Latest news with #HouseBill1119
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
North Dakota adds incentive for businesses to subsidize child care
North Dakota lawmakers just approved a new tax credit to incentivize businesses to offer child care stipends for their employees. (Getty Images) With the goal of supporting working families, state lawmakers this session passed a new tax credit that subsidizes child care for North Dakota businesses. Senate Bill 2282 applies specifically to child care stipends. The tax credit allows employers that offer this benefit to write off 50% of their child care contributions off their income taxes. Businesses can claim up to $1,000 in child care subsidies per employee toward this total. Andrea Pfennig, vice president of government affairs for the Greater North Dakota Chamber, called the tax credit a 'step in the right direction.' In written testimony submitted in favor of the bill, Pfennig said in a 2024 survey of chamber members nearly 70% of respondents saw child care as an issue. Some feel the tax credit doesn't do enough. North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Executive Director Dalton Erickson said it will leave out many North Dakota families. 'A modest tax credit was passed, but it only applies to businesses that offer child care stipends, a luxury workplace benefit that the majority of workers don't receive,' Erickson said at a Thursday morning event outside the Capitol. Gov. Kelly Armstrong signed the bill into law May 1. Businesses can start using the credit for their 2025 taxes. Pfennig called the new tax credit an improvement over a previous child care program passed by the Legislature in 2023. Under that program, businesses can apply for a state match for either $300 a month or $150 a month for child care subsidies. Some businesses found the matching program bureaucratically complex as well as limited in scope, Pfennig said. It is also only available for kids ages 5 and under, and has income limits, according to the program's website. Pfennig said she's glad that both programs are still an option for businesses so that they can choose what's best for them. The Legislature this session also passed House Bill 1119, which directs the Department of Health and Human Services to form a child care services advisory committee to study child care licensing. The bill also invites Legislative Council to conduct a program evaluation of the Department of the Health and Human Services' child care services. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Indiana bill creating THC threshold for intoxicated driving advances with bipartisan support
A bill aiming to target drivers under the influence of THC in Indiana has surpassed another legislative step. House Bill 1119 was approved by the Indiana House on Tuesday in an 84-10 bipartisan vote. The bill, if passed into law, would allow results from two specific saliva tests that check for traces of THC and other drugs as admissible evidence in court. Lawmakers have specified the tests as the Drager DrugTest 5000 or SoToxa Oral Fluid Mobile Test System. The Drager exam shows positive results for a minimum of 5 nanograms of THC while the SoToxa returns positive for 25 milligrams. Current law would charge someone with intoxicated driving if they had any trace of THC in a blood sample – a method that supporters of the bill argue is more time-consuming, costly and clogs the Indiana State Police labs. The bill will now go to the Senate. The proposal is one of the only bills pertaining to anything marijuana-related that's moving forward in the Statehouse. Other bills aimed at decriminalizing and legalizing marijuana failed their first hurdle toward becoming law, matching an annual trend. Lawmakers file bills to legalize marijuana every year, but none of the measures ever pass, and former Gov. Eric Holcomb through his tenure said he would not take steps to legalize marijuana while it remained an illicit substance at the federal level. More: Marijuana, immigration: Bills that have died in the Indiana legislature, so far Evansville Republican Rep. Wendy McNamara, one of the bill's authors, has said her motivation is to target intoxicated drivers through toxicologist-approved tests, referring to THC as 'one of the trickiest things I've ever tried to nail down' when the bill was still in committee. 'I think this is the next horizon, the next step in how we test for impairment in the State of Indiana while making sure that there's some reliability around that,' she said. The bill carries a Class C misdemeanor penalty for violators, which escalates to a felony if the driver causes serious bodily injury or death behind the wheel. Police cannot arrest someone solely because of a positive test, the proposal clarifies, but the results can be admitted in court for a jury to decide how much weight to put into the results. Contact IndyStar reporter Sarah Nelson at This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana bill creating THC threshold for impaired driving advances
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
'The next horizon': THC legal limit bill advances in Indiana legislature
A bill that would set a legal limit for the amount of THC in a motorist's saliva to be considered intoxicated driving is advancing through the Indiana Statehouse. House Bill 1119, if passed, states a person can be charged with intoxicated driving if their saliva returns positive for THC. Lawmakers specified that police would use a Drager DrugTest 5000 saliva swab that will only show positive results if a person has 5 nanograms or more in their system. That means someone who has small amounts of THC in their blood would be less likely to be charged with an OWI than they would be under current Indiana law. The proposal shows a slight movement of the needle in the push for Indiana to legalize anything pertaining to marijuana. Lawmakers file bills to legalize marijuana every year, but none of the measures ever pass, and former Gov. Eric Holcomb through his tenure said he would not take steps to legalize marijuana while it remained an illicit substance at the federal level. Meanwhile, all of Indiana's surrounding states have legalized some form of marijuana. Gov. Mike Braun during his election campaign showed an openness to medical marijuana. Still, with the Statehouse deadline to move bills out of committee approaching next week, no bills to decriminalize or legalize marijuana have even received a hearing. Lawmakers during the committee hearing on HB 1119 did not indicate the bill is motivated by a thaw on the state's Republican leaders' hardline stance on marijuana legalization. Evansville Republican Rep. Wendy McNamara, one of the bill's authors, during the hearing said her motivation is to target intoxicated drivers through toxicologist-approved tests, referring to THC as 'one of the trickiest things I've ever tried to nail down.' 'I think this is the next horizon, the next step in how we test for impairment in the State of Indiana while making sure that there's some reliability around that,' she said. Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, did suggest Indiana may be able to make headway on legalization by passing laws addressing intoxicated driving-related concerns that come with marijuana proposals. 'I think if we had some system we could point to on the impairment, that would maybe deal with that issue and then it could on the other policy debate surrounding legalization,' Pierce said, explaining that reckless driving is the first argument voters raised when the topic of legalization arises. The bill carries a Class C misdemeanor penalty for violators, which escalates to a felony if the driver causes serious bodily injury or death behind the wheel. Police cannot arrest someone solely because of a positive test, the proposal clarifies, but the results can be admitted in court for a jury to decide how much weight to put into the results. The Indiana Prosecuting Attorney's Council voiced its support for the bill, calling a saliva test a time and money saver. The House Courts and Criminal Code committee approved the bill by a 12-1 vote, with Rep. Joanna King, R-Middlebury, in dissent. It now moves to the House floor for consideration. Contact IndyStar reporter Sarah Nelson at This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana bill creating limit of THC for impaired driving advances
