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Indiana’s county needle exchange programs would face tighter restrictions under a bill that received final legislative approval — extending those efforts to limit the spread of disease among people using intravenous drugs.
It was one of dozens of bills receiving final concurrence votes in both chambers Wednesday.
The Senate voted 38-10 on Wednesday in favor of Senate Bill 91, sending it to Gov. Mike Braun for consideration.
The measure would extend for five years the programs now offered in six of Indiana’s 92 counties, but public health advocates have argued new restrictions will hamper their work to provide sterile needles, disease testing and addiction counseling referrals.
Bill author Sen. Mike Crider, R-Greenfield, said the proposal puts “standards in place that if they fail to meet the expectations of the program and there’s a complaint to the State Department of Health, the program can be suspended.”
Those new rules would require a participant to present identification proving residency in the exchange program’s region and limit the program operators to providing one sterile needle for each used one handed in.
Lawmakers added those restrictions following persistent criticism of the programs enabling illegal drug use and the spreading of health dangers from discarded needles.
The programs face a renewal deadline this summer after first being authorized under then-Gov. Mike Pence in 2015 following an HIV outbreak in rural southern Indiana’s Scott County that was spread through needle sharing and infected around 200 people.
Authorization for those programs would continue until July 2031 under the bill.
SNAP, Medicaid conformity bill heads to governor
Lawmakers also sent Senate Bill 1 to the governor Wednesday, approving the Republican-backed measure tightening verification rules for food assistance and Medicaid eligibility in a 39-9 vote.
Bill author Sen. Chris Garten, R-Charlestown, said it aligns Indiana law with new federal requirements and adds state-level guardrails aimed at reducing high error payment rates in public assistance programs.
“This entire bill is focused around the Medicaid error payment rate and the SNAP error payment rate,” Garten said. “Senate Bill 1 is the administrative guardrail that we need as a state to ensure that our Hoosiers who are poor and disabled and need services continue to get a sustainable program as we deliver it.”
Garten said Indiana’s current error rates could expose the state to massive federal penalties and cited a SNAP error rate of 9.5% and a Medicaid error rate of roughly 19%.
But Democrats raised concerns that the bill goes beyond federal compliance and risks placing additional burdens on eligible Hoosiers.
Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, questioned whether the legislation addresses the root cause of the error rates.
“The same agency that processes eligibility that led Indiana… to exceed the error calculating rate is the same agency that now we are asking them to do the redeterminations,” Qaddoura said, calling the approach “kind of circular.”
Senate Minority Leader Shellie Yoder, D-Bloomington, argued the bill reflects a broader national agenda and warned it could create new hurdles for families seeking assistance.
“It is creating complex hoops and hurdles and paperwork and administrative bloat in an already complex system,” Yoder said.
Garten rejected claims the bill would cut off eligible recipients, however. He also emphasized that benefits continue during appeals.
“This bill isn’t hurting any users of Medicaid. Let me be very clear about that,” Garten said. “Not one person who’s eligible for Medicaid today will be ineligible as long as they follow these guidelines.”
Success sequence and college admissions
Additionally on its way to the governor, Senate Bill 88 would add “success sequence” instruction in Indiana’s K-12 schools. The measure passed the Senate a final time in a 34-14 vote.
It requires schools to teach that “success” involves finishing high school, getting a full-time job and waiting until marriage to have children. The aim, said bill author Sen. Gary Byrne, R-Byrneville, is to reduce poverty.
The bill also requires Hoosier public universities to accept the Classic Learning as a college entrance exam option. The test is favored by classical and religious schools for its focus on Western, classical and early Christian thought.
Democrats have repeatedly argued that the CLT is less effective than the ACT or SAT at predicting college success. Supporters of the bill maintained that the CLT is a better gauge for students in private and homeschool environments.
Still, the final draft of the bill does not force Indiana public colleges and universities to require such tests at all. Currently, most Hoosier institutions are test optional, meaning prospective students can choose whether to submit SAT and ACT scores with their admission application.
Environmental deregulation
A divisive bill to deregulate environmental protections in the state almost didn’t pass. On the last vote on the night in the Senate, the running tally on the vote board for Senate Bill 277 was 22 for and 25 against.
To save the GOP bill, four Republicans changed their no votes to yes, giving it a 26-21 victory. The senators who changed their minds were Scott Alexander, Mike Bohacek, Daryl Schmitt and Jim Tomes.
The overhaul bill changes dozens of “shall” requirements into optional “may” provisions for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to enforce environmental. law.
Supporters have argued it modernizes outdated language and gives regulators flexibility, while critics have warned it weakens safeguards for air and water quality — and human health.
Tax deductions and penny rounding
Senate Bill 243 is headed to the governor with a 47-0 vote.
The measure would add one-year tax deductions on overtime and tip income, along with the interest on loans for U.S.-made vehicles — saving Hoosiers about $250 million.
The legislation also takes aim at a penny shortage that began after the U.S. Mint ended production of the one-cent coin in November. Retailers and agencies have been handling cash transactions as they wish in the absence of a statewide policy.
Retailers can choose to round down or up on transactions. Hoosier governments, meanwhile, would be required to round down. The rounding regime could cost the state millions in sales tax revenue, while agencies could lose thousands in earnings off fees, fines and more. It would take effect in 2027.
Housing overhaul
House lawmakers also signed off on a key housing measure Wednesday, voting 72-21 to concur with Senate changes to House Bill 1001, a Republican priority measure aimed at boosting residential development and lowering costs for both builders and homebuyers.
Bill author Rep. Doug Miller, R-Elkhart, himself a homebuilder, framed the proposal as a collaborative effort with local governments and housing stakeholders and said the goal is to “bring more housing to market” and make it more affordable for Hoosiers.
The final draft of the bill is designed to address Indiana’s housing shortage by limiting local zoning rules, streamlining approvals and expanding what types of residential development must be allowed without public hearings unless a city or county formally opts out.
Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, pressed Miller about safety and affordability trade‑offs and warned that while the bill trims costs for builders, “we don’t really have any guarantee that those savings will find their way down to the actual purchaser of the unit.”
“I understand that we are all desperate in here to vote for an affordable housing bill — because we know our constituents are probably more than frustrated, or probably angry at their inability to afford reasonable housing,” Pierce said. “But there’s really nothing in the bill that requires those savings to be passed on to the potential homeowner… It might end up just creating a greater profit margin.”
Public records and data scraping
Legislation intended to block data scrapers from clogging Indiana agencies with fishy public records requests heads to the governor after the House concurred with Senate chances in a unanimous, 95-0 vote Wednesday.
House Bill 1360 would allow state and local public agencies to set up online portals distinguishing bots from humans and Hoosiers from non-residents. The Senate added language allowing for denials when the requester is involved in a lawsuit and their request is duplicative of a discovery request the’ve already submitted — in addition to other technical changes.
Indianapolis school governance
A bill to reshape governance and coordination across Indianapolis public schools — traditional and charters — passed a final House vote, too, 67-30.
House Bill 1423, authored by Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, formalizes recommendations from the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance, ILEA, and would establish the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation. The new municipal entity and board would coordinate transportation, facilities and school performance across all non-virtual, non-adult public schools within Indianapolis Public Schools’ boundaries.
With final approval from the governor, IPEC will assume control over school property decisions starting in 2029, create a unified transportation plan ultimately requiring all schools to provide busing, and develop a framework for closing chronically underperforming or inefficient schools.
The bill also reshapes finances and governance by exempting IPS from the state’s $1 school-building law; limiting who can authorize new charter schools inside IPS boundaries; giving IPEC authority to impose property tax levies and take on debt, with some short-term IPS oversight; and allowing it to divert up to 3% of local operations fund revenue from IPS and charters to run the new system — while setting its own formula for distributing property-tax and other revenues among participating schools.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
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