Indiana legislators filed bills that relate to timely matters, from mid-census redistricting to wearing masks and receiving vaccines.
The 2026 legislative session began in December with the House and Senate meeting to take up a bill on mid-census redistricting. The session reconvened Monday and will end in late February.
The House met during the first week of December and passed, in a 57-41 vote, a bill that would’ve allowed for mid-census redistricting and a new Congressional map. The following week, the Senate met and the bill failed with 31 senators voting against and 19 voting in favor.
The Indiana legislature took up mid-census redistricting at the request of President Donald Trump and his administration, who spent the latter part of 2025 pressuring Republican-led states, starting with Texas, to take up mid-census redistricting to increase the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
State Senators Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, and Greg Walker, R-Columbus, authored Senate Bill 53 that would prohibit the general assembly from establishing or modifying house districts, senate districts, or congressional districts at any time other than the first regular session of the legislature after the release of the U.S. census.
Typically, under the Indiana constitution, redistricting occurs after the release of the U.S Census data. But, proponents of mid-census redistricting argued that the Constitution didn’t prohibit conducting redistricting more than once after census data was released.
Qaddoura said he filed the bill in November, ahead of the December session, to counter House Bill 1032, which would’ve allowed for mid-census redistricting and a new Congressional map.
“Senate Bill 53 was designed to protect Indiana from mid-decade congressional redistricting in the future. Although House Bill 1032 was ultimately killed in December, the issue could resurface in future sessions. My legislation would prevent that from happening and provide long-term certainty for Hoosiers.”
National Guard deployment
About 300 Hoosier National Guard members were deployed in December to support the D.C. National Guard in a federal public safety campaign.
The move came at the request of the D.C. National Guard and was authorized by Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, according to a news release.
“Hoosiers are proud of our Guardsmen, who are well-trained and fully prepared for this mission,” Braun said. “We are grateful for their service and support in our nation’s capital.”
The deployment is part of a federal mission – under the command of the D.C. National Guard – which is supporting efforts by civilian agencies and local law enforcement to reduce crime and minimize property damage in the district. Indiana members will replace soldiers and airmen from other states who have been mobilized since August.
“National Guard soldiers and airmen are uniquely qualified to help in these types of situations. Our Hoosier Guardsmen regularly prepare, train and work side-by-side with civilian first responders, and our Guardsmen are ready for this mission as well,” said Maj. Gen. Larry Muennich, the Indiana National Guard’s adjutant general.
State Rep. Mitch Gore authored House Bill 1015 that would prohibit the governor from ordering the Indiana National Guard to perform any law enforcement duty that may result in the surveillance, apprehension, detention, or arrest of an individual.
Gore, D-Beech Grove, who is a police officer, said soldiers should not serve as police officers in the community.
“They aren’t trained for it and it erodes trust amongst the public in law enforcement. It is also contrary to our nation’s founding as we fought, in part, against a standing army patrolling our streets,” Gore said.
Payment to public servants
State Rep. Hal Slager authored House Bill 1065 to make it a Class A misdemeanor for a person to offer a payment to a public servant as a reward for an official act taken by the public servant or for a public servant to solicit or accept a payment as a reward for an official act performed by the public servant.
The bill also increases the penalty to a Level 6 felony if the fair market value of the reward is at least $750. The bill exempts a good or service as part of a reporting requirement, a good or service with a value less than $100, commemorative or ceremonial items, lawful political contributions and wages, and other forms of work-related compensation from the government entity employing the public servant.
Slager, R-Schererville, said he filed the bill in response to former Portage Mayor James Snyder’s corruption case.
A jury in U.S. District Court in Hammond found Snyder not guilty on a charge involving a towing contract, and convicted him twice on a garbage truck charge, a case that made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which deemed in June 2024 that the $13,000 payment Snyder received over a garbage truck contract was a gratuity, not a bribe, because the payment came after the contract and not before. The case was remanded to the lower courts.
A jury convicted Snyder on the IRS charge, which involved his personal business and not his duties as mayor at the time, and that conviction remained unchallenged.
“The U.S. Supreme Court created a loophole by letting him off on some charges because Indiana didn’t have a law that prevented a gratuity to an elected official. All this law does is close the loophole,” Slager said.
Slager filed the bill for the first time in the 2025 legislative session, but the bill didn’t receive a hearing. But, Slager talked with State Rep. Wendy McNamara, R-Evansville, who chairs the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee, about hearing the bill.
McNamara told Slager that another bill was filed regarding unused campaign funds and that she’d like to see the two bills combined since they pertain to the same code.
“That’s fine with me,” Slager said.
Masks and vaccines
State Sen. Gary Byrne, R-Byrnesville, created Senate Bill 73, which would make wearing a mask at a public assembly a Class C misdemeanor.
“We are seeing a trend where people are using face masks to hide their identity while committing crimes in Indiana,” Byrne said in a statement. “Senate Bill 73 aims to combat this trend.”
If the offense is repeated, the penalty would increase to a Class A misdemeanor, according to the bill. Indiana Code says that a Class C misdemeanor’s consequences include a prison sentence of no more than 60 days and a fine of no more than $500.
A Class A misdemeanor could mean a prison sentence of no more than one year and a fine of no more than $5,000, according to Indiana code.
Byrne’s bill also increases the penalty for “rioting and disorderly conduct” to a Level 6 felony if the offender is wearing a mask.
The bill includes some exemptions, Byrne’s statement said.
“If someone has a valid reason for wearing a mask, such as for medical purposes, religious purposes or as part of a costume, they can still wear a face mask,” Byrne said. “This bill simply aims to protect Hoosiers from those who use face masks to commit crimes anonymously.”
State Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, authored House Bill 1013, which would not require people to “inject, receive an injection of, ingest, inhale, or otherwise incorporate a qualified substance” into their body, according to the bill.
A “qualified substance” would include immunizations, according to the bill.
Lucas could not immediately provide a comment about House Bill 1013.
Terminal illness and assisted suicide
State Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, authored House Bill 1011, which, if passed, would allow people with a terminal illness who meet certain requirements to receive “medication that the individual may self-administer to bring about death.”
People could receive the medication from the provider with primary responsibility and treatment of the patient’s terminal illness, and a provider, psychiatrist or psychologist can provide consulting.
The bill defines terminal illness as “an incurable and irreversible illness that has been confirmed and will, within reasonable medical judgment, result in death within six months.” Qualified individuals must also be at least 18 years old, an Indiana resident, diagnosed with a terminal illness by a qualified provider, and have voluntarily expressed a wish to receive medical aid in dying to their provider.
Someone’s age or disability doesn’t solely qualify them.
In order to receive the medication, a patient must make an oral request, make a written request and either reiterate the oral request at least 15 days after the initial request or if the provider has confirmed that the patient has reiterated the request.
The bill would also prohibit an insurer from denying benefits payments in a life insurance policy based on a suicide clause if the person receives medical aid in dying. It would also establish certain criminal and civil immunity for providers.
House Bill 1011 also established a Level 1 felony if someone, without authorization of a patient, alters, forges, conceals or destroys a medication request. It would also be a Level 1 felony to knowingly or intentionally coerce an individual to “bring about death or to destroy a rescission of a request for medication to bring about death.”
The bill also establishes a Class A misdemeanor if someone, without authorization of the patients, alters, forges, conceals or destroys a request for medication or rescission of a request for medication to affect a health care decision.
Pierce could not immediately provide a comment about House Bill 1011.
Cremation
State Sen. Brett Clark, R-Avon, authored Senate Bill 22, which would expand cremation to include alkaline hydrolysis as a way to dissolve human remains. Alkaline hydrolysis uses water, alkaline chemicals, heat, and sometimes pressure and agitation to accelerate natural decomposition, according to the Cremation Association of North America.
A similar bill passed the House during the 2025 legislative session, but Clark said it didn’t get a Senate hearing.
Alkaline hydrolysis is legal in Indiana for livestock uses, Clark said.
“At the end of the day, in reconsidering this and diving deeper in, I believe it’s a public policy issue,” Clark said. “It really just comes down to, do we believe the citizens of Indiana should have this as an option? And in my opinion, the answer is yes.”
Clark argues that alkaline hydrolysis is cleaner, greener and more efficient. Once the process is completed, the effluent is discharged with other wastewater and is “a welcome addition to the water systems,” according to the Cremation Association of North America.
“I absolutely understand that it’s not for everyone,” Clark said. “But if you and your family choose this as an option at the end of life, then I think you should be able to do it.”
Senate Bill 22, if passed, would require the state board of funeral and cemetery service to adopt rules governing the operation of alkaline hydrolysis facilities. It would also add the process to statutes that allow for burial or cremation and allow people to request it.
“It’s just because people don’t really know what it is or understand it, that there’s reluctance,” Clark said. “I think that if you look back at the history of cremation, you would probably find the same kinds of objections.”
akukulka@post-trib.com
mwilkins@chicagotribune.com
