INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Senate Democratic leaders said Friday their caucus spent the 2026 session doing exactly what Hoosiers asked for: fighting for real legislation to lower the cost of housing, utilities, health care and child care to make life affordable. They said the Republican supermajority, by contrast, pushed a slate of attacks, power grabs and extreme ideological bills that did nothing to address the state’s affordability crisis.
Senate Democratic Leader Shelli Yoder (D-Bloomington), Assistant Democratic Leader Andrea Hunley (D-Indianapolis) and Caucus Chair Rodney Pol Jr. (D-Chesterton) said Senate Democrats came to the Statehouse with one test for every bill: Would it make it easier for Hoosiers to afford their life in this state?
“Our caucus filed targeted bills to get rents under control, take pressure off utility bills, protect access to health care and support child care so parents can work,” Yoder said. “We put real, workable solutions on the table and our constituents are disappointed the supermajority refused to even give them a hearing.”
“Of the Democratic proposals that did become law, every one was written with affordability and stability in mind,” Yoder said.
Sen. Mark Spencer (D-Gary) led legislation to expand community and urban microfarming, turning vacant lots into productive space and helping neighborhoods grow fresh food close to home. Another Spencer measure cleans up how distressed properties are appraised and sold in the city of Gary, putting guardrails in place so land deals serve residents instead of insiders and protecting local tax bases.
Sen. David Niezgodski (D-South Bend) advanced legislation to strengthen regional planning connecting northern Indiana’s water resources, cities and towns and tourist destinations in St. Joseph County to increase outdoor recreation and boost economic development. He also carried this year’s “13th check” for retired public employees and teachers, putting extra dollars in the pockets of Hoosiers on fixed incomes.
Pol authored a law expanding the Indiana Crime Guns Task Force so law enforcement can better track firearms used in crimes that move across county lines. He also collaborated on legislation cracking down on theft of telecommunications equipment after local officials warned that stolen lines were knocking out 911 and emergency communications.
“Food security, honest land deals, clean water, support for retirees, safer streets and reliable 911. That is what our work looks like,” Pol said. “Every Democratic bill that passed this year was about real Hoosier lives, not feeding a D.C. outrage machine.”
Democrats said those wins are first steps in the right direction for Hoosiers, but not enough to provide true relief. Many Democratic affordability bills were never given a hearing while Republicans poured their energy into an agenda built on control and punishment.
Sweeping Medicaid cutbacks restrict Hoosiers’ access to necessary health care and add costly bureaucratic layers, and SNAP changes limit food access beyond what the federal government requires. Senate Democrats warned the changes will push eligible children, seniors and people with disabilities off coverage because of red tape, even as recent fraud headlines have centered on bad providers, not patients.
“If your response to a cost-of-living crisis is to make it easier for the state to cut off groceries and health care over a technicality, you are not on the side of working Hoosiers. You are balancing the books on their backs,” Hunley said.
Another marquee bill forces K-12 schools, colleges and local governments deeper into federal immigration enforcement and threatens them with lawsuits when state politicians decide a teacher didn’t give ICE access to a child quickly enough. Educators and law enforcement leaders warned the law will turn classrooms and campuses into enforcement zones, chill reporting of crimes and make families afraid.
Republicans also approved a measure that reduces eligibility for the Military Family Relief Fund while expanding the responsibilities of the National Guard to include a new state-controlled military police force under the governor’s command. Senate Democrats said the bill makes it harder, not easier, for Guard members and veterans to access emergency assistance, in the midst of an affordability crisis, when those who sacrificed for us find themselves in hard times. They expressed concern that the new policing power breaks the trust that communities have built with our National Guard during emergencies.
At the same time, the supermajority advanced environmental and homelessness policies Democrats say move Indiana backward, weakening enforcement tools for air and water protections and creating a statewide public camping crackdown that makes it easier to ticket or arrest people sleeping outside instead of investing in affordable housing, mental health care or addiction treatment.
“Not a single constituent came to us asking for new ways to criminalize poverty or give polluters more wiggle room,” Pol said. “They came asking for stability, health and a fair shot, and instead got citations for people with nowhere to sleep and a lighter touch for those who can afford lobbyists.”
As the session closes, Democratic leaders said they want Hoosiers to remember the contrast.
On one side, they said, Senate Democrats filed bills to lower rent, keep utility bills in check, shore up child care and protect access to health care and passed every Hoosier-first measure they could. On the other, a Republican supermajority advanced crackdowns, power grabs and culture-war bills that made government bigger and people’s lives harder.
“That is the choice in front of Indiana,” Hunley said. “An agenda built around making life more affordable and more free, or an agenda built around control and punishment.”
Yoder said Senate Democrats will spend the months ahead back in their districts, listening to residents and refining their affordability package for the next session.
“The one thing I know about Senate Democrats is that we are aligned with the majority of Hoosiers who just want a fair shot and a little breathing room,” she said. “We will keep writing the bills that do that and keep saying clearly that Indiana deserves a legislature focused on helping people build a good life here with respect and dignity, not testing how much more they can be made to bear.”
