Indiana Housing Bill Amended, Passed Senate

A bill aimed at addressing housing costs passed the Senate on Tuesday after it was amended on Monday.

House Bill 1001 expands permitted uses that are approved without a hearing to single-family dwellings and townhouses in residential areas, an accessory dwelling unit within a single family home, and affordable housing on property purchased by a religious institution before Jan. 1, 2025 in a residential or commercial zone.

The bill restricts a local government unit’s ability to impose and increase fees related to building approval and permits, among other design-element limitations. The bill addresses long permitting processes, zoning restrictions, and minimum parking requirements.

The Senate Judiciary committee amended the bill to give local governments the option to pass an ordinance to opt-out of many provisions of the bill and to address increasing construction costs.

The bill passed out of the Senate Judiciary committee last week in a 6-5 vote, with State Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, being the tie-breaking vote. Freeman said he only voted in favor of the bill because State Sen. Chris Garten was the Senate sponsor of the bill.

“If the House on down does not give him the keys to this bill and allow him to amend it … this bill is going to die and should die,” Freeman said in committee.

The average age of a first-time home buyer is 40 years old, Garten said, so House Bill 1001 was drafted to address the housing crisis.

“That means if you’re a young family, a young teacher, a new law enforcement officer, you can work in a lot of our communities but you certainly can’t live there,” Garten said. “We have got to have this conversation around the importance of our housing crisis in Indiana.”

Garten, R-Charlestown, presented the bill Monday on second reading with “a substantial” amendment that “changes the bill drastically.”

The amendment states that impact fees have to be used within a 5-mile radius, changes zoning requirements, requires various housing reports to be submitted to the legislature, adds language about smaller elevators used in smaller buildings, and extends residential Tax Increment Financing life span from 20 years to 25 years, among other things, Garten said.

Garten also proposed a technical correction amendment “to clean up language” found in another bill.

Both amendments passed in voice votes.

State Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, proposed an amendment to pull language from Senate Bill 104, which he authored but wasn’t heard this session.

Senate Bill 104 states that a landlord may not lease property in Indiana unless the landlord is authorized to do business in the state, has residence or an office in the state, has an Indiana-licensed real estate broker to manage the rental property, or owns five or fewer properties in the state. The bill would have given the attorney general authority to act if a landlord improperly leases a property.

Qaddoura and Garten said they had just discussed the amendment before Monday’s Senate session. Garten said he didn’t have enough information to decide if he supported or didn’t support the amendment, but would work with Qaddoura to potentially find another bill for the amendment.

Qaddoura withdrew his amendment “as a gesture of good will and trust” to work with Garten on the language.

“This way, I can work with Sen. Garten to find a conference committee report to work with you on this,” Qaddoura said.

The bill passed the Senate Tuesday in a 35-13 vote, with Freeman voting against the bill despite Garten’s amendments to the bill.

The bill will go back to the House for consideration because it was amended in the Senate. If approved by the Senate, the bill heads to the governor’s desk for signature.

akukulka@post-trib.com