2026-09-10 · Indiana · Legislation · Did not pass

What happened. Most bills that die in the Indiana General Assembly die quietly, unheard, in a committee they were referred to in January. House Bill 1389 of 2025 did not. It passed the House 90-6, passed the Senate 36-13, went to a conference committee, came back with a negotiated report — and then the Senate voted down its own conference report 17-33 at 10:16 p.m. on 24 April 2025, with the session due to adjourn in three hours.¹

This bill did not become law. Its substance did, eleven months later, in a different bill — which is what makes the failure worth reading rather than filing.

What HB 1389 would have done

The operative language named homeowners associations directly:

“a unit, neighborhood association, or homeowners association may not adopt or enforce an ordinance, order, regulation, resolution, policy, or similar measure that: (1) prohibits or restricts the use, sale, or lease of a motor vehicle or outdoor equipment; (2) distinguishes between motor vehicles or outdoor equipment; or (3) results in differing regulatory standards for motor vehicles or outdoor equipment; based on the fuel source that powers the motor vehicle or outdoor equipment.”

In plain terms: an association could not write a covenant that treated an electric vehicle differently from a petrol one, or banned a battery-powered mower while permitting a petrol one, or the reverse. The bill also carried an unrelated airport-overlay-zoning rider, which is the sort of passenger that often decides a bill's fate for reasons having nothing to do with its main subject.

The sequence of the collapse

• 17 February 2025 — passes the House, 90-6.
• 15 April 2025 — passes the Senate, 36-13, with a floor amendment.
• 16 April 2025 — the House dissents from the Senate's amendments. A conference committee is appointed.
• 24 April 2025 — the conference committee files Conference Committee Report #1. The House adopts it 68-23.
• 24 April 2025, 10:16 p.m. — the Senate rejects the same report, 17-33.
• 25 April 2025, 1:38 a.m. — the General Assembly adjourns sine die. A last-ditch House motion to concur in the Senate's position was filed and never acted on.

A bill with 90 House votes and 36 Senate votes behind it ended the session as nothing at all.

1. Indiana General Assembly, House Bill 1389 (2025) — bill page and complete action log ↩
2. HB 1389 (2025), introduced version (bill text) ↩
3. Indiana General Assembly, House Bill 1150 (2026) — the successor bill that became law ↩