republic-os/legislation/us/states/in/2024/sb-270.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Various education matters."
description: "Establishes limitations regarding the lease of school property. Amends the enrollment threshold regarding when a school building is considered underutilized. Makes changes regarding requiring (instead of allowing) a school building to be closed or made available for lease or purchase. Provides that school corporations that meet certain requirements regarding sharing operating referendum tax levy and school safety referendum tax levy revenue are not subject to the transfer of vacant school building provisions. Provides that no resolution, referenda, or distributed revenue prior to May 10, 2023, are effective to provide exemption from the transfer of vacant school building provisions. Exempts school corporations that have had a designation as a distressed political subdivision within the previous three years from the transfer of vacant school building provisions. Establishes additional requirements regarding notice, determinations, and appeals under the transfer of vacant school building provisions. Amends requirements with regard to: (1) bringing a civil action to enforce a final order to make a covered school building available for purchase or lease; (2) the time frame for which a school building must be used; and (3) transferring a school building back to a school corporation. Provides that, if a school corporation transfers a covered school building in violation of the transfer of vacant school building provisions, the transfer is void and allows for a court action with the award of attorney's fees. Changes certain formulas to reference property tax levies collected (current law references property tax levies imposed). Requires the commission for higher education to: (1) study and make recommendations; and (2) submit a report; regarding allowing Ivy Tech Community College to award bachelor's degrees and Vincennes University to offer additional programs that lead to a bachelor's degree. Makes conforming changes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "SB 270"
citation: "Indiana SB 270 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["AGENCIES; Commission for Higher Education (CHE)", "AGENCIES; Department of Education (DOE) and Secretary of Education", "CITIES; Indianapolis", "COUNTIES; Lake", "COUNTIES; St. Joseph", "COUNTIES; Vanderburgh", "EDUCATION; Generally", "ELECTIONS; Public Questions and Referendums", "GENERAL ASSEMBLY; Legislative Council", "HEALTH; Physical Disabilities", "SCHOOLS; Buildings and Grounds", "SCHOOLS; Generally", "TASK FORCES AND COMMITTEES; New"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jeff Raatz", "Linda Rogers", "Robert Behning", "Stacey Donato"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 31
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2024-01-16"
last_action: "2024-03-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/df32f61d-5c70-46dd-a3be-41439b9b12a1"
source_url: "https://api.iga.in.gov/2024/bills/sb0270"
source_hash: "266118c9bf172ce10170136ad1a45763cce44b696d41a06f97cb51f0f237630a"
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 270 (2024) — Various education matters.

Establishes limitations regarding the lease of school property. Amends the enrollment threshold regarding when a school building is considered underutilized. Makes changes regarding requiring (instead of allowing) a school building to be closed or made available for lease or purchase. Provides that school corporations that meet certain requirements regarding sharing operating referendum tax levy and school safety referendum tax levy revenue are not subject to the transfer of vacant school building provisions. Provides that no resolution, referenda, or distributed revenue prior to May 10, 2023, are effective to provide exemption from the transfer of vacant school building provisions. Exempts school corporations that have had a designation as a distressed political subdivision within the previous three years from the transfer of vacant school building provisions. Establishes additional requirements regarding notice, determinations, and appeals under the transfer of vacant school building provisions. Amends requirements with regard to: (1) bringing a civil action to enforce a final order to make a covered school building available for purchase or lease; (2) the time frame for which a school building must be used; and (3) transferring a school building back to a school corporation. Provides that, if a school corporation transfers a covered school building in violation of the transfer of vacant school building provisions, the transfer is void and allows for a court action with the award of attorney's fees. Changes certain formulas to reference property tax levies collected (current law references property tax levies imposed). Requires the commission for higher education to: (1) study and make recommendations; and (2) submit a report; regarding allowing Ivy Tech Community College to award bachelor's degrees and Vincennes University to offer additional programs that lead to a bachelor's degree. Makes conforming changes.

## Version chain

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

1. **Engrossed Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0270/SB0270.04.ENGS.pdf)
2. **Engrossed Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0270/SB0270.06.ENGH.pdf)
3. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0270/SB0270.07.ENRH.pdf)
4. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0270/SB0270.01.INTR.pdf)
5. **Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0270/SB0270.05.COMH.pdf)
6. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0270/SB0270.03.COMS.pdf)

## Votes

- SB 270 - Rogers — **31–14** (pass) · upper
- SB 270 - Rogers - 3rd Reading — **36–11** (pass) · upper
- SB 270 - Behning - 3rd Reading — **61–30** (pass) · lower
- SB 270 - Behning - 2nd Reading — **28–64** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Jeff Raatz — primary (person)
- Linda Rogers — primary (person)
- Robert Behning — primary (person)
- Stacey Donato — primary (person)
- Brian Buchanan — coauthor (person)
- Jake Teshka — cosponsor (person)
- Julie McGuire — cosponsor (person)
- Martin Carbaugh — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-16** Authored by Senator Rogers
- **2024-01-16** First reading: referred to Committee on Education and Career Development `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2024-01-25** Committee report: amend do pass adopted; reassigned to Committee on Appropriations `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2024-01-25** Senator Buchanan added as coauthor
- **2024-02-01** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-05** Senator Donato added as third author
- **2024-02-05** Senator Raatz added as second author
- **2024-02-05** Amendment #2 (Rogers) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage`
- **2024-02-05** Amendment #1 (Rogers) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage`
- **2024-02-05** Amendment #6 (Hunley) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage`
- **2024-02-05** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-02-06** Senator Randolph added as coauthor
- **2024-02-06** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 141: yeas 36, nays 11 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2024-02-06** House sponsor: Representative Behning
- **2024-02-06** Cosponsors: Representatives Teshka, Carbaugh, McGuire
- **2024-02-07** Referred to the House `referral`
- **2024-02-12** First reading: referred to Committee on Education `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2024-02-15** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-19** Amendment #1 (Hamilton) failed; Roll Call 156: yeas 28, nays 64 `amendment-failure, failure`
- **2024-02-19** Amendment #2 (Behning) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage`
- **2024-02-19** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-02-20** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 180: yeas 61, nays 30 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2024-02-21** Returned to the Senate with amendments `receipt`
- **2024-02-26** Motion to concur filed `filing`
- **2024-02-29** Senator Randolph removed as coauthor
- **2024-02-29** Senate concurred in House amendments; Roll Call 237: yeas 31, nays 14
- **2024-03-05** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage`
- **2024-03-07** Signed by the Speaker `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-11** Public Law 36 `became-law`
- **2024-03-08** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/df32f61d-5c70-46dd-a3be-41439b9b12a1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).