All Roll Calls
Yes: 191 • No: 0
IndianaSB 162Second Regular Session 124th General Assembly (2026)SenateWALLET
Department of workforce development.
Sponsored By: Linda Rogers (Republican)
Became Law
pensions and laborthe houseemployment
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
6 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 1 costs, 5 mixed.
Your unemployment check amount and weeks
Beginning July 1, 2026, your weekly unemployment check equals 47% of your prior average weekly wage, rounded down, but not more than $390. Your total regular benefits in a benefit period are capped at the smaller of 26 times your weekly check or 28% of your base‑period wages. Extended benefits are usually the smaller of 50% of regular benefits or 13 times your weekly check. In a high‑unemployment period, larger extended benefit formulas apply, but federal time limits can still cap weeks paid.
Small employers: coverage expands and reporting
Starting July 1, 2026, you count as an unemployment insurance employer if you owed wages to anyone or paid as little as $1 in any quarter in the current or prior year, unless a statutory exception applies. If you know facts that affect a worker’s claim, you must tell the department within 10 days in the way it requires, including reasons for separation and any vacation, standby, or retirement pay. The department may notify you by email or mail; if an email gets no confirmation within five days, it must mail the notice.
Filing, ID checks, privacy, and payments
You must verify your identity, and you must give your Social Security number, before the department will set your benefit amount. Once a valid claim starts a benefit period, you cannot cancel, withdraw, or change the filing date, except for department error or to match a combined‑wage claim from another state. Direct deposits go only to banks with an Indiana branch or a treasurer‑approved depository, unless the department approves another bank that meets the law. If a claimant dies, benefits can be paid to the executor, or if none, to next of kin in order, with a written request due within six months unless extended for good cause. If you allege the specific protection at filing, the department does not share your address with the employer, and the “date sent” on a determination is presumed to be the mailing date for deadlines.
What pay cuts your unemployment check
Starting July 1, 2026, many payments reduce your weekly unemployment check. Severance, dismissal, vacation, idle‑time, sick pay, some travel pay, and self‑employment earnings can count. $100 per week is excluded, and supplemental unemployment benefits under a valid contract and jury pay do not count. Lump sums are allocated to the weeks they cover; if they meet or beat your weekly benefit in a week, you are not considered unemployed for that week. Some long‑standing union contracts may use a contractual seven‑day work week to time these deductions if the employer filed the required notice.
Who is covered and which jobs count
The law clarifies which work counts as covered employment in Indiana, including work done in the state or tied here by base of operations, control, or residence. To qualify, wage‑credit tests apply based on when your benefit period began. For periods on or after Jan 1, 2010, you must have at least $2,500 in the last two quarters, $4,200 in four quarters, and total base‑period wages at least 1.5 times your highest quarter. Wage credits include pay for work (with tips) but exclude items the law defines as not wages. For extended benefits, a job is not “suitable” if it pays at or below your weekly benefit plus any weekly supplemental unemployment pay, is not in writing, is not listed with the department, or pays below the higher of state or federal minimum wage; otherwise, broader “suitable work” rules can apply. If you accept a layoff under an inverse‑seniority clause and meet other rules, you can collect benefits.
Employer unemployment tax rates and penalties
Starting July 1, 2026, the department sets each employer’s yearly contribution rate, with a default of 2.5% unless experience and compliance rules move you to another schedule. If you file or pay late, a 2% surcharge is added, up to a 12% rate under this rule, and it can be waived for excusable cause. Construction employers (NAICS 23) have a cap set at the lower of 4% or the industry’s average rate over the prior 12 months, unless other statutory exceptions apply. One percentage point of the delinquency surcharge is a penalty that goes to the special employment and training services fund; the rest of the surcharge money supports the unemployment benefit fund.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
Linda Rogers
Republican • Senate
Cosponsors
Becky Cash
Republican • House
Blake Doriot
Republican • Senate
David Niezgodski
Democratic • Senate
Heath VanNatter
Republican • House
Jake Teshka
Republican • House
Lonnie Randolph
Democratic • Senate
Rodney Pol
Democratic • Senate
Victoria Garcia Wilburn
Democratic • House
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 2/25/2026
Roll Call 294 on SB0162.05.COMH.CON01
Yes: 48 • No: 0 • Other: 1
House vote • 2/24/2026
Roll Call 343 on SB0162.05.COMH
Yes: 97 • No: 0
Senate vote • 1/20/2026
Roll Call 38 on SB0162.03.ENGS
Yes: 46 • No: 0 • Other: 2
Actions Timeline
Public Law 113
3/5/2026SenateSigned by the Governor
3/5/2026SenateSigned by the President Pro Tempore
2/27/2026SenateSigned by the President of the Senate
2/27/2026SenateSigned by the Speaker
2/27/2026HouseSenate concurred with House amendments; Roll Call 294: yeas 48, nays 0
2/25/2026SenateMotion to concur filed
2/25/2026SenateReturned to the Senate with amendments
2/25/2026HouseThird reading: passed; Roll Call 343: yeas 97, nays 0
2/24/2026HouseSecond reading: ordered engrossed
2/23/2026HouseCommittee report: amend do pass, adopted
2/18/2026HouseRecommitted to Committee on Ways and Means pursuant to House Rule 126.3
2/12/2026HouseCommittee report: amend do pass, adopted
2/12/2026HouseRepresentative Cash added as cosponsor
2/12/2026HouseFirst reading: referred to Committee on Employment, Labor and Pensions
1/28/2026HouseReferred to the House
1/22/2026SenateCosponsors: Representatives VanNatter, Garcia Wilburn
1/20/2026SenateHouse sponsor: Representative Teshka
1/20/2026SenateSenator Pol added as coauthor
1/20/2026SenateThird reading: passed; Roll Call 38: yeas 46, nays 0
1/20/2026SenateSecond reading: amended, ordered engrossed
1/15/2026SenateAmendment #1 (Rogers) prevailed; voice vote
1/15/2026SenateSenator Randolph added as coauthor
1/15/2026SenateCommittee report: amend do pass, adopted
1/8/2026SenateSenator Niezgodski added as coauthor
1/8/2026Senate
Bill Text
Engrossed Senate Bill (H)
Enrolled Senate Bill (S)
Introduced Senate Bill (S)
Senate Bill (H)
Senate Bill (S)