Indiana Statehouse 2025: Parental rights, spinning and congressional term limits
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It's the first full week of the legislative session and lawmakers are wasting no time.
The big picture: Priority bills dealing with property taxes, health care costs and the state's two-year budget aren't on any agendas yet, but plenty of other issues are getting hearings.
Here are the bills we're watching this week:
⌚ Congressional term limits
This one isn't technically a bill — it's a resolution calling on a convention to amend the U.S. Constitution to include congressional term limits.
- If passed, Senate Joint Resolution No. 21 would make Indiana at least the 10th state to join the movement calling to limit the time a person can serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.
- It matches a resolution passed in the Indiana House last year.
- The Senate Elections Committee will hear SJ 21 at 2:30pm Monday.
🛞 Shutting down "spinning"
For the second year in a row, lawmakers are trying to crack down on "spinning."
How it works: Senate Bill 13 would outlaw spinning your car in a circle, also known as doing doughnuts, a practice that's become part of the illegal street takeovers plaguing IMPD.
- A similar bill passed the Senate last year but wasn't taken up by the House.
- SB 13 will be heard at 10am Tuesday in the Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee.
🤑 Budget requests
The budget bill hasn't been filed yet, but higher education institutions and state agencies are making requests to the House Ways and Means Committee this week.
- These requests, scheduled for 10 am Tuesday and 9 am Wednesday, will inform later versions of the state's two-year spending plan.
🧑🍼 Parental rights
A bill that would require parental permission for children under age 16 to create social media accounts will be up for amendments at 1:30pm Wednesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Catch up quick: Senate Bill 11 had its initial hearing last week, making it one of the first bills to move.
- The committee also heard a "parental rights" bill that would give parents an avenue to sue governmental entities, including schools, that direct, advise or coerce children to withhold information from their parents.
- Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, said she authored Senate Bill 143 over concerns that schools are keeping information from parents.
- It follows a bill passed in 2023 that requires schools to inform parents when a student requests a change to their name or pronoun.