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Bill tracker: Braun signs bill reining in red flag law, Senate passes transgender sports bill
Bill tracker: Braun signs bill reining in red flag law, Senate passes transgender sports bill

Yahoo

time07-04-2025

  • Politics
  • Yahoo

Bill tracker: Braun signs bill reining in red flag law, Senate passes transgender sports bill

With just three weeks potentially left in the 2025 legislative session, Indiana lawmakers are sending more bills to Gov. Mike Braun's desk. Republicans, and some Democrats, last week signed off on House Bill 1041, which bans transgender women from playing in collegiate-level sports. IndyStar is tracking the prominent bills that are moving through the legislative process and that would impact a wide variety of Hoosiers. Here are some of the major bills that have advanced, and what happened to them last week. Lead author: Rep. Michelle Davis, R-Whiteland What it does: This is virtually the same bill lawmakers passed in 2022, which banned transgender girls from participating in girls' K-12 sports. This year's bill extends that ban to collegiate athletics. Status: The bill passed the Senate on April 3 by a 42-6 vote. It now heads to Gov. Mike Braun's desk. Lead author: Sen. Blake Doriot, R-Goshen What it does: The bill would ban college students from being able to use their student IDs as a form of acceptable voter identification at the ballot box. Status: The bill passed the House on April 1 by a 66-25 vote. The Senate will need to vote on whether to agree with the House's changes. More: 'They are a threat:' Indiana House passes bill banning student IDs at voting booth Lead author: Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn What it does: The bill would allow for a judge to seal and expunge someone's "red flag" record if a court determines the person to no longer be dangerous. It would only allow a law enforcement officer acting within their job duties to see the sealed record. Currently, if a person's weapons are seized and a court determines they are not dangerous the case remains public, which advocates say has cost people jobs and other opportunities. Status: Gov. Braun signed the bill into law on April 3. It goes into effect July 1. Lead author: House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers What it does: The bill creates a bipartisan group that would explore how Illinois counties could effectively secede from their state and join Indiana by redrawing state lines. Status: The bill passed out of the Senate's Committee on Public Policy on April 2 by a vote of 7-2. It now heads to the Senate floor. Lead author: Sen. Justin Busch, R-Fort Wayne What it does: Lawmakers tried in 2023 to outlaw noncompete agreements for Indiana doctors — contracts that prevent doctors from taking jobs at competing hospitals within a certain radius. The compromise that year was to only apply this to family doctors. This year, Senate Bill 475 attempts the ban for all physicians, again, hoping it will encourage competition and reduce prices in the health care market. Status: The bill passed the House Committee on Employment, Labor and Pensions by an 8-2 vote on April 2. It now moves to the House floor for consideration. Lead author: Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Mishawaka What it does: The bill adds far more stringent and regular government reviews of the eligibility of Medicaid recipients and adds work requirements in order for someone to be eligible for the Healthy Indiana Plan, the state Medicaid expansion plan. In addition, if the federal government allows, it limits enrollment in the Healthy Indiana Plan. Status: The House Committee on Ways and Means passed the bill by a vote of 16-7 on April 2. It now heads to the House floor. Lead Author: Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle What it does: The bill would further decrease Indiana's individual income tax rate if state revenues grow by more than 3.5% compared to previous years. Status: The House passed the bill on April 1 by a 74-18 vote. It now returns to the Senate to approve or disapprove the House's changes. Lead Author: Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne What it does: The bill restricts government entities, including school districts and the Indiana Department of Child Services, from intruding on parental rights or keeping information from parents, unless there is a compelling governmental interest. Status: The bill passed the House on April 1 by a 69-24 vote. It now returns to the Senate to approve or disapprove the House's changes. Lead author: Rep. Chris Jeter, R-Fishers What it does: The bill creates a prosecutor review board to investigate complaints against prosecutors. If the board determines the prosecutor is 'noncompliant,' their office would be denied funds. Democrats see the measure as an attack on Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears. Status: The Senate appropriations committee passed the bill April 3 by a 10-3 vote. The committee stripped out prior language establishing a deputy prosecutor fund, with the promise to address that in the budget bill. It now goes to the Senate floor for consideration. More: A House GOP bill would help pay deputy prosecutors. It could also penalize Ryan Mears Lead author: Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis What it does: The bill aims to loosen restrictions for Indiana schools and education systems, including by nixing the education credential requirement for the Indiana secretary of education, changing the timing of when teachers are paid and removing certain training and professional development requirements. Status: The bill passed the Senate Committee on Appropriations on April 3 by a 10-3 vote. It now goes to the Senate floor. Lead author: Sen. Brian Buchanan, R-Lebanon What it does: The bill would require the Indiana Economic Development Corporation make mandatory notifications to local governments if the quasi-government agency seeks to purchase 100 acres or more in a community and provide annual reports on Innovation Development Districts, like the LEAP project in Boone County. Additionally, the bill creates a new entrepreneurship and innovation office and a new role of president of the IEDC. Status: The bill passed the House on April 1 by a vote of 87-4. It now returns to the Senate, which can approve or disapprove the House's changes. Lead author: Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford What it does: The bill prohibits the construction, operation, purchase, sale and lease of a long-haul water pipeline unless the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission signs off on it. However, the Citizens deal to provide water to the LEAP district in Lebanon is exempted from those rules. Status: The bill unanimously passed the House on April 1. The Senate is poised to vote on whether to concur with the House's changes to the bill on Monday. There was no movement on the following bills last week. Lead author: Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle What it does: The bill, which Gov. Mike Braun said he would not sign in its current form, aims to slow property tax increases by limiting how much local governments can raise their property tax rates and proposes limiting tax referendums to general elections. It would give first-time homebuyers a tax credit and enable more Hoosiers to take advantage of tax credits and deductions for disabled veterans and seniors. Finally, it allows counties to create programs to allow taxpayers to defer up to $500 of their property taxes annually. Status: The Senate passed the bill on Feb. 17 by a vote of 37-10. A potential new version of the bill that would impact both the current property tax system and the current local income tax system was discussed in the House Committee on Ways and Means on March 12, but the committee has yet to vote. Lead author: Sen. Linda Rogers, R-Granger What it does: The bill would require all traditional public-school districts, including Indianapolis Public Schools, to share property tax revenue with charter schools in their attendance boundaries, if 100 or more kids leave the traditional district for charter schools, starting in 2028. Status: The bill passed out of the Senate by a 28-21 vote on Feb. 20. Testimony on the bill was taken in the House Committee on Ways and Means on March 5, but there hasn't yet been a vote. Lead author: Rep. Garrett Bascom, R-Lawrenceburg What it does: The bill requires county jails to report individuals to their county sheriff if the person is arrested for a felony or misdemeanor and there is probable cause to believe the person lacks permanent legal status. It then requires county sheriffs to report the person to proper authorities. Status: The bill passed the Senate by a 37-10 vote on March 24. The next step is for the House to decide whether it agrees with the Senate's changes. Lead author: Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Lizton What it does: This bill funds Indiana's government, health care programs like Medicaid, public K-12 schools and colleges for the next two years. Republican proponents say it's a "vanilla" budget that helps the state live within its fiscal means while funding key priorities such as removing the income cap for private school vouchers and a new workforce tax credit for employers. But Democratic opponents say the bill funds the wealthy at the expense of the poor, for example, by defunding the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program and failing to expand preschool. Status: The bill passed the House by a 66-28 vote on Feb. 20 and now awaits action in the Senate. Lead author: Rep. Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie What it does: The bill offers a platter of tools local governments could use to beef up their road budgets. Those tools initially included a tax on food deliveries and rideshares, and for Indianapolis, the ability to levy a property tax referendum, but these were later taken out. The bill also makes it easier for the state to establish more toll roads. Status: The bill unanimously passed the Senate transportation committee on March 25 and now heads to the appropriations committee. Lead author: Rep. Martin Carbaugh, R-Fort Wayne What it does: This is one of the key bills seeking to control health care costs in Indiana. This bill does it by penalizing hospitals with an excise tax if they charge facility fees higher than a certain benchmark. It also sets another price benchmark over which their nonprofit tax status could be revoked. Status: The bill passed the Senate Committee on Health and Provider Services on March 19 by a 10-1 vote and now heads to the Senate Committee on Appropriations. Lead author: Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso What it does: The bill provides a state tax credit for expenses incurred in manufacturing small modular nuclear reactors in Indiana. The bill could result in costs shifted to utility customers to pay back project expenses before construction starts. Status: The bill passed the Senate utilities committee on March 27 by an 8-3 vote. It now heads to the Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy. Lead author: Rep. JD Prescott, R-Union City What it does: The bill gives the governor power to withhold funding from local governments if the attorney general determines the entity does not comply with federal immigration enforcement. It says federal immigration law can be enforced by local, state and federal officials. The bill also prohibits employers from knowingly hiring someone who is not legally allowed in the U.S. Status: The bill passed the full House on Feb. 20 by a vote of 64-26. It awaits action in the Senate's Committee on the Judiciary, but committee leader Sen. Liz Brown released a statement last week in which she expressed reservations about how to enforce the bill. More: Could an immigration law enforcement bill at the Indiana Statehouse be dead? Lead authors: Sen. Tyler Johnson, R-Leo, Sen. Gary Byrne, R-Byrneville What it does: This bill bans all state spending on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives — from trainings to diverse hiring initiatives — at state agencies, educational institutions and health profession licensing boards. Status: The bill passed the Senate on Feb. 6 by a 34-13 vote. It still awaits action in the House. Lead author: Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis What it does: The bill prohibits a public school from expelling or suspending a student because they are chronically absent or habitually truant and expands the number of days for a school to hold an attendance conference about a student's absences from five days to 10. It also requires the Department of Education to establish best practices for student discipline on chronic absenteeism. Status: Passed the House unanimously on Jan 30 and awaits action in the Senate. A bill that similarly addresses absenteeism, Senate Bill 482, passed the Senate unanimously on Feb. 4 and now awaits action in the House. Lead author: Rep. Greg Steuerwald, R-Avon What it does: The bill would tighten oversight of commissary funds of county jails, requiring more stringent reporting and training. The bill comes in the wake of the scandal involving former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel, who last year was sentenced to 15 years in prison related to taking improper payments from the fund. Status: The House voted unanimously on March 24 to agree with the amendments made on the Senate side. It now heads to Braun's desk. Lead author: Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores What it does: The bill requires parental consent for social media use for people under age 16, and allows Indiana's attorney general to sue social media operators that don't comply. Status: Passed by the full Senate by a 42-7 vote on Jan. 23. It now awaits action in the House. Lead author: Sen. Stacey Donato, R-Logansport What it does: The bill would allow public schools to hire or bring in on a volunteer basis religious chaplains, with an eye toward alleviating the burden on school counselors. Status: Passed the Senate on Feb. 11 by a 32-16 vote. It now awaits action in the House. Lead author: Sen. Jim Tomes, R-Wadesville What it does: The bill makes intentional and reckless skidding while driving, known as 'spinning', a Class B misdemeanor and increases the penalties further if the spinning endangers, injures or kills another person. If the bill becomes law, a person found spinning could have their vehicle seized in a civil forfeiture. Status: Passed the Senate 48-1 on Feb. 3. It now awaits action in the House. Lead author: Sen. Andy Zay, R-Huntington What it does: The resolution is part of a multi-state effort to compell the U.S. Congress to call a convention to amend the U.S. constitution, specifically to enact term limits for people who serve in the U.S. House or U.S. Senate. However, any aspect of the constitution could potentially be amended under such a convention. Status: The resolution passed the Indiana House on March 17 by a 66-30 vote after being passed earlier in the session by the Indiana Senate. It goes into effect immediately because resolutions do not require the signature of Gov. Mike Braun. The following bills are now dead. Lead author: Sen. Gary Byrne, R-Byrneville What it does: The bill would have shrunk Indiana's period for early in-person voting from 28 days to 14 days. It died on Feb. 19 after Byrne said he did not have the support to advance the bill. Status: Died in the Senate on Feb. 19 after the author did not open it for amendments by the deadline. Lead author: Sen. Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton What it does: By requiring voters to register with a political party in order to vote in that party's primary, this bill would have made Indiana a closed-primary state. It died on Feb. 19 after Gaskill said he did not have the support to advance the bill. Status: Died in the Senate on Feb. 19 after the author did not open it for amendments by the deadline. Lead author: Rep. Ethan Manning, R-Logansport What it does: The bill would have allowed people to play online poker and other casino games virtually and allow the Hoosier Lottery to operate virtually as well. Status: The bill died after not receiving a hearing in the House Ways and Means Committee before the Feb. 17 deadline. Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at Follow her on Twitter/X @CarloniBrittany. Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@ or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17. Contact senior government accountability reporter Hayleigh Colombo at hcolombo@ or follow her on X at @hayleighcolombo. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana bill tracker: Braun signs red flag expungement bill

Where are all the women?
Where are all the women?

Yahoo

time24-02-2025

  • Politics
  • Yahoo

Where are all the women?

From left: Reps. Michelle Davis and Elizabeth Rowray laugh in the House chamber on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle) A woman's place is in the House and the Senate (as lauded political science scholar Barbara Burell famously quipped). And though this year ushered a record number (13!) of female governors across the country, women remain chronically underrepresented in elected office. While the number of women elected typically increases slightly in most election cycles, the success of female candidates at the state level was not mirrored in the federal races. 2024 marked a decline in the number of women serving in Congress, compared to the previous session. Debbie Walsh, director for the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University stated it plainly: '2024 is clearly a stasis year.' For women in state legislatures, institutions often cited as a stepping stone for prospective future office, the year was anything but stagnant. This year, across the country 2,467 women are representing constitutions in 99 legislative chambers (all states except Nebraska have bicameral legislatures). This was a 2% increase from the previous year and another record-number for female representation. Three states–Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico–already achieved gender-parity in their institutions, meaning women's representation reflects its proportion of the general population and now actually have more women than men in their legislatures. CONTACT US While these national trends are encouraging, Indiana seems to be behind. Only two women (Representative Erin Houchin and Representative Victoria Spartz) serve in our 11-person Congressional delegation; two women (Comptroller Elise Nieshalla and Secretary of Education Katie Jenner) serve in statewide executive office, both as gubernatorial appointees. Our state legislature ranks 36th in the country for female representation, stagnant with women representing just 26.7% of the IGA, the exact same number as 2023. It is not for lack of effort. The state Democrats and Republicans sponsor their own recruitment and training programs, Hoosier Women Forward and the Lugar Series, which invest in prospective female candidates. Nonprofit and nonpartisan groups provide programing to motivate new women leaders, including national organizations She Should Run, Running Start, and locally, the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana's Inspire Her summit. Their success is laudable, yet Indiana remains at the bottom of most lists for representation. Where are all the women? Indiana is not short on talent or void in interest. We have great female leaders in every industry, often several in each serving as the president or in the CEO role. Our state has a legacy of great female leadership in public office but women are simply underrepresented compared to their male counterparts. Moms in the Statehouse: Hoosier women share how motherhood informs their legislative work Research suggests that women undervalue their qualifications as prospective candidates relative to men, who are more likely to compare themselves to actual candidates while women make comparisons to the ideal candidate. The economic impact of women running for office, specifically for those who are breadwinners for their household, has a direct negative relationship with their political ambition. This is exacerbated if the woman is a mother. Studies conducted by Jennifer Lawless and Richard Fox consistently show that women are less likely than men to consider running for public office (35% to 48%). There is hope, however, on the horizon. David E. Campbell and Christina Wolbrecht studied the impact of female politicians in their new book See Jane Run: How Women Politicians Matter for Young People and found that the presence of women in elected office has a positive effect on both young girls and boys, regardless of partisanship. Professional pipelines, long credited with bolstering female representation, remain a viable solution for identifying and encouraging prospective candidates. Institutional mechanisms, such as multi-member districts and ranked-choice voting, can promote more gender diversity but those systems are limited in both their scope and application. When women run, they win. We all benefit when we have the best candidates on the ballot and our democracy benefits when we have competitive elections with more of them. 2025 is a non-election year for statewide and Congressional races so now is the time to reconvene and recruit; next year, it is time to run. When thoughtful, qualified women run for public office in Indiana, we all win. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Indiana bill banning people who are homeless from street camping dies in House. Here's why
Indiana bill banning people who are homeless from street camping dies in House. Here's why

Yahoo

time20-02-2025

  • Politics
  • Yahoo

Indiana bill banning people who are homeless from street camping dies in House. Here's why

An Indiana bill that would have banned street camping on public property died in the House Thursday, just before state lawmakers reached the halfway point of the legislative session. House Bill 1662 would have prohibited camping or sleeping on state or local government property. If a person was found doing so, the bill would have required law enforcement to give the individual an initial warning and then a Class C misdemeanor for the next violation. Democratic lawmakers in a House committee this month decried the bill as state overreach, as another provision would have prohibited local governments from telling law enforcement or prosecutors to ignore the state ban. State Rep. Michelle Davis, R-Whiteland, who authored the bill, did not call it for a vote on Thursday before the deadline for bills to pass the House. That means HB 1662 won't move further through the legislative process this year. Subscribe to our politics newsletter House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, on Thursday said the language did not have enough support to pass the chamber. Huston said he thought there was good discussion about the proposal and still believes its an issue that needs to be addressed. 'I'm committed to working with the bill authors to find the right language," he said. "I think there's language that we can get to that I think could have bipartisan support. We just weren't there yet." Similar language to HB 1662 could be amended into other bills in the second half of the session, although Huston said he was unsure if that would happen for this bill. It's unlikely, though, for similar language to pass the House without significant changes if the initial proposal didn't earn enough support from the chamber in the first half of the session. Davis told lawmakers in the House Committee on Government and Regulatory Reform that the bill's language mirrored model legislation from the Cicero Institute, a conservative Texas-based think tank that has pitched similar proposals around the country to fight rising homeless populations. Homelessness bill: Bill to ban homeless people from street camping comes from think-tank hundreds of miles away States like Georgia and Florida have passed legislation based on the Cicero Institute's proposals. The bill passed the House committee along party lines on Monday before dying in the House Thursday. The proposal drew hours of testimony over two different hearings, where advocates condemned the bill as criminalizing homelessness and suggested the state invest resources in other services to help people who are struggling with housing. Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at Follow her on Twitter/X @CarloniBrittany. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana bill to ban homeless from street camping dies in House

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