Indiana

Governor Mike Braun signed nine executive orders in his first days in office, including one directing state agencies to ensure abortion laws are “fully and faithfully executed.” Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers. Indiana was the first state to pass a new abortion ban after Dobbs. It is now spending $1.2 billion per biennium on vouchers while libraries lose $18.6 million and the state faces a $2.4 billion revenue shortfall.

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School vouchers

The 2025-2027 budget removed all income requirements for the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program starting July 2026, making vouchers universal. The state spent $497 million in 2024-25 on over 76,000 private school students. The new biennium earmarks $1.2 billion, with an estimated $190 million in additional expansion costs.

$1.2 billion earmarked for private school vouchers in 2025-2027 — while public libraries lost $18.6 million and public colleges face a 5% state funding cut

Braun said vouchers are “not a zero-sum game” and that the state can fund teacher pay increases by “redirecting funding away from items such as physical buildings.” Library leaders disagree.

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Reproductive rights

Indiana became the first state to enact a new abortion ban after Dobbs, signing it on August 5, 2022. The near-total ban permits abortion only to prevent death or serious health risk, in cases of lethal fetal anomaly, or for rape or incest within the first 10 weeks.

On March 5, 2026, Marion County Superior Court granted a permanent injunction ruling that Indiana cannot enforce the ban against plaintiffs when doing so would substantially burden their religious exercise under the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The AG appealed the next day.

Senate Bill 236 would ban prescribing, distributing, or possessing abortion-inducing drugs in Indiana, with limited exceptions.

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Healthcare and benefits

Senate Bill 1 added work requirements for Healthy Indiana Plan (Medicaid) enrollees: 80 hours per month of work, education, or volunteering. The state wanted to enforce starting July 2025, but the federal timeline pushes it to January 2027. FSSA is hiring 400 eligibility checkers to verify compliance for 560,000 enrollees. As of April 2026, 50 have been onboarded.

SB 1 also lowered SNAP asset limits starting July 2026, kicking approximately 3,000 households off SNAP and saving the state about $635,000 over two years.

Indiana will also end its HIV testing and support program on June 30, 2026, after federal pandemic relief dollars dried up.

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Federal cuts

Indiana lawmakers learned they need to build the next biennial budget with $2.4 billion less than projected. That shortfall is landing on libraries, colleges, and public health.

Cut	Amount	What it funds
Public libraries	$18.6M (2026), $24.2M (2028)	Hours, staff, services
Public colleges	5% state funding cut	Tuition, programs, research
Indiana Humanities	$800K (FY25), $1.3M (FY26)	NEH grants, cultural programs
HIV program	Full program sunset June 2026	Testing, counseling, support

Hundreds rallied at the Statehouse against SB 1’s impacts on education and libraries.

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2026 elections

Indiana’s next governor’s race is not until 2028. But all 100 House seats and half the Senate are on the November 3 ballot. The supermajority that overrides every veto, funds vouchers at $1.2 billion, and cuts libraries is the one voters can change.

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Protect yourself right now

1. Check your voter registration. All 100 House seats are on the ballot November 3. Verify at indianavoters.in.gov.

2. Verify your Medicaid status. Work requirement tracking starts before enforcement in 2027. If you are on the Healthy Indiana Plan, keep your contact information current with FSSA.

3. Ask candidates about the $1.2 billion. Your state representative voted to spend $1.2 billion on vouchers while cutting libraries by $18.6 million. Ask them to explain the tradeoff. Find your legislator at iga.in.gov.

4. Track SB 236. The abortion drug ban passed the Senate. Ask your House representative where they stand.

5. Support your library. If library hours or services have been cut in your community, attend the board meeting and ask what the state cut means for your branch.