Over 100 new laws were enacted July 1 in Indiana. Following the 2024 General Assembly, where over 700 bills were introduced, 172 bills were passed. Some of these went into effect July 1, having been signed by Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, and others are still pending.
Here are some of the new laws affecting topics like education, environmental protections, alcoholic beverage sales and adult website access that went into effect July 1.
Senate Bill 202
One of the several bills pertaining to education systems is Senate Bill 202, which specifically affects public universities in the state.
According to the bill, at each public university, the board of trustees must create diversity committees to review faculty, administration and policies concerning “cultural and intellectual diversity issues.”
Professors are to be reviewed every five years, and the trustees must put a procedure in place to accept complaints from students or other employees if the professor is “not meeting certain criteria related to free inquiry, free expression, and intellectual diversity.” The “certain criteria” is not detailed.
Along with this, professors’ tenure and promotion are at risk if they are determined to be unlikely to give students perspectives from “scholarly works” that are of a variety of viewpoints, or if they “subject students to political or ideological views and opinions that are unrelated to the faculty members academic discipline or assigned course of instruction,” according to the bill.
Professors and university faculty are concerned about what this specifically will mean for higher education in the state and how their speech will be restricted due to their positions being on the line, according to the IndyStar. Some of the pushback claims SB202 encourages conformity and may discourage professors from engaging in topics that run the risk of violating the vague “criteria.”
IU President Pamela Whitten warned against the bill in February, stating “we are deeply concerned about language regarding faculty tenure that would put academic freedom at risk,” as well as stunt the preparation of students' critical thinking. Whitten also said that SB202 would threaten the “economic and cultural vitality of the state.”
IU professors have also criticized the bill, claiming it will limit academic freedom.
Senate Bill 17
Senate Bill 17 instated new requirements for access to an “adult oriented website operator that displays harmful material to minors.” On June 28, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Young blocked this requirement for websites in the name of preserving the First Amendment rights of Hoosiers.
“Indiana’s age verification requirements are likely unconstitutional,” Young said in a preliminary injunction he issued June 28.
However, Young's injunction was overruled Aug. 16 after a federal appeals court decided to let it take effect. The law will be active while the Supreme Court hears a case against a similar law in Texas.
Texas lawmakers passed House Bill 1181, requiring adult websites to implement age verification. The Free Speech Coalition, an organization whose efforts go toward “protecting the rights and freedoms of the adult industry,” sued Texas for violating free speech protections. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Texas law requiring age verification. On July 2, it was announced that the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments by the Free Speech Coalition in an attempt to overturn the law once the next term starts in October, which could then affect the law made in Indiana.
This harmful material to minors is described as any that “describes or represents, in any form, nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse,” or appeals to the “prurient interest in sex of minors.”
This bill requires users to go through a verification process by submitting a form of identification, such as a driver’s license, to ensure the user is not a minor. It intends to protect minors, but some have raised concerns about privacy for residents who utilize pornographic websites.
Several websites falling into this category, including PornHub, have expressed their grievances, claiming this will put the privacy of all users at risk by requiring them to provide such personal information. Having to submit identification containing such sensitive personal information to access a website is something that has rarely been seen before.
Though some lawmakers are in support of this law in the hopes of protecting minors from harmful content, the parent company of PornHub, Aylo, said that this age-verification requirement for minors will only be “driving traffic to sites with ‘far fewer safety measures’ than PornHub,” according to FOX 59.
House Bill 1086
For over 40 years, it has been illegal for Indiana restaurants to hold happy hours in an effort to discourage drunk driving. With the recent passing of House Bill 1086, it is now legal for “a permit holder to sell alcoholic beverages during a portion of the day at a price that is reduced from the usual, customary, or established price.”
Even so, happy hours may only take place for a maximum of four hours in one day and a maximum of 15 hours a week, and they cannot take place between the hours of 9 p.m. and 3 a.m.
With the passing of this bill, not only are restaurants with the appropriate permits able to hold happy hours, but they may also sell alcoholic beverages for carry-out.
House Bill 1383
Protected environments in Indiana are shrinking following July 1. House Bill 1383 made amends to what classifies as a Class III wetland. This is the most protected type of wetland, and is also considered to be the most important to the ecosystem. Before the passing of the bill, all Class III wetlands were those in settings mostly undisturbed by humans, or that consist of a number of rare and “ecologically important” species, according to IC 13-11-2-25.8. HB 1383 decreases the number of wetlands determined to be Class III, decreasing protections in these areas.
The bill follows a bill passed in 2021, Senate Bill 389, which removed protection for Class I wetlands, comprising more than half of the wetlands in the state.
According to the Indiana Capital Chronicle, the dissipation of these protected areas could lead to flooding and worsen water quality. The wetlands that were lost due to SB389 were able to store up to about 390 million gallons of water and those areas are now more susceptible to flooding. Wetlands also aid in cleansing underground aquifers.
Those in favor of the bill champion it as a way to lower home building costs due to environmental regulation.
Senate Bill 1
According to the Indiana Department of Education, about one in every five Indiana elementary school students cannot read by the end of third grade, as discovered through the IREAD-3 assessment administered in the spring of 2023. Senate Bill 1 now requires third-grade students to be held back if they do not pass the state reading proficiency exam.
According to the bill, beginning in the 2024-25 school year, students in third grade will be held back if they don’t obtain a passing score on the reading skill evaluation that has been approved by the state board.
Although, retention is not the first step. Now, students will take IREAD-3 a year sooner, in second grade. If students are identified as being at risk of not having reading proficiency after taking IREAD-3 in second grade, schools must provide summer school courses for these students and for those in third grade who are still not reading proficient.
If third-grade students do not meet the necessary reading standards in summer school, they may be given an opportunity to retake IREAD-3 before being held back in third grade.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to the correct date of when U.S. District Court Judge Richard Young issued the injunction regarding Senate Bill 17.
UPDATE: This story has been updated to reflect Senate Bill 17 going into effect Aug. 16.
