lawmakers, so long as they would not qualify as a lobbyist.
The bill also includes language that prevents schools from canceling classes or using online learning to facilitate protests. Ireland proposed a similar measure last year in response to demonstrations by Indianapolis Public Schools personnel.
House Education Committee Chair Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, said he hasn’t decided if Ireland’s bill will get a hearing this session, but noted there are a number of large education items working their way through the process.
Reaction
Chris Lagoni, executive director of the Indiana Small and Rural Schools Association, said the bill is “biased” against public schools. He said the proposal is concerning, but not unsurprising given legislation from last year’s session did away with specific protections for public schools to pay or form interest groups.
“It removed language in Indiana code that specifically said Indiana schools can have associations to represent them. We knew that there would be a bill like 1313 filed by somebody,” Lagoni said, adding his organization is mobilizing its members against the proposal.
Barring lobbyists from publicly funding schools would also impact Indiana’s universities, and Ireland said he intentionally applied his bill to postsecondary institutions
“We can try to have those conversations about bringing additional people onto the payroll,” he said. “But again, for publicly funded universities, which are subsidized by tax dollars, we shouldn’t be wasting tax dollars on those efforts,” he said.
Representatives for Purdue University and Ball State University declined to comment. Representatives from Indiana University did not respond to the IBJ’s request for comment.
Indiana’s public lobbyist portal lists a few instances of universities hiring lobbying firms on their behalf. Ball State paid a little over $14,000 in lobbying fees in 2018, which is the the most recent year the school registered any activity.
Indiana University does not show any lobbying activity in the portal prior to 2026, with the school retaining law firm Barnes and Thornburg LLP this year. A spokesman for Barnes and Thornburg declined to comment.
Indiana State University reported $26,000 in lobbying expenditures in 2025, while the University of Southern Indiana reported $22,200. There is no activity listed for Purdue University directly, but the Purdue University Fort Wayne Foundation, which raises and manages donations to Purdue Fort Wayne notes it spent about $21,000 last year.
Lagoni said taking away trade associations will only hurt public education, as administrators should focus on running their schools and not the minutiae of the General Assembly.
“That’s why we have these associations, because nobody can keep up on these 700 ideas that are coming out of the statehouse,” Lagoni said.
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