15 new Indiana laws to know before they take effect Tuesday, July 1, 2025

While a few statutes, or portions of them, took effect immediately, such as Senate Enrolled Act (SEA) 1, adjusting numerous residential and business property tax provisions, and House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1390, banning all marijuana product advertising, the bulk of the new state laws — as usual — take effect July 1.

Here's a look at 15 notable new laws, in alphabetical order, Hoosiers may want to know:

Cigarette tax — The state tax on cigarettes increases by $2 per pack, to a total of $3 per pack, to boost funding for Indiana Medicaid and other health programs. Similar tax increases apply to cigars and other tobacco products, as well as vaping supplies and equipment. (HEA 1001)

College athletics — Transgender women are barred from women's sports teams at all public and private universities in Indiana that participate in interscholastic competitions against state schools, as well as girls' sports teams at all public and private elementary, middle and high schools. A student who is "deprived of an athletic opportunity" or "otherwise directly or indirectly injured" by a transgender woman participating in women's collegiate athletics can file a grievance and civil lawsuit against the university. (HEA 1041)

Data centers — A company that's 50% owned by a foreign adversary nation, or headquartered there, still may construct a data center in the state if it proves to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and the Indiana Economic Development Corp. that the data center's anticipated electricity use will be self-generated and not affect the load supply of the state's electrical grids. The countries currently designated as foreign adversaries are China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and the Maduro regime in Venezuela. (SEA 431)

E-pull tabs — Eligible veterans and fraternal organizations can supplement their paper pull tab charitable gambling games with a limited number of electronic pull tab machines located in their primary meeting facility. The law requires e-pull tab players to manually open each row on every ticket by touching the screen or a button, no gameplay imagery can mimic a slot machine or casino table game and the winnings associated with any bonus feature must equal the value of the prize predetermined when the ticket was purchased. (SEA 209)

Emissions testing — The Indiana Department of Environmental Management must conduct a comprehensive evaluation of ambient air quality in Northwest Indiana no later than Dec. 31, 2025. It is then required to identify strategies to reduce the Region's air pollution and remove it from the Chicagoland region for federal air quality assessment purposes in the hope of ending vehicle emissions testing in Lake and Porter counties. (SEA 103)

Gun crimes — The Indiana Gun Crimes Task Force, a specialized organization focused on reducing violent crime and bringing criminals to justice by tracing the firearms used in crimes in central Indiana and the Fort Wayne area, is expanding to Lake County to try to lower the number of violent homicides and gun crimes occurring in the Region. (HEA 1095)

Highway tolls — The governor can seek federal approval to charge tolls for the use of all interstate highways in Indiana without any further action by the General Assembly. A statutory protection for Northwest Indiana motorists that required the first new toll lanes in the state be located at least 75 miles away from the Indiana Toll Road is eliminated — opening the door to tolls on Interstate 80/94 and Interstate 65. (HEA 1461)

Illegal immigrants — County sheriffs must proactively notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement any time they have reason to believe a person not lawfully present in the United States is detained at the county jail. All Indiana sheriffs, deputies and local police officers must also cooperate with ICE on all federal immigration enforcement matters. (HEA 1393)

Illinois annexation — An 11-member Indiana-Illinois Boundary Adjustment Commission is established to discuss and recommend whether the boundary between the state of Indiana and the state of Illinois should be adjusted. Indiana’s governor must appoint six members to the commission who can meet and discuss the issue of Indiana incorporating secessionist portions of central and southern Illinois even if Illinois' governor declines to name the five commissioners allocated to his state. (HEA 1008)

Income tax — The 3% state income tax rate, already set to fall to 2.9% in 2027, automatically will decline by another 0.05% in 2030, and every even-numbered year through 2042, if state revenue grows on a year-over-year basis by at least 3.5% in each of the preceding four state budget years and also is projected to hit that growth target in the current budget year. Indiana's income tax rate would be among the lowest in the country for states that impose an income tax if all the potential rate reductions are implemented. (SEA 451)

Nuclear power — Indiana's investor-owned utilities may immediately pass along to ratepayers up to 80% of their costs to develop, or even just contemplate, small modular nuclear reactors — regardless of whether a utility ever actually constructs or operates one — subject to approval by the governor-appointed Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. (SEA 424)

Obscene performance — Any person living anywhere has legal standing to seek injunctive relief, attorney's fees, court costs and "other reasonable expenses" if they file a lawsuit claiming an Indiana governmental entity, including a public school or library, knowingly or intentionally organized or hosted an obscene performance, or used any taxpayer dollars to fund an obscene performance. (HEA 1014)

Referendums — School funding referendums and other local public questions only may be posed to voters on a general election ballot, typically alongside races for national, state and local elected offices, to ensure the greatest number of Hoosier voters participate. (SEA 1)

School boards — School board candidates may include their political party affiliation on the ballot without having to compete and win the party's nomination in a primary election, putting a potentially unlimited number of school board hopefuls on the general election ballot as either a Republican, Democratic, Independent or nonpartisan candidate. School board members also can vote to increase their own pay to $4,500 a year, up from $2,000. (SEA 287)

Sports commission — A 17-member Northwest Indiana Professional Sports Development Commission is established. It’s tasked with studying the possibility of attracting the Chicago Bears, or another major professional sports team, to Northwest Indiana, along with developing a master plan for doing so in order to promote economic development, create jobs, attract tourists and improve educational opportunities in the Region. (HEA 1292)