Indiana’s 2026 Legislative Session is Over. Here’s What Happened.
As the 2026 Indiana legislative session came to a close, I reflected on what felt like the quickest two months in memory. Although the session was formally longer due to early convening for redistricting work, the pace never let up – and neither did we.
We saw important victories for families and faith-centered policy, including meaningful advances in religious liberty, protections for minors on social media, and parental rights. Here are a few of the highlights:
House Bill 1389 – “Religious Liberty for Adoption and Foster Care”
HB 1389 prohibits state and local officials from discriminating against foster parents, adoptive parents, or adoption and foster care providers based on their religious beliefs or moral convictions, including through the denial of grants or funding, termination of contracts, or loss of licensure or accreditation of providers. The bill also clarifies that agencies may consider a child’s religious background when making placement decisions, helping promote stability and continuity.
This bill fosters an environment where people of faith can carry out essential work, often at great personal sacrifice, while also expanding the number of individuals able to care for vulnerable children. The bill does not reduce safety standards or prevent anyone from fostering or adopting; it simply ensures that people of faith can serve without being forced to abandon their convictions.
Senate Bill 88 – “Good Citizen Instruction”
This bill mandates that part of the Good Citizenship Instruction include teaching the importance of obtaining a high school diploma or other training before entering the workforce, securing full-time employment, and waiting until marriage to begin having children. Research shows that young adults who follow the success sequence have dramatically lower rates of poverty in adulthood.
House Bill 1408 – “Social Media Restrictions on Minors”
This measure requires social media platforms to seek verifiable parental consent for adolescent users (under 16) to be account holders and defaults Indiana adolescents’ accounts into a highly restricted, parent-supervised version of the platform, with certain addictive features disabled – such as no targeted algorithms, limited messaging, no public discoverability, and built-in time controls.
Research shows that social media use among children under 16 is linked to higher rates of anxiety, depression, sleep disruption, body image concerns, and exposure to sexual exploitation, with developing brains especially vulnerable to dopamine-driven feedback loops created by algorithmic recommendations and continuous-content design. Adolescents often lack the maturity to navigate these risks independently. By requiring parental consent and defaulting minor accounts into a restricted, supervised format, this legislation ensures that parents – not platforms – retain primary authority over their child’s digital exposure.
Senate Bill 76 – “Immigration Matters”
This comprehensive immigration enforcement measure strengthens state and local cooperation with federal immigration authorities by requiring government bodies to honor federal immigration detainer requests and establishing enforcement mechanisms. The bill also bans knowingly hiring unauthorized workers, requires certain reporting on immigration-related data, and sets training and inspection requirements for county jails.
This legislation is necessary because Indiana families feel the downstream effects of federal immigration failures. When unlicensed or improperly credentialed commercial drivers operate on our highways, and when fentanyl and other deadly narcotics flow into our communities through transnational trafficking networks, it is Hoosier families who bear the consequences. These pressures strain local resources and erode neighborhood safety, which is why SB 76 prioritizes cooperation with law enforcement and accountability to better protect Hoosier families.
House Bill 1035 – “Permissible Unsupervised Activity”
This bill clarifies that a child is not a child in need of services solely because a parent allows age-appropriate, independent activities such as playing outside, riding a bike, or walking to school. It affirms that reasonable independence is not neglect and that state intervention should be reserved for true danger – recognizing that parents are best positioned to determine what is appropriate for their child.
We should encourage outdoor, play-based childhoods rather than phone-based ones. Independent play helps children assess risk, solve problems, build resilience, and develop confidence. At a time when childhood freedom in the real world has declined even as virtual exposure has expanded, this bill restores balance by protecting both parental authority and healthy childhood development.
At the same time, I know many of you share the sense that this session was somewhat disappointing overall. In many areas where we hoped for stronger progress, such as protecting the safety and privacy of women and girls, empowering parents with greater control over medical decisions, cracking down on the intoxicating hemp loophole, and restricting the epidemic of abortion drugs in our state – among many other important initiatives.
The fight for authentic family-centered public policy does not get easier – it gets more urgent.
Looking ahead to 2027, we are already gearing up for a bigger and more strategic session.
There are key issues on the horizon that will demand our full attention:
- The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision this summer in the women’s sports cases, West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox. Although Indiana has already enacted legislation to protect women’s sports, these rulings will shape the national legal landscape and will create momentum for more comprehensive policies to preserve safety and privacy for girls and women in bathrooms, locker rooms, and other private spaces.
- Marijuana and hemp legalization have emerged repeatedly in recent sessions. Though this year’s proposals did not pass, we expect this issue to resurface – and we must be prepared with strong facts, compelling advocacy, and grassroots engagement to protect children and families from greater access, normalization, and harms tied to expanded cannabis use.
- Clarifying the definition of sex in Indiana code and preventing sex designation changes is likely to remain a legislative priority because current law contains no clear statewide definition, leaving courts and state agencies to interpret the issue inconsistently. As a result, policymakers are expected to revisit this issue next session to provide clear statutory guidance, preserve the integrity of vital records, and ensure that sex-based protections in law are applied consistently across the state.
- Gambling policy will likely remain an ongoing issue for the Indiana General Assembly as proposals to relocate or expand casino licenses continue to surface. As neighboring states expand gaming and pressure grows to capture additional revenue, lawmakers will need to carefully weigh those economic interests against the potential social costs to families and communities.
These and other emerging legal and cultural battlegrounds will define the next decade of our work. Your support today fuels the planning, research, and coalition-building we need to show up stronger, earlier, and with deeper impact when the next session begins.
Thank you for standing with us through a fast-paced session, for celebrating the victories that matter, and for preparing to lean into the work still ahead. We couldn’t do this without your faithful partnership.
If you feel led, please click the button below to make a donation to support our work. Every dollar counts in the fight to maintain Christian values in the legislature.