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Indiana House unanimously supports sanctions against Russia

The bill would block Russian-controlled businesses from acquiring property in Indiana for one year.

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana House unanimously supported sanctions against Russia after passing legislation on Monday that would block Russian-controlled businesses and nonprofits from acquiring property in Indiana for one year. 

Senate Bill 388 will now go back to the Senate for a vote.

“Indiana will not be a safe haven for ill-gotten Russian funds, nor for its oligarchs trying to find financial shelter in the wake of Putin’s unconscionable invasion of Ukraine,” Democratic Rep. Ryan Dvorak, of South Bend, said while proposing the amendment last week.

Dvorak noted that Indiana invests nearly $40 billion in public pension assets, and said that "not one cent of that money should go toward propping up Russia’s tyrannical regime.”

“The Russian Federation is a kleptocracy that launders its money through real estate transactions all over the world,” Dvorak said.

A second amendment offered by Dvorak would have required Indiana to divest all pension assets from Russian-controlled businesses, but it was ruled out of order by a vote on procedural germaneness to the bill.

Dvorak, a vocal critic of Putin’s policy in Ukraine, first filed language to divest pensions funds from Russia in 2017.

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