Bill Tracker 2026

The Indiana General Assembly commenced the 124th General Assembly earlier than usual, beginning in December of 2025. After meeting for two weeks, they took leave and have now resumed the 2026 session as of January 5th, 2026. The Indiana Catholic Conference is actively engaged on the following list of bills. As we continue to track more legislation, we will update this page.  

 SB11 Firing Squad (Sen. Young), HB119 Execution Methods (Rep. Lucas)

This bill would authorize the death penalty to be carried out by firing squad: (1) if execution by lethal injection cannot be carried out due to the unavailability of a required drug; or (2) upon request by the condemned person. Establishes a procedure for execution by firing squad. Makes conforming amendments and technical corrections. As the Catholic Church teaches the use of the death penalty is inadmissible, we are actively opposing this bill. Please take a moment to fill out our action alert urging your state senator to vote NO on SB11.

SB285 Housing Matters (Sen. Carrasco)

SB285 seeks to approach the issue of chronic homelessness. The bill language currently “prohibits an individual from camping, sleeping, or using for long term shelter land owned by the state or a political subdivision, unless the land has been authorized for that use under the provisions added by the bill or another law.” Furthermore, the bill “provides, if certain elements are met, that a person who knowingly or intentionally uses land owned by the state or a political subdivision for unauthorized camping, sleeping, or long term shelter commits a Class C misdemeanor.” 

Proponents of this bill claim the objective is not to criminalize homelessness but to provide a pathway for law enforcement to engage with people chronically living on the streets and incentivize them to be aided in getting to a shelter or other services. 

Our concern with this bill is that our chronically homeless brothers and sisters who have unique and complex needs will not be properly cared for through this approach.

SB197 Garnishment (Sen. Walker)

Raises the threshold for the amount of wages and assets that cannot be garnished. These numbers have not been updated in several decades and would provide some additional protection for the working poor.

HB1001 Housing Matters (Rep. Miller)

We are most interested in the section in HB1001 that removes some barriers to religious institutions building affordable housing on their property. Small policy steps like this help amplify the kind of work we see from the University of Notre Dame’s Church Properties Initiative.  

HB1432 Death Sentence and Intellectual Disabilities (Rep. Bascom)

This bill makes it mandatory that every capital case brought in Indiana is required to have an intellectual disability determination of the defendant. If an intellectual disability is found, the State is prohibited from seeking the death penalty.