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2021 Indiana legislative session
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← 2020
2022 →
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| 2021 Indiana legislative session |
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| General information |
| Session start: January 4, 2021 Session end: November 15, 2021 |
| Leadership |
| Senate President Suzanne Crouch (R) House Speaker |
| Elections |
| Next Election: November 8, 2022 Last Election: November 3, 2020 |
| Previous legislative sessions |
| 2020 • 2019 • 2018 |
| Other 2021 legislative sessions |
In 2021, the Indiana State Legislature was scheduled to convene on January 4, 2021, and adjourn on November 15, 2021. The regular session was originally scheduled to adjourn on April 22, 2021. The session was reconvened on September 20, 2021, through October 1, 2021.
The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2020 elections. Republicans won a 39-11 majority in the Senate and a 71-29 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta. At the start of the 2021 session, Indiana was one of 16 state legislatures where Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.
The Indiana State Legislature is responsible for redistricting following each census. Legislators were expected to address redistricting as part of the 2021 legislative session. As of the 2020 Census, Indiana was one of 37 states where legislators were responsible for redistricting.
Leadership in 2021
Indiana State Senate
- Senate president: Suzanne Crouch (R)
- Majority leader: Mark Messmer (R)
- Minority leader: Greg Taylor (D)
Indiana House of Representatives
- Speaker of the House: Todd Huston (R)
- Majority leader: Matt Lehman (R)
- Minority leader: Phil GiaQuinta (D)
Partisan control in 2021
- See also: State government trifectas
Indiana was one of 22 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2021 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.
Indiana was also one of 16 state legislatures where Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.
The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Indiana State Legislature in the 2021 legislative session.
Indiana State Senate
| Party | As of January 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 11 | |
| Republican Party | 39 | |
| Total | 50 | |
Indiana House of Representatives
| Party | As of January 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 29 | |
| Republican Party | 71 | |
| Total | 100 | |
Regular session
The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2021 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2021. This information is provided by BillTrack50.
Redistricting
Redistricting is the process of enacting new district boundaries for elected offices, particularly for offices in the U.S. House of Representatives and state legislatures.
To learn more about the redistricting process in Indiana after the 2020 census, click here.
Standing legislative committees
A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.
At the beginning of the 2021 legislative session, there were 44 standing committees in Indiana's state government, including 20 state Senate committees, and 24 state House committees.
Senate committees
- Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee
- Appointments and Claims Committee
- Appropriations Committee
- Commerce & Economic Development Committee
- Corrections, Criminal, and Civil Matters Committee
- Education and Career Development Committee
- Elections Committee
- Energy and Environmental Affairs Committee
- Ethics Committee
- Health and Provider Services Committee
- Homeland Security, Transportation & Veterans Affairs Committee
- Insurance and Financial Institutions Committee
- Joint Rules Committee
- Judiciary Committee
- Local Government Committee
- Pensions and Labor Committee
- Public Policy Committee
- Rules and Legislative Procedure Committee
- Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee
- Utilities & Technology Committee
House committees
- Agriculture and Rural Development
- Commerce, Small Business and Economic Development
- Courts and Criminal Code
- Education
- Elections and Apportionment
- Employment, Labor and Pensions
- Environmental Affairs
- Family, Children and Human Affairs
- Financial Institutions
- Government and Regulatory Reform
- Insurance
- Judiciary
- Local Government
- Natural Resources
- Public Health
- Public Policy
- Roads and Transportation
- Rules and Legislative Procedures
- Select Committee on Government Reduction
- Statutory Committee on Ethics
- Statutory Committee on Interstate and International Cooperation
- Utilities and Energy
- Veterans Affairs and Public Safety
- Ways and Means
Legislatively referred constitutional amendments
In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.
The methods by which the Indiana Constitution can be amended:
The Indiana Constitution provides for a legislative process to amend the constitution.
Legislature
A simple majority vote is required during two successive legislative sessions for the Indiana State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 51 votes in the Indiana House of Representatives and 26 votes in the Indiana State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
Historical partisan control
The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Indiana.
Indiana Party Control: 1992-2025
No Democratic trifectas • Seventeen years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| Senate | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | D | D | D | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
Historical Senate control
From 1992 to 2020, the Indiana State Senate was controlled by the Republican Party. Republicans started with a slim majority in the early 1990s, but they increased their seat share over the next 20 years and held a strong majority by 2020. The table below shows the partisan history of the Indiana State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2020. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
Indiana State Senate election results: 1992-2020
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 22 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| Republicans | 28 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 32 | 32 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 36 | 37 | 40 | 41 | 40 | 39 |
The Indiana State Senate was somewhat competitive from 1900 to 2020, switching partisan control 10 times during that period. Of the 10 times partisan control changed, six occurred between 1960 and 1978. Despite the changes in control, the chamber was mostly in Republican hands. When Democrats took control, they usually held it for a few election cycles. After Republicans won a majority in 1978, Democrats did not regain control through the 2020 elections.
In 1992, Republicans took a 28-22 majority in the chamber. In the elections that followed they almost always gained seats. By 2004, they held a 33-17 lead over Democrats. In 2010, Republicans gained three seats, putting them at 36. They gained another seat in 2012, even though the national climate favored Democrats, and then three more in 2014, when the national climate favored Republicans.
In 2016, Republicans gained another seat and Democrats had less than 10 seats. The 41-9 GOP advantage following the 2016 election was the largest the chamber had seen since 1920. Republicans lost three seats between the 2018 and 2020 elections, bringing the chamber to 38-11 (with one vacancy). The chamber's Republican gains from 2010 to 2016 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.
Historical House control
From 1992 to 2020, partisan control of the Indiana House of Representatives changed five times before Republicans took over in the 2010 elections. From 2010 to 2020, Republicans had a strong majority in the chamber, which was previously a partisan battleground. The table below shows the partisan history of the Indiana House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2020. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
Indiana House of Representatives election results: 1992-2020
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 55 | 44 | 50* | 53 | 53 | 51 | 48 | 51 | 52 | 40 | 31 | 29 | 30 | 33 | 29 |
| Republicans | 45 | 56 | 50 | 47 | 47 | 49 | 52 | 49 | 48 | 60 | 69 | 71 | 70 | 67 | 71 |
*Democrat John Gregg served as speaker of the house because the governor's race was won by Frank O'Bannon (D) and a 1989 law said the party that won the governor's race was to elect the speaker of a tied chamber.
The Indiana House of Representatives was competitive from 1900 to 2020. The chamber changed partisan control 15 times during that time period. Starting in 1990, Democrats held control of the chamber. This started a twenty-year period of competitiveness where partisan control frequently switched between Democrats and Republicans and the distance between the parties was never more than 12 seats.
After taking control in 1990, Democrats held the chamber through the 1992 elections. Republicans won a 56-44 majority in 1994. In the 1996 elections, Democrats made gains and brought the chamber to a 50-50 tie. They also won the chamber's leadership positions because a 1989 Indiana law allows the party of the governor to select the speaker of the house in the event of a tie (Democrat Gov. Frank O'Bannon was elected in 1996).[1]
Democrats held slim majorities following the 1998, 2000, and 2002 elections before Republicans took control with a 52-48 majority in 2004. Democratic gains in 2006 and 2008 swung control back in their favor, although they did not win more than 52 seats in either election. Starting in 2010, Republicans began building a majority in the chamber that lasted through 2020. In the 2010 election, they won a 60-40 majority, the largest either party had held since the 1984 elections. Despite a national trend back toward Democrats in 2012, Republicans won another nine seats.
The 2014 and 2016 elections yielded a few more seats to Republicans, leaving them with a 71-29 majority after 2014 and a 70-30 majority after 2016. Republicans lost three seats in the 2018 election, holding a 67-33 majority. Following the 2020 election, Republicans had a 71-29 majority. These were the largest margins in the chamber since 1972 and signaled an end to the decades where both parties had a chance at a majority. The chamber's Republican gains from 2010 to 2016 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.
See also
| Elections | Indiana State Government | State Legislatures | State Politics |
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External links
Footnotes
