---
type: "Bill"
title: "A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning human services."
description: "A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning human services."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 154"
citation: "Indiana SB 154 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["FAMILY AND SOCIAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION", "HUMAN SERVICES", "STUDY COMMITTEES", "WELFARE generally", "WELFARE", "SNAP Program", "LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL; LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AGENCY"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["James Merritt", "Jon Ford", "Julie Olthoff", "Vaneta Becker"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 29
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2017-01-04"
last_action: "2017-04-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1c71d51d-5e28-4b58-a1b9-debdd4138862"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2017/bills/senate/154"
source_hash: "7c2eee18255c6b2b315a5345b25697ab20b995f94371507b5a7e8d058f9ddf5f"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"]
---

# Indiana SB 154 (2017) — A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning human services.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Engrossed Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0154/versions/sb0154.03.engs)
2. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0154/versions/sb0154.05.enrh)
3. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0154/versions/sb0154.01.intr)
4. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0154/versions/sb0154.02.coms)
5. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0154/versions/sb0154.04.comh)

## Votes

- SB 154 - Olthoff - 3rd Reading — **97–0** (pass) · legislature
- SB 154 - Merritt - 3rd Reading — **34–16** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- James Merritt — primary (person)
- Jon Ford — primary (person)
- Julie Olthoff — primary (person)
- Vaneta Becker — primary (person)
- Cindy Ziemke — cosponsor (person)
- David Frizzell — cosponsor (person)
- Linda Lawson — cosponsor (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — coauthor (person)
- Mark Stoops — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-04** Senator Becker added as second author
- **2017-01-04** Authored by Senator Merritt
- **2017-01-04** First reading: referred to Committee on Family and Children Services `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2017-01-24** Senator Stoops added as coauthor
- **2017-01-26** Senator Ford added as third author
- **2017-02-13** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2017-02-16** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2017-02-16** Senator Randolph added as coauthor
- **2017-02-23** Placed back on second reading `reading-2`
- **2017-02-27** Amendment #1 (Merritt) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage, amendment-failure`
- **2017-02-27** Reread second time: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2017-02-28** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 216: yeas 34, nays 16 `reading-3, passage`
- **2017-02-28** House sponsor: Representative Olthoff
- **2017-02-28** Cosponsor: Representative Frizzell
- **2017-03-01** Referred to the House
- **2017-03-06** First reading: referred to Committee on Family, Children and Human Affairs `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2017-03-30** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2017-03-30** Representative Lawson added as cosponsor
- **2017-04-03** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2017-04-03** Representative Ziemke added as cosponsor
- **2017-04-04** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 374: yeas 97, nays 0 `reading-3, passage`
- **2017-04-05** Returned to the Senate with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2017-04-12** Motion to concur filed
- **2017-04-17** Senate concurred in House Amendments; Roll Call 471: yeas 28, nays 17 `amendment-failure`
- **2017-04-21** Signed by the Speaker
- **2017-04-21** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2017-04-25** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2017-04-27** Public Law 207
- **2017-04-27** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1c71d51d-5e28-4b58-a1b9-debdd4138862`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).