FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
STATEHOUSE (Jan. 30, 2026) — The Indiana Senate recently completed the first half of the 2026 legislative session.
In total, 290 bills were introduced in the Senate in the first half of session, and of those, 112 were passed.
Upon final passage in the Senate, 90% of bills received bipartisan support and 46% received unanimous support.
During the first half of session, State Sen. Dan Dernulc (R-Highland) authored legislation to expand alcohol permits in specific areas of Indiana, expand efforts to prevent human trafficking and child grooming, phase out the penny for Indiana transactions and prioritize utility affordability.
"This session has been going by very quickly," Dernulc said. "I have offered a number of bills to help Hoosiers, and I am happy that some of them have passed the Senate with bipartisan and unanimous support. While some of those bills aren't moving forward, I am optimistic to continue those discussions and address those issues. The legislative process is long and sometimes it takes a while to find the best way to address a topic."
To prioritize utility affordability, Dernulc and State Sen. Rick Niemeyer (R-Lowell) authored Senate Bill 146. This bill would require affordability to be the most important attribute of electric utility service that must be considered when changes are made to electric energy services. It would also mandate that utilities could not charge customers for the complete cost of certain infrastructure projects until the work is done and customers have started seeing a benefit. SB 146 was not heard on the Senate floor.
To expand efforts to prevent human trafficking and child grooming, Dernulc authored Senate Bill 119. This bill would add more specific facilities, locations, and events to the list of restricted places where convicted child predators cannot enter, attend or work. It would also provide that if a person repeatedly contacts a child about inappropriate sexual behavior or with intent to make the child less resistant to inappropriate sexual behavior in the future, that person has committed sexual grooming and will be charged accordingly. SB 119 passed the Senate unanimously.
Dernulc offered Senate Bill 89 to issue additional three-way alcohol permits to areas of Indiana including Schererville, Lafayette, West Lafayette, Delphi, Bloomington and within Michigan City's transit development districts – areas around transit or train stations designated to promote transit-oriented development. Allowing more full-service restaurants to move into these areas will help spur economic development and grow local community assets. SB 89 passed the Senate with bipartisan support.
Dernulc offered Senate Bill 158 to establish a pilot program for the rounding of Lake County local taxes. While SB 158 did not move through the Senate, Senate Bill 243 was amended and now contains similar language from SB 158 that would establish a tax program rounding transactions to the nearest nickel associated with state taxes, local government taxes and businesses based in Indiana. Senate Bill 243 would couple Indiana's tax code to federal tax code with regard to no tax on tips, no tax on overtime and no tax on loan interest for American-made vehicles passed in the One Big Beautiful Bill. This ensures Hoosiers eligible for those federal tax cuts will also benefit from the same tax cuts at the state level in tax year 2026. SB 243 passed the Senate.
SB 89, SB 119 and SB 243, along with all passed Senate bills, will now move to the Indiana House of Representatives for further consideration.
To learn more about legislation moving through the process, visit iga.in.gov.
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State Sen. Dan Dernulc (R-Highland) represents Senate District 1,
which includes a portion of Lake County.
Click here to download a high-resolution photo.
Contact: Kristen Gorski, Press Secretary
Kristen.Gorski@iga.in.gov
317-232-9539
