# Indiana HB 1126: Watershed development commissions. Indiana HB 1126, Watershed development commissions., is a First Regular Session 124th General Assembly (2025) House bill sponsored by Dave Heine (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-04-22 (Signed by the Governor) (as of 2026-10-19). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-HB1126-2025 - As of: 2026-10-19 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Indiana HB 1126 - State: Indiana - Session: First Regular Session 124th General Assembly (2025) - Title: Watershed development commissions. - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-01-08 - Last action: 2025-04-22, Signed by the Governor - Sponsor: Dave Heine (Republican) - Cosponsors: 8 - Subjects: natural resources, the senate, tax and fiscal policy - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 2 (138 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 8 ## Summary Alters the membership of a watershed development commission board that includes the Maumee River basin (Maumee watershed development commission). Provides that a Maumee watershed development commission may take certain actions with respect to certain flood plains. Expands permitted uses for certain funds collected by a Maumee watershed development commission and establishes certain budget limits. Provides that the department of natural resources's division of water shall provide a Maumee watershed development commission with a written summary of the division's review of certain public works projects within 30 days of the review. Makes conforming changes. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Watershed agreements can reduce property assessments: benefit, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, commissions can share watershed duties through agreements with governments already authorized to perform and charge for that work. The other government can give up the work and related collections. Or it can keep both while the commission reduces or ends matching assessments… - Counties can reshape local watershed boards: benefit, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, Maumee basin conversion is optional and requires substantially identical county ordinances naming the watershed and purposes. All participating county executives, most commission voting members, and the Indiana Natural Resources Commission must approve. Board rules provide s… - Maumee budgets target floods and water: benefit, low. A commission covering the Maumee basin must divide its annual budget as follows, to the extent reasonably practical. Shares are 25% for flood mitigation, 25% for structural water-quality practices, and 25% for nonstructural water-quality practices. The remaining shares are 5% for stream obstruction… - Maumee can fund local watershed projects: benefit, low. Commissions covering the Maumee basin can use their separate assessment account to pay costs directly tied to installing watershed conservation practices. They can also give governments grants for practices within the watershed that reduce erosion and stormwater runoff. Eligible practices must foll… - Maumee gains limited water quality powers: benefit, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, Maumee watershed purposes include flood reduction, drainage, conservation, and addressing runoff from new construction. They also include voluntary water-quality goals. Additional water-quality purposes or projects require a written plan describing problems and actions, appr… - Watershed commissions gain flood project tools: benefit, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, commissions must plan for flood reduction and drainage, with activities limited to their designated watersheds. They can stabilize banks, remove trees and sediment, build ditches and access roads, and acquire land interests for flood storage. They can study problems, share f… - Floodplain owners face rules and entry: mixed, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, commissions can acquire property and buy structures or other improvements in 500-year floodplains for removal. They can adopt construction limits in their watershed’s 100-year floodplain, which has a 1% yearly flood chance. A 500-year floodplain has a 0.2% yearly flood chanc… - County watershed projects face added review: mixed, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, counties need commission approval for construction, drainage, or flood-reduction work in its watershed, except emergency work. Commissions with water-quality purposes must request state review before water-quality public works that may trigger specified state water laws or i… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Dave Heine (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Kyle Miller (Democratic), House - Cosponsor: Liz Brown (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Matt Lehman (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Mike Aylesworth (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Shelli Yoder (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: Susan Glick (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Travis Holdman (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Tyler Johnson (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-04-07 | Senate | Third reading: passed | pass | 49 | 0 | | | 2025-02-04 | House | Third reading: passed | pass | 89 | 0 | | ## Actions (24) - 2025-04-22: Signed by the Governor (House) - 2025-04-22: Public Law 104 (House) - 2025-04-15: Signed by the President of the Senate (Senate) - 2025-04-09: Signed by the President Pro Tempore (Senate) - 2025-04-08: Signed by the Speaker (House) - 2025-04-08: Returned to the House without amendments (Senate) - 2025-04-07: Third reading: passed; Roll Call 344: yeas 49, nays 0 (Senate) - 2025-04-03: Second reading: ordered engrossed (Senate) - 2025-04-01: Committee report: do pass, adopted (Senate) - 2025-03-25: Senator Yoder added as cosponsor (Senate) - 2025-03-25: Senator Glick added as second sponsor (Senate) - 2025-03-24: Committee report: do pass adopted; reassigned to Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy (Senate) - 2025-02-18: First reading: referred to Committee on Natural Resources (Senate) - 2025-02-05: Referred to the Senate (House) - 2025-02-04: Cosponsors: Senators Brown L and Holdman (House) - 2025-02-04: Senate sponsor: Senator Johnson T (House) - 2025-02-04: Third reading: passed; Roll Call 82: yeas 89, nays 0 (House) - 2025-02-03: Second reading: ordered engrossed (House) - 2025-01-30: Committee report: amend do pass, adopted (House) - 2025-01-30: Representatives Aylesworth and Miller K added as coauthors (House) - 2025-01-27: Representatives Abbott and Miller K removed as coauthors (House) - 2025-01-08: First reading: referred to Committee on Natural Resources (House) - 2025-01-08: Coauthored by Representatives Lehman, Abbott, Miller K (House) - 2025-01-08: Authored by Representative Heine (House) ## Bill text - Enrolled House Bill (H): [PDF](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/HB1126/versions/HB1126.05.ENRS?format=pdf) - House Bill (H): [PDF](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/HB1126/versions/HB1126.04.COMS?format=pdf) - House Bill (S): [PDF](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/HB1126/versions/HB1126.02.COMH?format=pdf), [PDF](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/HB1126/versions/HB1126.03.COMS?format=pdf) - Introduced House Bill (H): [PDF](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/HB1126/versions/HB1126.01.INTR?format=pdf) ## Related bills - SB 324: Criminal procedures. (signed) - SB 231: Various corrections matters. (signed) - SB 80: Code publication. (signed) - SB 453: Various tax matters. (signed) - SB 464: Financial institutions and consumer credit. (signed) - SB 371: Workforce matters. (signed) ## Sources - [Enrolled House Bill (H) (PDF)](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/HB1126/versions/HB1126.05.ENRS?format=pdf) - [House Bill (H) (PDF)](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/HB1126/versions/HB1126.04.COMS?format=pdf) - [House Bill (S) (PDF)](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/HB1126/versions/HB1126.02.COMH?format=pdf) - [House Bill (S) (PDF)](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/HB1126/versions/HB1126.03.COMS?format=pdf) - [Introduced House Bill (H) (PDF)](https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/HB1126/versions/HB1126.01.INTR?format=pdf) ## Related - [SB 324: Criminal procedures.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB324-2025) - [SB 231: Various corrections matters.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB231-2025) - [SB 80: Code publication.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB80-2025) - [SB 453: Various tax matters.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB453-2025) - [SB 464: Financial institutions and consumer credit.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB464-2025) - [SB 371: Workforce matters.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB371-2025) - [Indiana bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/indiana/bills) - [Indiana state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/indiana) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-HB1126-2025 (as of 2026-10-19).