Indiana House passes package of bills on drug costs, education, utilities, hemp products and public safety

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana House of Representatives advanced a broad legislative package during a floor session that included measures on pharmacy benefit manager reform, teacher licensure and school policies, utilities and zoning changes related to energy projects, cybersecurity standards for public entities, regulation of low‑THC hemp products, and several higher education and public safety bills.

The most contested policy debate centered on Senate Bill 140, described on the floor as a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform bill aimed at increasing transparency and changing reimbursement rules to protect patients and independent pharmacies. "The next step in our efforts to ensure fairness, transparency, patient access, and control over drug costs," Representative Rosemary McGuire said while speaking on the bill. The bill’s provisions, as read into the record, would require accessible pharmacy networks within 30 miles, set minimum reimbursement standards tied to acquisition cost plus the Medicaid dispensing fee, prohibit certain retroactive payment reductions, and allow the Department of Insurance to order reimbursement for losses. Representative McGuire cited recent federal reports and a state audit that the bill’s sponsors say found $323,000,000 in spread pricing by PBMs over five years.

Education bills drew extensive floor discussion. Senate Bill 255 would create an alternate pathway to an initial practitioner license for certain STEM majors, require specified coursework and a written proficiency exam, and clarify bullying‑investigation timelines and parental notification requirements. Representative Davis, sponsor of multiple education bills on the floor, described the licensure pathway and the requirement that schools make a reasonable attempt to notify parents of bullying investigations "before the end of the next school day." Representative Smith (Doctor Smith on the floor) both supported and opposed different education measures during debate, urging improved definitions and consistent evaluation methods for mastery‑based education pilots discussed in Senate Bill 373.

Lawmakers also debated bills affecting utilities and local land‑use processes. Senate Bill 423 (floor transcript reference: bill 4 23) was described by its sponsor as placing new restrictions on partnerships between utilities and outside partners related to small modular reactors (SMRs), and by another speaker as likely to limit local input in siting nuclear generation on existing energy sites. Senate Bill 425 focused on streamlining local permitting and moratorium rules for redevelopment of existing generation sites and other local land‑use decisions; supporters said it would speed decisions and provide certainty for developers, while opponents said it could truncate local public participation and limit community oversight for projects involving radioactive material.

Other measures that passed addressed cybersecurity standards for state and local government entities, changes to higher education program review and workforce alignment, rules for school absenteeism and discipline (including a definition of chronic absenteeism as 10% or more of school days), and several items related to juvenile discipline and curriculum notification.

Senate Bill 478 created a regulatory structure for the market selling low‑THC hemp products (such as gummies and vape products), including licensing for manufacturers, distributors and retailers, age‑21 purchase limits, expanded testing and labeling, and advertising restrictions. Representative Teska, who spoke for the bill, said it would put guardrails on an unregulated market; opponents warned it could expand access and normalize the products.

A public‑safety package, Senate Bill 525, included measures to expand confidentiality protections for medical and mental‑health providers in detention settings, confer statewide jurisdiction for school resource officers who complete state training, strengthen penalties for certain violent road‑related conduct, and request an interim study on the structure of Marion County governance (Unigov) and whether aspects of county‑level offices including the Marion County Sheriff should be reformed.

Votes at a glance (final passage recorded on the floor): - Senate Bill 140 (PBM reform): final passage recorded; motion carried (voice vote recorded as passage while on the floor). Sponsor: Representative Rosemary McGuire. Key provisions described: pharmacy access within 30 miles; minimum reimbursement tied to acquisition cost plus Medicaid dispensing fee; prohibition on retroactive reductions outside fraud/overpayment. Transcript evidence: floor remarks and sponsor close. (provenance blocks: topicintro t243.795, topfinish t516.81) - Senate Bill 255 (alternate STEM licensure and bullying/parent notification): passed, roll call printed as 76 ayes, 20 noes. Sponsor: Representative Davis. Key details: bachelor’s degree with minimum 2.5 GPA in STEM, at least 9 credit hours in instructional practice, written proficiency exam; parental notification before end of next school day for bullying investigations. (provenance blocks: topicintro t613.91504, topfinish t762.315) - Senate Bill 373 (education omnibus: summer school accounting, IPS Local Educational Alliance, mastery‑based education pilot): passed, roll call shows 76 ayes, 20 noes. Sponsor: Representative Behning/Behney. Key details: summer‑school cost reporting; pilot options for transportation/facility collaborations; creation of Indianapolis Local Educational Alliance with mayor as chair; mastery‑based education pilot provisions. (provenance blocks: topicintro t830.12, topfinish t1335.73) - Senate Bill 423 (utilities/SMR partnership restrictions): passed on floor (vote recorded as passage after debate). Sponsor: Representative Salisbury. The bill’s sponsor described controls on utility partnerships and recovery of costs through rate cases; opponents argued it still exposes ratepayers to planning costs for unproven projects. (provenance blocks: topicintro t1388.72, topfinish t1567.1749) - Senate Bill 425 (zoning/permitting/moratorium reform tied to generation facilities): passed on floor. Sponsor described notification process for redevelopment of existing generation sites and limits on repeated moratoria; opponents raised concerns about reduced local input for siting small modular reactors. (provenance blocks: topicintro t1656.64, topfinish t2211.31) - Senate Bill 442 (human sexuality instruction / parental notice changes): passed, roll call 74 ayes, 19 noes. Sponsor: Representative Davis. Key details: replaces "sexually transmitted disease" language with "sexually transmitted infection," requires medically accurate, age‑appropriate instruction, requires written parent consent forms include accurate summary and whether instruction will be coed or single‑sex and instructor gender, and requires online links to materials if consent is sent electronically. (provenance blocks: topicintro t2346.78, topfinish t2856.4702) - Senate Bill 448 (higher education outcomes / program review): passed, roll call 75 ayes, 21 noes. Sponsor: Representative Behney. Key details: a focus on market‑driven, stackable credentials; stronger program approval review; tenure and program review reporting to the Commission for Higher Education. (provenance blocks: topicintro t2897.885, topfinish t3355.44) - Senate Bill 465 (defense tech park designation / Level 3 tech park): passed (procedural), sponsor Representative Lindauer. Key details: creates a Level 3 tech park designation with incremental tax financing funding for qualifying military base enhancement areas. (provenance blocks: topicintro t3364.56, topfinish t3459.2449) - Senate Bill 472 (cybersecurity standards for political subdivisions, school corporations, state agencies): passed, roll call recorded as 97 ayes, 0 noes. Sponsor: Leader Lehman. Key detail: converts optional cybersecurity plans into a requirement that covered entities shall adopt cybersecurity plans. (provenance blocks: topicintro t3484.945, topfinish t3592.215) - Senate Bill 478 (regulation of low‑THC hemp products): passed, roll call 59 ayes, 6 noes. Sponsor: Representative Teska. Key details: licensing of manufacturers/distributors/retailers, ATC enforcement, age‑21 minimum, expanded testing for potency and contaminants, advertising and packaging restrictions; bill text explicitly exempts newly defined craft hemp flower product from controlled‑substance classification and caps initial seller permits at 20,000. (provenance blocks: topicintro t3609.55, topfinish t4030.04) - Senate Bill 482 (absenteeism and student‑discipline reporting and procedures; limits on expulsion/suspension for chronic absenteeism): passed, roll call 82 ayes, 15 noes. Sponsor: Representative Davis. Key details: defines chronic absenteeism as missing 10% of the school year; requires best‑practice resources be posted by Department of Education; attendance conference timeline extended to 10 instructional days after the fifth absence; prohibits expulsion/suspension solely for chronic absenteeism. (provenance blocks: topicintro t4083.1199, topfinish t4349.005) - Senate Bill 525 (public safety: corrections confidentiality, SRO jurisdiction, penalties and Marion County study): passed, roll call recorded 96 ayes, 0 noes. Sponsor: Representative Ireland. Key details: expands confidentiality protections for jail medical/mental‑health providers, grants statewide jurisdiction to SROs with approved training, strengthens penalties for certain roadside firearm violence and calls for an interim study of Unigov and Marion County Sheriff governance structures. (provenance blocks: topicintro t4352.105, topfinish t4621.66)

Debate frequently focused on implementation details and limits of local authority. For example, sponsors of utility bills said the measures provide certainty for redevelopment and cost recovery procedures, while opponents warned that provisions affecting siting for small modular reactors could remove meaningful local oversight. On education, critics of mastery‑based pilots asked for consistent evaluation tools and objected to provisions they said could affect collective‑bargaining rights or make pilot outcomes difficult to interpret.

Direct quotes on the floor were attributed as spoken. Representative Rosemary McGuire, sponsor of the PBM measure, said: "Senate Bill 140 is the next step in our efforts to ensure fairness, transparency, patient access, and control over drug costs." Representative Teska, sponsor of the hemp regulation bill, said the measure was intended to "reign in and regulate this market" and to protect youth and consumers. Representative Davis, who sponsored several education items, summarized the absenteeism and bullying provisions and asked for support of those bills.

Schedule and next steps: The House set its next floor meeting at 10 a.m. on the next two consecutive days and adopted several house motions to receive and concur with senate amendments on assigned calendars. Passed bills will proceed through the usual enrollment, final drafting and transmittal processes before becoming law or proceeding to the governor, as applicable.