Legislative Update 119th General Assembly Friday, February 26th, 2016 Week Eight Overview Greetings! This week marked the end of most House and Senate committee meetings with the Senate committee report deadline on Thursday, February 25th and the House committee report deadline on Monday, February 29th. Legislators will now focus their attention on second reading amendments, third reading votes, concurrences from opposite chambers, and conference committees. Committee Updates The following is a summary of some of the committee meetings that took place this week: On Monday, the Senate Civil Law Committee heard House Bill 1022, Private university police departments, authored by Rep. B. Patrick Bauer (HD 6). The bill provides that certain records of a private university police department, relating to arrests or incarcerations for criminal offenses, are public records and should be available for public view. The bill allows private university police departments to withhold investigatory records and requires the names of crime victims to be redacted from records. The Committee passed the bill with a vote of seven to zero. The Senate Natural Resources Committee heard HB 1231, Hunting and property management, on Monday. The bill is authored by Rep. Lloyd Arnold (HD 74) and requires the director of the Department of Natural Resources to establish a deer hunting season in which certain rifles may be used. The bill also authorizes the use of purple marks to post real property against trespassers. The Committee passed the bill with a vote of five to three. The Senate Public Policy Committee held a Monday afternoon hearing for testimony on House Bill 1247, Alcoholic beverage issues, authored by Rep. Sean Eberhart (HD 57). The bill provides that the Department of Natural Resources may apply for a three-way alcohol permit for a state park. The Committee met again on Wednesday to amend provisions from House Bill 1247 into House Bill 1386, Various alcohol and tobacco matters. HB 1386 now contains language related to numerous alcohol and tobacco matters and was passed by the Committee with a vote of seven to two. On Tuesday, the House Education Committee heard Senate Bill 189, Identifier for military families, authored by Sen. Dennis Kruse (SD 14). The bill provides that information concerning attendance records and academic progress for students from military families must be submitted to the Department of Education by each school corporation and charter school. The bill passed with a vote of twelve to zero. The House Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee heard Senate Bill 362, National guard members and veterans, on Tuesday. The bill, authored by Sen. Jim Banks (SD 17), extends employment protections, rights and benefits to members of the National Guard of another state during state-sponsored activation under the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act as well as the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The bill passed with a vote of thirteen to zero. On Wednesday, the House Ways and Means Committee heard Senate Bill 302, State and local finance, authored by Sen. Luke Kenley (SD 20). The bill specifies the manner in which certain excise taxes and local taxes collected under the tax amnesty program shall be distributed. The bill provides that the next $42 million collected under the program must be deposited into the Indiana Regional Cities Development Fund. The Committee did not act on the bill, but the language concerning Regional Cities Development funding was inserted into House Bill 1161, Pension thirteenth checks and other distributions. HB 1161 was heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday and passed with a vote of eleven to zero. The House Public Health Committee discussed Senate Bill 15, Fresh food initiative, on Wednesday afternoon. The bill establishes the Food Desert Grant and Loan Program within the State Department of Health’s Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity. The goal of the bill is to assist new and existing businesses to offer fresh, unprocessed food within the 500 food deserts in the state. The bill’s author, Sen. Randy Head (SD 18), requested that the Committee amend the bill to send the matter to a 2016 summer study committee for further consideration. The Committee adopted the amendment by consent and passed the bill with a vote of eight to zero. On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed House Bill 1002, Next generation Hoosier educators scholarship, with a vote of eleven to zero. The bill is authored by House Speaker Brian Bosma (HD 88) and provides that the Commission for Higher Education may approve awarding a scholarship to an eligible applicant in an amount of $7,500 each academic year for no more than four academic years. The scholarship may be awarded to no more than 200 applicants each academic year and applicants must be accepted for enrollment in an accredited postsecondary educational institution approved by the Commission. Session Floor Highlights House of Representatives The House passed Senate Bill 297, Opioid dependence treatment, on third reading on Tuesday. The bill, authored by Sen. Patricia Miller (SD 32), requires Medicaid coverage for inpatient detoxification for the treatment of opioid or alcohol dependence. SB 297 passed the House with a vote of 99 to 0. The House also passed Senate Bill 352, Marion superior court judges, authored by Sen. Mike Young (SD 35), on third reading with a vote of 70 to 30. The bill changes the way Marion County Superior Court judges are selected by establishing a 14 member Marion County Judicial Selection Committee to make nominations. The Committee shall send the names of three nominees to the Governor who must then appoint one of the nominees as judge to fill the vacancy. While discussing bills on second reading on Thursday, House Minority Leader Rep. Scott Pelath (HD 9) again introduced a second reading amendment with the purpose of protecting LGBT individuals from discrimination. This time, Rep. Pelath sought to protect LGBT individuals from discrimination when pharmacists act to determine whether or not they may purchase ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. The bill he wanted to amend was Senate Bill 80, Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, which requires the Indiana Board of Pharmacy to adopt rules concerning professional determinations made in conjunction with the sale of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine to consumers. SB 80 also requires the Indiana Board of Pharmacy to discipline a pharmacist who violates a rule concerning professional determinations related to ephedrine and pseudoephedrine sales. The bill’s author, Rep. Ben Smaltz (HD 52), explained that the amendment was unnecessary since all pharmacists take an oath to provide services to all people without discrimination and urged legislators to defeat the amendment. The amendment failed. Senate On Tuesday, the Senate passed a number of bills on third reading. House Bill 1201, Companion animal sterilization, authorizes the State Board of Animal Health to establish a registry of animal care facilities. The bill requires that, beginning on July 1, 2021, a dog or cat in an animal care facility must be spayed or neutered before adoption. The bill defines an animal care facility as an animal control center, animal shelter, or another facility with animals available for adoption. The bill is authored by Rep. Mike Karickhoff (HD 30) and passed from the floor of the Senate with a unanimous vote of 50-0. The Senate also passed House Bill 1395, ISTEP matters, on third reading with a vote of 38 to 10. HB 1395 is authored by Rep. Robert Behning (HD 91) and establishes a panel to study alternatives to the ISTEP program tests and to make recommendations for replacing the ISTEP program. The bill also requires that ISTEP scores must be reported to the State Board of Education no later than July 1 of the year in which it was administered and requires that the Department of Education release sample essay responses to ISTEP tests to highlight the accomplishments of Hoosier students. On Thursday, Senators passed House Bill 1088, Death certificates, on third reading with a vote of 45 to 0. The bill is authored by Rep. Ron Bacon (HD 75) and provides that in certain circumstance where a person is declared dead in an emergency department and the physician last in attendance is uncertain as to the cause of death, the case may be referred to a coroner for investigation. The Senate also concurred on a number of bills sent back to them by the House. The Senate concurred on Senate Bill 251, Indiana out of school time learning advisory board, authored by Sen. Dennis Kruse (SD 14), with a vote of 41 to 4. The bill establishes the Out of School Time Learning Advisory Board for a three year period and requires the board to make an initial report to the General Assembly before November 1, 2016. SB 251 will now be sent to the Governor’s office. Please feel free to contact a member of our legislative team should you have questions regarding the happenings in the Indiana General Assembly! Brian Burdick Joe Loftus Office: (317) 231-7393 Office: (317) 231-7213 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Bill Moreau Mike O’Brien Office: (317) 231-7349 Office: (317) 231-7507 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Heather Willey Jake German Office: (317) 231-6448 Office: (317) 231-7538 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Steve Wolff Chris Minter Office: (317) 261-7845 Office: (317) 231-7478 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Matt Portner Office: (317) 261-7817 Email: [email protected] .