Fabio
97 lines
7.7 KiB
Markdown
97 lines
7.7 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "Township mergers."
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description: "Requires the department of local government finance (department) not later than December 31, 2026, to compile data on each township (excluding townships in Marion County) and assign points based upon the township government's performance. Requires a township government that is assigned at least four points (designated township), with certain exceptions, to: (1) merge; or (2) for a township in which (A) at least 80% of the township's boundaries coincide with a municipality's boundaries; and (B) at least 51% of the township's population resides within the corporate boundaries of a municipality, reorganize with the municipality. Requires a merger to satisfy the following requirements: (1) A designated township must merge with at least one township that has less than four points (recipient township). (2) The merger must satisfy contiguity requirements under the township merger law. Provides that if all townships in a county have at least four points, the county executive must designate two townships to act as the recipient townships. Requires the county executive to designate which townships will merge taking into consideration: (1) the wishes of the designated townships and recipient townships; and (2) the contiguity requirements under the township merger law. Provides that all mergers in a county are effective not later than January 1, 2029. Establishes provisions for an interim township government for the new merged township government until a new township trustee and township legislative body are elected during the 2030 general election."
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jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
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legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
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session: "2026"
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identifier: "SB 270"
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citation: "Indiana SB 270 (2026)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: ["AGENCIES; Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF)", "LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS; Generally", "TOWNSHIPS AND TOWNSHIP OFFICERS"]
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Greg Walker", "Harold Slager", "James Buck", "Rick Niemeyer"]
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version_count: 5
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action_count: 29
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vote_count: 3
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first_action: "2026-01-08"
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last_action: "2026-03-05"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/eda1fd06-356c-46f7-8d19-4d1b2816369e"
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source_url: "https://api.iga.in.gov/2026/bills/sb0270"
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source_hash: "4cdf5fac119c46333d28079418e343139146bea2365e11c25264cac97d9135c7"
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vintage: "2026-07-01"
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source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
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retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
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confidence: "reported"
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tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"]
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---
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# Indiana SB 270 (2026) — Township mergers.
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Requires the department of local government finance (department) not later than December 31, 2026, to compile data on each township (excluding townships in Marion County) and assign points based upon the township government's performance. Requires a township government that is assigned at least four points (designated township), with certain exceptions, to: (1) merge; or (2) for a township in which (A) at least 80% of the township's boundaries coincide with a municipality's boundaries; and (B) at least 51% of the township's population resides within the corporate boundaries of a municipality, reorganize with the municipality. Requires a merger to satisfy the following requirements: (1) A designated township must merge with at least one township that has less than four points (recipient township). (2) The merger must satisfy contiguity requirements under the township merger law. Provides that if all townships in a county have at least four points, the county executive must designate two townships to act as the recipient townships. Requires the county executive to designate which townships will merge taking into consideration: (1) the wishes of the designated townships and recipient townships; and (2) the contiguity requirements under the township merger law. Provides that all mergers in a county are effective not later than January 1, 2029. Establishes provisions for an interim township government for the new merged township government until a new township trustee and township legislative body are elected during the 2030 general election.
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## Version chain
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The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
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1. **Engrossed Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/senate/bills/SB0270/SB0270.06.ENGH.pdf)
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2. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/senate/bills/SB0270/SB0270.07.ENRH.pdf)
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3. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/senate/bills/SB0270/SB0270.01.INTR.pdf)
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4. **Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/senate/bills/SB0270/SB0270.05.COMH.pdf)
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5. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/senate/bills/SB0270/SB0270.02.COMS.pdf)
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## Votes
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- SB 270 - Slager - 3rd Reading — **62–35** (pass) · lower
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- SB 270 - Niemeyer - 3rd Reading — **39–9** (pass) · upper
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- SB 270 - Niemeyer — **34–15** (pass) · upper
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## Sponsors
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- Greg Walker — primary (person)
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- Harold Slager — primary (person)
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- James Buck — primary (person)
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- Rick Niemeyer — primary (person)
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- Alaina Shonkwiler — cosponsor (person)
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- Timothy Wesco — cosponsor (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2026-01-08** First reading: referred to Committee on Local Government `reading-1, referral-committee`
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- **2026-01-08** Authored by Senator Niemeyer
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- **2026-01-14** Senator Walker G added as second author
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- **2026-01-15** Committee report: amend do pass adopted; reassigned to Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy `committee-passage, referral-committee`
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- **2026-01-20** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
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- **2026-01-22** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
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- **2026-01-26** Senator Walker G removed as second author
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- **2026-01-26** Senator Buck added as second author
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- **2026-01-26** Senator Walker G added as third author
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- **2026-01-28** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 128: yeas 39, nays 9 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
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- **2026-01-28** House sponsor: Representative Slager
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- **2026-01-29** Referred to the House `referral`
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- **2026-02-02** First reading: referred to Committee on Local Government `reading-1, referral-committee`
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- **2026-02-17** Recommitted to Committee on Ways and Means pursuant to House Rule 126.3
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- **2026-02-17** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
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- **2026-02-18** Representative Shonkwiler added as cosponsor
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- **2026-02-18** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
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- **2026-02-23** Amendment #1 (Slager) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage`
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- **2026-02-23** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
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- **2026-02-24** Representative Wesco added as cosponsor
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- **2026-02-24** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 353: yeas 62, nays 35 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
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- **2026-02-25** Motion to concur filed `filing`
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- **2026-02-25** Returned to the Senate with amendments `receipt`
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- **2026-02-26** Senate concurred with House amendments; Roll Call 301: yeas 34, nays 15
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- **2026-03-05** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
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- **2026-02-27** Signed by the Speaker `passage`
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- **2026-02-27** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
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- **2026-02-27** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage`
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- **2026-03-05** Public Law 134 `became-law`
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## Source
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OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/eda1fd06-356c-46f7-8d19-4d1b2816369e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).
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