Halftime Report from the 2019 Indiana General Assembly
How has the OneZone priority agenda fared this session?
Scoring the Session: A look at OneZone’s hits and misses of 2019
Hate Crimes – OneZone Grade: B/Incomplete. There were plenty of highs and lows on the way to Indiana’s passage of a hate crimes bill that, while not as specific as we’d have liked, did get a law on the books. Governor Holcomb signed SB 198 in early April. The jury is out, however, on whether or not this legislation will get Indiana off the diminishing list of states without comprehensive hate crimes legislation. The Anti-Defamation League hasn’t commented on whether this will get us “off the list,” although the U.S. Department of Justice said this week that we are. However, we got something, which, given how close we came to getting nothing, we believe is forward progress.
Here’s how our Hamilton County delegation voted on SB 198. Important note: Elected officials who felt strongly that Indiana’s hate crimes law should contain an inclusive list of protected classes may have voted no, not because they were against a hate crimes bill, but because they thought this one wasn’t strong enough.
Bosma Buck Cook J.D Ford Goodrich Huston (Excused) Merritt Ruckelshaus Schaibley Spartz Torr
House vote on SB 198 (Third Reading) – SUPPORT Senate vote on SB 12 (2nd Reading Amendment) - OPPOSE
Alcohol Law Updates – OneZone Grade – A We wanted growing communities to be able to get more liquor licenses without having to conduct and pay for a referendum. That section of HB 1518 was removed, and some other wins for common sense made it through as well, including allowing liquor to be sold from golf carts on a golf course, and allowing restaurants and others to run a tab on alcohol. So now what most of us have done in our lives is legal.
Bosma (Not Voting) Buck Cook J.D Ford Goodrich Huston (Excused) Merritt Ruckelshaus Schaibley Spartz Torr
House and Senate conference committee report votes - SUPPORT
School Safety – OneZone Grade – B overall. We supported all of these bills. We liked a lot about 1004, especially the parts that would’ve expanded/helped fund school mental health initiatives similar to HSE’s successful programs. To our surprise and disappointment, a small but very vocal group determined to cast teachers as individuals bent on taking away parental rights won the day, and the mental health portions of the bill were removed. A last-ditch attempt was made to reinsert the previous language in the budget bill, but once again, it failed to remain.
Hamilton County School systems also wanted to see an amendment to provide immunity for those involved in the creation of school safety plans. That immunity amendment confusingly failed due to accusations that it would be impossible to ascertain whom to include, and that immunity would consequently broaden unnecessarily.
However, 1004 did allow for matching grants for schools for a variety of safety expenditures, including school resource officers, which Hamilton County schools said they’d want most. Bosma Buck Cook J.D Ford Goodrich Huston Merritt Ruckelshaus Schaibley Spartz Torr (Excused)
House and Senate conference committee reports – SUPPORT
Rep. Tony Cook’s HB 1398, which also passed, is common sense law that will allow investigators to share records with schools, while keeping those reports from other public sources.
Bosma (Not Voting) Buck Cook J.D Ford Goodrich Huston (Excused) Merritt Ruckelshaus Schaibley Spartz Torr
Senate Third Reading vote – SUPPORT House Concurrence vote – SUPPORT
Rep. Donna Schaibley’s HB 1651 – judicial evaluation of dangerous individuals that fixes a loop hole in the current law and would allow judges to keep people deemed dangerous from renting, owning or purchasing a gun, or getting a handgun license. This bill allows anybody who knowingly provides a person deemed dangerous with weapons to be charged with a Level 5 felony.
Bosma Buck Cook J.D Ford Goodrich Huston Merritt Ruckelshaus Schaibley Spartz Torr
Sen. Travis Holdman’s SB 127 – allows a school corporation to put a referendum on the ballot for a school safety tax.
Bosma (Not Voting) Buck Cook J.D Ford Goodrich Huston Merritt Ruckelshaus Schaibley Spartz Torr
SB 325 – Rep. Tony Cook; Rep. Sullivan; Senators Crider and Merritt – adds additional purposes for which matching grants can be made from the state school fund, including school security and parent support services. Interesting note: This bill also urged a summer study for reviewing school districts, in and out of the state, that have implemented unique safety approaches and worked with community partners to provide systems for students. That topic was not unfortunately included for summer study in 2019.
Bosma (Not Voting) Buck Cook J.D Ford Goodrich Huston Merritt Ruckelshaus Schaibley Spartz Torr
SB 359 – Senators Crider and Charbonneau; Reps. Kirchhofer, Bacon, Shakleford and Beck – requires crisis centers, psychiatric impatient units and residential treatment centers to, among other things, make a good faith effort before a patient leaves a facility, to obtain patient’s consent to disclose the individualized mental health safety plan with school-based mental health providers who will be supporting the patient’s safe transition back into the community or school.
Bosma (Not Voting) Buck Cook J.D Ford Goodrich Huston Merritt Ruckelshaus Schaibley Spartz Torr
Economic Development – OneZone Grade - Incomplete SB 563 – Senators Holdman & Houchin; Reps. Huston, Brown, Lehman & Porter Also known as the governor’s economic development bill. Among other things 563 changed Indiana from a method of taxation that penalized Indiana-based companies doing business outside of the state to a market-based method that requires out-of-state companies to pay tax when their customers are in Indiana. So a company interested in moving to Indiana now has an incentive, rather than a disincentive, to do so.
Bosma (Not Voting) Buck Cook J.D Ford Goodrich Huston (Excused) Merritt Ruckelshaus Schaibley Spartz Torr
House and Senate conference committee reports – SUPPORT
However, efforts to promote regionalism, including extending Regional Development Authority funding or creating Regional Investment Hubs, failed to get traction. However, a summer study committee to investigate the “criteria for formation of regional development authorities and imposition of taxes” for those authorities, has been announced.
Tobacco/Vaping Age Reform, Tax Reform, Anything – OneZone Grade -F/Incomplete Once again, efforts by a large number of health, business and chamber organizations to make progress on dealing with the huge costs of Indiana’s smoking addition failed.
We’re adding the incomplete because those organizations, including ours, will continue the work on this important legislation. It’s a business issue when companies take a look at our rates of smoking and the associated health costs and decide to look elsewhere.
