Lawmakers back away from a youth social media ban

With key legislative deadlines for the first half of session looming, the Indiana House and Senate passed numerous bills Wednesday — and eliminated a controversial social media provision.

Language that would have barred young children from social media and required parental consent for Hoosier teens was removed from Senate Bill 199, an omnibus K-12 education measure.

Senators unanimously agreed, without debate, to amend it out.

As previously drafted, the bill would have barred children under 13 from creating or maintaining social media accounts and required written parental consent for users ages 13 to 17.

Similar proposals nationwide have drawn legal scrutiny — and in some cases, federal court challenges on First Amendment grounds. Bill author Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Richmond, previously said lawmakers were attempting to craft legally defensible policy.

The issue could still reemerge later in the legislative session, however.

Utility affordability

Amid growing constituent outrage over electricity bills, House Republicans advanced a priority proposal — focused on leveling out sudden fluctuations — in a 89-4 tally that featured broad bipartisan support.

House Bill 1002 deals with assistance programs and hot-weather shutoffs for low-income customers, predictable billing plans for all, and multi-year rate plans with performance-based incentives.

“Instead of returning to the (Indiana Utility Regulatory) Commission year after year for piecemeal adjustments, utilities operate under a structured three-year rate plan that provides predictability for both the utility customer and the utility,” said author Rep. Alaina Shonkwiler, R-Noblesville.

Some Democrats offered a more tepid endorsement.

“I’m willing to vote for something, because it’s better than nothing,” said Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington. “But … we’re not doing enough to help the middle-class, working families of our state who are desperately asking for relief.”

E-Verify enforcement

The Indiana Senate voted unanimously to tighten regulations against unauthorized laborers working on taxpayer-funded public works projects.

“Right now, that is happening, and there are bad actors that have taken advantage of the system, and I think that’s wrong,” said Sen. Greg Goode, R-Terre Haute.

His Senate Bill 87 explicitly extends the state’s existing requirement for contractors to use the federal E-Verify system to check immigration status of all workers, regardless of the construction delivery method.

Witnesses at a committee hearing complained of a loophole they said allows undocumented workers to take jobs from Indiana citizens.

“Whether you’re Republican or Democrat, the intersection is here — common sense legislation,” Goode said.

Hemp regulation advances

Senate lawmakers also approved a ban on intoxicating and synthetic hemp-derived products in a 35-13 vote — echoing a recent federal law designed to close another “loophole” that has allowed potent products with delta-8, THCA and other cannabinoids to proliferate across the nation.

“It’s my understanding that about 99% of the products that are currently being sold in this state legally would essentially become illegal,” Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, said.

Bill author Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, argued those offerings occupy a legal gray area.

“You’re not going to get Aaron Freeman to say they’re operating legally,” he said. “I don’t think they are. I don’t think they ever have been. This clarifies that.”

Senate Bill 250 also lays out a regulatory scheme for any low-potency, field-grown products.

Township mergers pass

Hundreds of Indiana townships would likely be forced to merge under a bill passed 39-9 by the state Senate.

Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, stressed that his legislation would merge the least-efficient townships in the state based on a data-driven point system. He worked in cooperation with the Indiana Township Association on Senate Bill 270.

He estimated between 315 to 330 of Indiana’s 1,008 townships would be forced to merge with neighboring jurisdictions.

The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance would assess points for townships based on assistance provided, annual budgets, involvement in fire protection and other factors. If a township reaches four designated points, the requirement to merge would kick in.

“If you’re doing your job and doing all this stuff that these eight things do, there’s a good chance you’re going to stay,” Niemeyer said.

Nine Republicans voted against Senate Bill 270, which now moves to the House. That chamber has a similar bill moving, too.

Public records access overhaul

A bill aimed at reshaping how Indiana agencies respond to public records requests also passed the House unanimously and now heads to the Senate.

House Bill 1360, authored by Rep. Matt Lehman, R-Berne, intends to address what supporters describe as a surge in large-scale, automated requests driven by artificial intelligence and data-scraping tools.

Lehman said agencies are increasingly receiving requests “asking for data that is becoming very much time-consuming to fulfill under their traditional sources,” adding that “many of these are being generated by AI.”

Central to the bill, agencies could require requests to be submitted through electronic portals that include CAPTCHA verification — “where you push on the button that says, ‘I’m a human being’” — and physical address verification, including confirmation of whether the requester lives in Indiana.

Agencies would also have to log and report suspected phishing or data scraping requests to the state’s public access counselor and could decline to respond if they notify the counselor within seven days and explain why.

The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.