---
type: "Bill"
title: "A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning higher education."
description: "A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning higher education."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "HB 1281"
citation: "Indiana HB 1281 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["HIGHER EDUCATION", "Colleges and Universities"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Dennis Kruse", "Holli Sullivan", "Jeff Raatz"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 28
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2017-01-10"
last_action: "2017-04-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a239eccd-1f40-486e-ace7-fff4cc3d1cf9"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2017/bills/house/1281"
source_hash: "17feb095b9f648630b496d1950d481cbab3601ec9319894a639a4976af5ea72d"
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 HB 1281 (2017) — A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning higher education.

## Version chain

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

1. **Engrossed House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/hb1281/versions/hb1281.03.engh)
2. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/hb1281/versions/hb1281.05.enrs)
3. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/hb1281/versions/hb1281.04.coms)
4. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/hb1281/versions/hb1281.02.comh)
5. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/hb1281/versions/hb1281.01.intr)

## Votes

- HB 1281 - Sullivan - 3rd Reading — **99–0** (pass) · legislature
- HB 1281 - Raatz - 3rd Reading — **50–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Dennis Kruse — primary (person)
- Holli Sullivan — primary (person)
- Jeff Raatz — primary (person)
- Eddie Melton — cosponsor (person)
- Gregory Porter — coauthor (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — cosponsor (person)
- Robert Behning — coauthor (person)
- Sheila Klinker — coauthor (person)
- Timothy Wesco — coauthor (person)
- Todd Huston — coauthor (person)
- Vernon Smith — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-01-10** Authored by Representative Sullivan
- **2017-01-10** First reading: referred to Committee on Education `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2017-01-23** Representatives Behning, Huston, Porter added as coauthors
- **2017-01-24** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2017-01-26** Amendment #1 (Sullivan) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage, amendment-failure`
- **2017-01-26** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2017-01-30** Rule 105.1 suspended
- **2017-01-30** Representatives Wesco, Klinker, Smith, V. added as coauthors
- **2017-01-30** Senate sponsor: Senator Raatz
- **2017-01-30** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 31: yeas 99, nays 0 `reading-3, passage`
- **2017-01-31** Referred to the Senate
- **2017-02-20** First reading: referred to Committee on Education and Career Development `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2017-03-13** Senator Kruse added as second sponsor
- **2017-03-23** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2017-03-27** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2017-03-27** Senator Melton added as cosponsor
- **2017-03-28** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 308: yeas 50, nays 0 `reading-3, passage`
- **2017-03-28** Senator Randolph added as cosponsor
- **2017-03-29** Returned to the House with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2017-04-06** Motion to concur filed
- **2017-04-11** House concurred in Senate amendments; Roll Call 460: yeas 90, nays 0 `amendment-failure`
- **2017-04-20** Joint Rule 20 technical correction adopted by the Senate
- **2017-04-20** Joint Rule 20 technical correction adopted by the House
- **2017-04-21** Signed by the Speaker
- **2017-04-21** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2017-04-24** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2017-04-26** Public Law 191
- **2017-04-26** 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/a239eccd-1f40-486e-ace7-fff4cc3d1cf9`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).