Indiana 2025 Regular Session Status: Enacted 8 R cosponsors

SB 287 — School board matters.

Last action — Signed by the Governor

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Senate
  4. ✓
    Passed House
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 13, 2025. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Mike Braun (Republican) on May 06, 2025.

Odds of enactment

High chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a high chance of becoming law.

Upgrade to see the exact probability and what's driving it.

A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 62% · moderate confidence

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 8 sponsors

    4 primary, 4 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (8 R).

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

In plain language

This bill changes how candidates for school board offices disclose party affiliation.

Candidates for school board offices must specify their political party or lack thereof on nomination petitions. The ballot will reflect this information, and straight party votes will not count for these candidates.

Summary

Requires a petition of nomination for a school board office to state one of the following: (1) The candidate's political party affiliation. (2) That the candidate is an independent candidate. (3) That the candidate elects not to disclose any affiliation with a political party or that the candidate is not affiliated with a political party and does not identify as an independent candidate. Specifies that unless a candidate who states a political party affiliation is challenged, the candidate's statement must be indicated on the ballot. Provides that the name of a candidate for school board office who does not run in affiliation with a political party or as an independent candidate must be printed with a blank space after the candidate's name signifying that the candidate elects not to disclose any affiliation with a political party or that the candidate is not affiliated with a political party and does not identify as an independent candidate. Specifies that a straight party vote does not count for any candidate for a school board office. Requires a school board vacancy to be filled by: (1) a caucus if the vacating member stated an affiliation with a major political party; and (2) the remaining members of the governing body if the vacating member did not state an affiliation with a major political party. Modifies the annual amount that the governing body of a school corporation may pay a member of the governing body from $2,000 (under current law) to an amount not to exceed 10% of the lowest starting salary of a teacher employed by the school corporation.

Bill Text

We don't have the full text on file for this bill yet.

Read SB 287 on the official Indiana source →

Action History

  1. Signed by the Governor

  2. Public Law 195

  3. Signed by the President of the Senate

  4. Signed by the Speaker

  5. Signed by the President Pro Tempore

  6. Senate concurred with House amendments; Roll Call 504: yeas 26, nays 24

  7. Dissent rescinded

  8. Motion to concur filed

  9. House conferees appointed: Prescott and Jackson C

  10. House advisors appointed: Wesco, Davis, Heaton, Boy, Errington and Pryor

  11. Senate advisors appointed: Hunley, Garten and Gaskill

  12. Senate conferees appointed: Byrne and Ford J.D.

  13. Senate dissented from House amendments

  14. Motion to dissent filed

  15. Concurrence withdrawn

  16. Motion to concur filed

  17. Returned to the Senate with amendments

  18. Third reading: passed; Roll Call 335: yeas 54, nays 40

  19. Amendment #3 (Prescott) prevailed; Division of the House: yeas 63, nays 27

  20. Amendment #1 (Boy) failed; Roll Call 277: yeas 29, nays 62

  21. Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed

  22. Amendment #2 (Errington) failed; Roll Call 278: yeas 27, nays 63

  23. Committee report: amend do pass, adopted

  24. Referred to Committee on Education pursuant to House Rule 126.4; Failed, Roll Call 258: yeas 26, nays 58

  25. First reading: referred to Committee on Elections and Apportionment

  26. Referred to the House

  27. Cosponsors: Representatives Wesco, Davis, Heaton

  28. House sponsor: Representative Prescott

  29. Third reading: passed; Roll Call 140: yeas 26, nays 20

  30. Second reading: ordered engrossed

  31. Amendment #1 (Ford J.D.) failed; Roll Call 121: yeas 11, nays 34

  32. Committee report: do pass, adopted

  33. Senator Gaskill added as coauthor

  34. Senator Doriot removed as second author

  35. Senator Garten added as second author

  36. Senator Doriot added as third author

  37. Authored by Senators Byrne and Doriot

  38. First reading: referred to Committee on Elections

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

4 sponsors · 4 co-sponsors · 142 not signed on

Sponsors (4)

Co-sponsors (4)

Not signed on (142)

142 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 142 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

elections education
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does SB 287 do?
Requires a petition of nomination for a school board office to state one of the following: (1) The candidate's political party affiliation. (2) That the candidate is an independent candidate. (3) That the candidate elects not to disclose any affiliation with a political party or that the candidate is not affiliated with a political party and does not identify as an independent candidate. Specifies that unless a candidate who states a political party affiliation is challenged, the candidate's statement must be indicated on the ballot. Provides that the name of a candidate for school board office who does not run in affiliation with a political party or as an independent candidate must be printed with a blank space after the candidate's name signifying that the candidate elects not to disclose any affiliation with a political party or that the candidate is not affiliated with a political party and does not identify as an independent candidate. Specifies that a straight party vote does not count for any candidate for a school board office. Requires a school board vacancy to be filled by: (1) a caucus if the vacating member stated an affiliation with a major political party; and (2) the remaining members of the governing body if the vacating member did not state an affiliation with a major political party. Modifies the annual amount that the governing body of a school corporation may pay a member of the governing body from $2,000 (under current law) to an amount not to exceed 10% of the lowest starting salary of a teacher employed by the school corporation.
Who sponsors SB 287?
SB 287 is sponsored by Robert Heaton (Republican), Michelle Davis (Republican), Timothy Wesco (Republican), J.D. Prescott (Republican), Mike Gaskill (Republican), Blake Doriot (Republican), Chris Garten (Republican), and Gary Byrne (Republican).
What is the current status of SB 287?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 13, 2025. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 287?
Track SB 287 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

Make your voice heard on SB 287

Find the representatives who decide this bill and tell them where you stand — for yourself, or mobilize your whole list in one click with One Click Politics advocacy software.

Find my representatives → Run a campaign

Stay ahead of SB 287

Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

One Click Politics tracks every bill in Congress and all 50 states.

Track this bill →