The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Indiana bill limits municipal regulation and bans permit requirements for no-impact home-based businesses
Last action · January 6, 2026: First reading: referred to Committee on Local GovernmentSponsors: Robert Morris and 3 others
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What This Bill Proposed
Indiana House Bill 1309 establishes that operating a no-impact home-based business in a residential dwelling is a permitted use starting July 1, 2026. Under the measure, municipalities are prohibited from banning such businesses or requiring permits, licenses, s, or commercial rezoning. Local governments may still enforce narrowly tailored regulations for health, safety, and parking, while deed restrictions and homeowners associations remain unaffected.
Home-based business operators gain protection from local permit fees and bans, while municipalities retain authority to enforce health, safety, fire, and noise standards.
- Municipalities in Indiana traditionally exercise zoning and land-use control, which can include permitting requirements and restrictions on commercial activities conducted inside residential zones. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Home-based business owners
Operators are exempt from municipal permit, license, variance, and commercial rezoning requirements for qualifying home-based businesses.
Municipalities
Local governments lose the authority to prohibit qualifying home-based businesses or require operating permits, but retain power to enforce narrowly tailored health, safety, and noise standards.
Homeowners associations
Existing deed restrictions, covenants, and association bylaws and documents are not superseded by the bill.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What qualifies as a no-impact home-based business under this bill?
Can my homeowners association still ban my home business?
Can a city require me to install fire sprinklers or rezone my house?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
3 actions- Jan 6, 2026HouseIntroducedFirst reading: referred to Committee on Local Government
- Jan 6, 2026HouseCoauthored by Representatives Teshka, VanNatter, Judy
- Jan 6, 2026HouseAuthored by Representative Morris
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Preemption of Local Licensing
The bill shifts regulatory power away from municipalities by stripping them of permit and licensing authority over qualifying home-based businesses.
Connected Entities
Sources
iga.in.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 60)
- Controversy45Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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