2025 Indiana General Assembly 

Deadlines have passed and we are now at the mid-session point of the 2025 Indiana General Assembly. Bills have switched chambers and any bill that hasn’t received a committee hearing or a vote on the floor in its originating chamber is now considered dead. An important note: the bill number itself may no longer be alive, but that doesn’t restrict legislators from including any legislative language from those “dead” bills in legislation that is still alive and moving through the process. 

As we reported last week, HB1628 was in jeopardy, as the House Utilities Committee never reconvened to revisit the legislation that completely preempts local control over most projects that “involves the siting, construction, or deployment of facilities, equipment, or infrastructure used in the generation, transmission, distribution, or storage of electricity, gases or fluids, or water.” That means HB1628 is dead for the session. If you recall, the bill was amended in committee and got even worse, if possible. The bill includes language that effectively blocks the development of utility-scale wind power in Indiana, and could likewise, severely limit investment in utility-scale solar as well. While HB1628 is dead, the bill's language could very well be resurrected in the second half of the legislative session — only time will tell.

This week we monitored a handful of committee meetings and watched a number of bills on the House and Senate floors.

The state budget — HB1001 — passed the House on Thursday without much fanfare, in a 66-28 partisan vote. The Senate will now get to hash out testimony on HB1001 and the process will begin again. 

Last week we told you about Senate Bill 284, which slashes by half the amount of time that Hoosiers may early vote. SB284 languished on the Senate’s Second Reading calendar and finally died when its author failed to call it up for action in the Senate. While this is a victory for democracy, we will keep an eye on all elections bills and Title 3 language to defend Hoosiers’ basic right to vote.

You may remember we updated you regarding Senate Bill 425 previously. SB425 eviscerates local control in locations/areas defined as “energy production zones.” These zones are either abandoned coal mines or existing sites with electric generation facilities of 80MWs or greater. The bill got even worse when a committee amendment was adopted, which removed wind and solar from the eligible technologies to be constructed in an energy production zone, meaning local communities will still be able to block wind and solar projects from being developed. SB425 sparked fear in property rights devotees and earned bipartisan opposition with a 37-12 vote.

While we are opposed to Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) generally, we were reassured by the civil penalties added in House Bill 1579 and Senate Bill 457. While HB1579 passed Utilities and Ways and Means, it became mired in the continuing onslaught of apprehension regarding CCS and died on the House floor when it was not placed on the House Calendar. Meanwhile, Sen. Sue Glick’s SB457 narrowly passed the Senate and heads to the House for further action.

A scheduling note:

The Statehouse is taking a break for the next week — legislators will not be at the State Capitol but rather back at home. Here is a spreadsheet of many of the Third House meetings around Indiana - be sure to attend one in your area so you can update your legislators with your thoughts about the terrible trio of trackers for small modular reactor projects (SMRs). 

HB1007 passed the House and faces further action in the Senate. HB1007 is the bill that forces Indiana electric utility customers to foot the bill for the design, engineering, planning, and permitting costs for small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) before the utility seeks approval to build the SMR, and even if they never seek approval and cancel the project. The controversial bill was covered by the Indiana Capital Chronicle and brought a partisan vote of 67-25 in the House last week.

SB423 and SB424 also saddle Hoosiers with higher electric bills under the guise of economic development by putting Hoosier ratepayers on the hook for “project development costs” related to SMRs. Be sure to visit act.citact.org/I45KhgJ to email your state legislators to REJECT these bills.

To follow these bills in real time, make sure you follow our social media for an up-to-date detailing of our work at the Indiana Statehouse: Facebook, X and Instagram.

Respectfully Submitted,

The CAC Team