If you’re reading this, it is probably just before or after Thanksgiving. It is a non-budget (short) legislative session so if everything goes according to plan the session will start 5 January and end around 14 March.
STOP THE PRESSSES! The Governor called a Special Session for redistricting. After some negotiation, the 2026 session will begin 1 December. Since it begins after “Organization Day” on 18 November (which marks the beginning of the 2026 session) this will be part of the 2026 session and will save Hoosier taxpayers a significant amount of money. The early part of the session will run from 1 December until redistricting (and anything else that comes up such as property taxes) until 12 December at the latest. The General Assembly will reconvene on 5 January and conduct business as usual on a non-budget session.
STOP THE PRESSES ONCE AGAIN!! In a press release on the afternoon of 14 November (this is akin to what is known as a Friday afternoon document dump) it was announced the Senate didn’t have the votes to pursue redistricting. At this point I really don’t know what will happen. One thing I do know is that this is a short legislative session. No matter what happens, we must be ready to move fast.
Think of the Indiana General Assembly (IGA) session as a project management timeline. There are things that take specific amounts of time and have to be in the timeline. Bills read on the Senate or House floor are assigned to committee. Bills passed out of committee get a second and third reading in the Senate/House. If passed, it goes to the other chamber and the process starts over. There are a specific number of days required for this process. The timeline is set by the number of days the IGA can be in-session on a non-budget (Indiana’s budget is passed every two/odd-numbered years) year.
How bills go through the legislative process (making sausage as some call it) doesn’t change no matter how long the legislative session runs UNLESS, there is a vote to suspend the rules which requires a 2/3 majority. ISRPA Government Affairs Co-Director Jerry Torr provided some of the specifics, including what could be suspended in an emergency. Maybe an article from Jerry on all things sausage making could be in the future. This link goes to an explanation of how things work at the Statehouse. How A Bill Navigtaes The Legislative Process In Indiana
So where do you cut time out of the timeline make everything fit in a session that is significantly shorter in a non-budget year? Excellent question!
A significant part of the legislative process can’t be shortened. (Without suspending rules with a 2/3 vote) you can’t do First Reading in the committee and then have the hearing. You can’t say “no amendments” and go straight to a vote. Any amendments passed in the second chamber (House bills go to the Senate; Senate bills go to the House) then require a conference committee to pass it again in the original chamber. The only place under normal procedures to shorten the timeline, is the committee hearings.
During any session of the Indiana General Assembly, there are a limited number of opportunities for a bill to get a hearing in the assigned committee. I would estimate 75% of bills introduced (first reading) and assigned to committee never get a hearing. This is what is known as “the bill died in committee.” A shorter session means fewer weeks with committee hearings (most committees meet once a week) does not increase the chances of a bill getting a hearing.
There may only be three committee hearing days because of the compressed schedule. This also increases the chances of a Senate bill (that would get support from the pro-2nd Amendment community) being in committee at the same time as a House bill (also supported by the pro-2nd Amendment community) being up for a hearing. Another way to put it is, we can’t be in two places at once. To shorten the timeline there must be fewer bills coming up for a hearing in committee.
That was a lot of bad news, here’s the good news: those of us who go to the Indiana Statehouse and testify in support of the 2A… we all know each other! We can coordinate, deconflict, and have folks testifying at the bills where we need to be. We also have a number of people who testify in support of 2A issues representing themselves. Folks who testify representing themselves are definitely force-multipliers and have a great impact on the committee.
Very soon you’ll start seeing ISRPA Legislative Action Alerts show up in your email inbox. Many of you are also members of the National Rifle Association and The 2A Project; you’ll be seeing alerts from those organizations as well. Don’t hesitate to give it a read, and take action. In a short-short legislative session we have to get the attention of our elected officials really fast.
About the Author
