Rep. Kendell Culp

Establishes the Indiana food protection panel (panel). Provides that a recipient of an enforcement action taken by a local health officer following a food establishment inspection may appeal the action to the panel. Prohibits the health and hospital corporation or a local health department from imposing requirements or standards that exceed the minimum sanitary standards adopted by the Indiana department of health (state department). Requires the state department to: (1) provide local health departments with guidelines concerning the interpretation of the state department's rules; (2) designate an employee as the point of contact for local health departments on sanitary standards for food establishments; and (3) distribute the contact information of the designated employee to the local health departments. Requires the state department to create a business model determination worksheet and distribute the worksheet to all the local health departments. Permits an individual vendor at a farmers' market or roadside stand to sell certain meat products. Adds provisions concerning limited custom exempt meat product sales. Prohibits a person from misbranding a food product containing insect protein and selling a misbranded food product containing insect protein as a food product. Requires a person selling a food product containing insect protein to label the food product with a label stating "THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS INSECT PROTEIN". Prohibits a county, city, or town (unit) from adopting or enforcing an ordinance that prevents a person from cultivating a vegetable garden on certain property. Allows a unit to adopt or enforce an ordinance or regulation that imposes the same standards and requirements as those imposed on certain property.

Prohibits a public utility from: (1) selling, assigning, transferring, leasing, or encumbering its franchise, business, or property; or (2) selling, assigning, or transferring any shares of its stock; to a prohibited person. Provides that the Indiana utility regulatory commission may not approve such a transaction, and that any contract for such a transaction is void. Provides that for purposes of this prohibition, a "prohibited person" means either of the following: (1) A private equity firm or an affiliate of a private equity firm. (2) A citizen of, or a company owned or controlled by or headquartered in, China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, or a country designated as a threat to critical infrastructure by the governor.

Amends Indiana's 811 law, which requires the location and marking of underground utility facilities (facilities) before planned excavation or demolition projects, to provide that if the operator of a facility (operator) fails to: (1) provide to the person responsible for an excavation or demolition (excavator) required information as to the location of the operator's facilities; or (2) provide to the association known as the Indiana Underground Plant Protection Service (association) an electronic positive response indicating that the operator either has provided the required notice to the excavator or has no facilities in the location of the proposed project; within the time specified in the law, the excavator may engage the services of a third party utility locator (locator) to determine whether the operator has underground facilities in the location of the proposed project and, if applicable, provide the marking information for those facilities. Provides that an excavator that elects to engage the services of a locator must: (1) select a locator that is authorized by the operator to act on the operator's behalf; and (2) notify the association of the locator's completion of the services for which the locator was engaged, along with the amount paid by the excavator to the locator for those services. Requires the operator on whose behalf the services were performed to submit to the excavator payment in an amount equal to three times the amount paid by the excavator for the services. Provides that not later than June 1, 2026, each operator subject to the 811 law must provide to the association a notice that authorizes one or more locators to act on the operator's behalf for purposes of these provisions. Provides that upon receiving the required notices, the association shall compile a listing of the authorized locators for each operator. Provides that after June 30, 2026, upon receiving a notice of a planned project, the association shall immediately provide the listing to the person that submitted the notice. Requires the association to develop and adopt policies and procedures to implement these provisions.

Requires an initial in-person examination to establish a veterinarian-client-patient relationship beginning July 1, 2026. Provides an exception for veterinarian-client-patient relationships established on or before June 30, 2026.

Provides a credit against state tax liability for expenses incurred in the manufacture of a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) in Indiana. Establishes procedures under which certain energy utilities may request approval for one or more of the following from the Indiana utility regulatory commission (IURC): (1) An expedited generation resource plan (EGR plan) to meet customer load growth that exceeds a specified threshold. (2) A generation resource submittal for the acquisition of a specific generation resource in accordance with an approved EGR plan. (3) A project to serve one or more large load customers. Sets forth: (1) the requirements for approval of each of these types of requests; (2) standards for financial assurances by large load customers; and (3) cost recovery mechanisms for certain acquisition costs or project costs incurred by energy utilities. Amends the statute concerning public utilities' annual electric resource planning reports to the IURC to provide that for an annual report submitted after December 31, 2025, a public utility must include information as to the amount of generating resource capacity or energy that the public utility plans to retire or refuel with respect to any electric generation resource of at least 125 megawatts. Provides that for any planned retirement or refueling, the public utility must include, along with other specified information, information as to the public utility's plans with respect to the following: (1) For a retirement, the amount of replacement capacity identified to provide approximately the same accredited capacity within the appropriate regional transmission organization (RTO) as the capacity of the facility to be retired. (2) For a refueling, the extent to which the refueling will maintain or increase the current generating resource accredited capacity or energy that the electric generating facility provides, so as to provide approximately the same accredited capacity within the appropriate RTO. Requires IURC staff to prepare a staff report for each public utility report that includes a planned electric generation resource retirement. Provides that if, after reviewing a public utility's report and any related staff report, the IURC is not satisfied that the public utility can satisfy both its planning reserve margin requirement and the statute's prescribed reliability adequacy metrics, the IURC shall conduct an investigation into the reasons for the public utility's inability to meet these requirements. Provides that if the public utility's report indicates that the public utility plans to retire an electric generating facility within one year of the date of the report, the IURC must conduct such an investigation. Provides that: (1) a public utility may request, not earlier than three years before the planned retirement date of an electric generation facility, that the IURC conduct an investigation into the planned retirement; and (2) if the IURC conducts an investigation at the request of the public utility within that three year period, the IURC may not conduct a subsequent investigation that would otherwise be required under the bill's provisions unless the IURC is not satisfied that the public utility can satisfy both its planning reserve margin requirement and the statutory reliability adequacy metrics as of the time the investigation would otherwise be required. Provides that if a CPCN is granted by the IURC for a facility intended to repower or replace a generation unit that is planned for retirement, and the CPCN includes findings that the project will result in at least equivalent accredited capacity and will provide economic benefit to ratepayers as compared to the continued operation of the generating unit to be retired, the CPCN constitutes approval by the IURC for purposes of an investigation that would otherwise be required. Provides that if, after an investigation, the IURC determines that the capacity resources available to the public utility will not be adequate to allow the public utility to satisfy both its planning reserve margin requirements and the statute's prescribed reliability adequacy metrics, the IURC shall issue an order: (1) directing the public utility to acquire or construct; or (2) prohibiting the retirement or refueling of; such capacity resources that are reasonable and necessary to enable the public utility to meet these requirements. Provides that if the IURC does not issue an order in an investigation within 120 days after the initiation of the investigation, the public utility is considered to be able to satisfy both its planning reserve margin requirement and the statutory reliability adequacy metrics with respect to the retirement of the facility under investigation. Provides that if the IURC issues an order to prohibit the retirement or refueling of an electric generation resource, the IURC shall create a sub-docket to authorize the public utility to recover in rates the costs of the continued operation of the electric generation resource proposed to be retired or refueled, subject to a finding by the IURC that the continued costs of operation are just and reasonable. Makes a technical change to another Indiana Code section to recognize the redesignation of subsections within the section containing these provisions.

Requires the department of education (department) to grant an initial practitioner license to an individual who: (1) holds a bachelor's degree with a major in any combination of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics; (2) successfully completes a total of at least nine academic credits regarding certain instruction in teaching; and (3) meets other specified requirements. Provides that the department may grant a license to teach a high school level course or grades 5 through 9 to an individual who completes a licensure pathway established by the department. Requires a principal to allow a student who is enrolled in a public secondary school to receive religious instruction for a period or periods that do not exceed the amount of time that is equivalent to attending one elective course at the public secondary school during the week. (Current law provides for a period or periods of not more than 120 minutes in total in any week.) Provides that a public secondary school may award academic credit to a student who attends religious instruction if: (1) the religious entity providing the instruction agrees to certain conditions; and (2) the governing body of the school corporation adopts a policy that allows the awarding of credit (current law only provides that a public secondary school may award academic credit to a student who attends religious instruction if the governing body of the school corporation adopts a policy that allows the awarding of credit). Changes certain requirements regarding the reporting of a bullying "incident" to the reporting of a bullying "investigation". Requires discipline rules to include a provision to make a reasonable attempt to notify both the parent of a targeted student and the parent of an alleged perpetrator that the school is investigating a possible incident of bullying or similar misconduct before the end of the next school day after the school becomes aware of the possible incident.

Defines "revocation of a license". Creates a process in which the director of the Indiana grain buyers and warehouse licensing agency (agency) determines whether a building or other protected enclosure constitutes a single warehouse that requires one or more licenses. Specifies the documents a person who desires to conduct business as a grain buyer, warehouse operator, or buyer-warehouse (licensee) must submit to the agency to renew a license to operate. Specifies how a business as a licensee may renew its license. Specifies the types of licenses the agency shall issue and how a license may be relinquished. Establishes what information must be included in a financial statement submitted by a licensee to the agency. Removes the ability of the agency to temporarily suspend a licensee's license. Specifies various matters related to on-premises inspections. Permits the director of the agency (director) to call an informal meeting with a licensee. Provides when the director may revoke, and when the director shall revoke, a licensee's license and what information the director must share with the licensee. Establishes various notice requirements. Permits the agency to adopt rules. Requires the director to inspect and test all equipment used to test the moisture content of grain purchased from producers once per year. Requires the Indiana grain indemnity corporation board to elect a chairperson and vice chairperson and take on various new responsibilities. Addresses various issues with producer premiums. Provides that a grain buyer shall keep accurate and correct records of grain purchased from producers documenting the producer premiums paid by producers. Establishes storage fees to determine storage loss. Requires the office of the attorney general to provide legal assistance if requested by the director. Requires the director to take possession of the bond or other security and all proceeds from a grain sale in the event a licensee has failed to meet its obligations under the grain indemnity chapter. Provides that the director shall provide informal conferences between agency representatives and persons who have or who appear to have grain deposited with the licensee in revocation. Makes technical and conforming changes.

Maddy summaryHouse Concurrent Resolution 43 is a non-binding resolution that expresses the Indiana legislature's support for a healthier Indiana. It serves to formally encourage initiatives and efforts aimed at improving the well-being of the state's residents.

Provides that the governing body of a school corporation or the chief administrative officer of a nonpublic school system shall authorize the absence and excuse of a school student if the student participates in certain events offered by the National FFA Organization, the Indiana FFA Association, or a 4-H club. Provides that a student's excused absences may not exceed six days in a school year. Provides that the student must be in good academic standing.

Specifies that proof of identification may not include a document issued by an educational institution. Requires a county voter registration office to perform voter list maintenance within 48 hours of receiving information that requires voter list maintenance activity. Clarifies the circumstances under which an individual may be removed from the computerized list. Requires a county voter registration office to conduct a voter list maintenance program concerning a voter who has not cast a vote in the two most recent general elections. Repeals obsolete provisions concerning a memorandum of understanding with the Kansas Secretary of State. Requires the secretary of state to contact each state to request that the state or a group of states execute an agreement to share certain information concerning voter information for the purpose of maintaining the statewide voter registration list. Requires the secretary of state to take certain actions with respect to these agreements and the information exchanged. Provides that a voter's consular report of birth abroad (CRBA) is proof of citizenship. Requires a local health officer to share certain records concerning all deaths, including all death certificates, within that officer's jurisdiction with the county voter registration office on a quarterly basis.