Church Blog

 
The Democrats returned on Monday and the House passed the bills left on the calendar from 5 weeks ago. Among the more than 70 bills passed:
 
HB 1003, School scholarships, passed 56 - 42 and now moves to the Senate for consideration.
HB 1001, Budget bill, passed 60 - 40; this means that the Senate will not have to amend another house bill in order to have a budget for the coming biennium.
HB 1210, Abortion matters, passed 72 - 23; it now moves to the Senate for consideration.
 
While action has begun and there is hope that some bills have an opportunity to pass, there continues to be uncertainty. Deadlines for committee reports regarding bills in the second house end next week. Unless there are extensions there will not be time to consider many of the Senate and House bills. The House is talking about a one week extension. Extension in the Senate would also allow hearings on some bills passed this week in the House. Unless bills move in the House, the Senate will have to amend many of its bills into House bills still pending in Senate committees. While the Senate committees held hearing this week, most did not vote on bills in order to see what amendments will be needed.  Decisions and agreements will have to be made this weekend.
 
As part of the agreement with Democrats to return, HB 1003 was amended. Over 75 amendments were submitted and 25 were considered. Most of the amendments designed to weaken the bill were defeated. Some of the amendments were not significant such as reducing the number of scholarships available in the first two years to 7500 the first year and 15,000 the second. (There are no limits thereafter). However, two amendments were adopted that add unnecessary regulations; these need further refinement in the Senate. Also, the restriction on students being eligible for scholarships in Kindergarten is another part that must be addressed before the end of the session. It is likely that the Senate will provide a hearing for the bill. Now the effort is on the Senate for passage. All are encouraged to contact your senator to ask her/him to support HB 1003.
 
HB 1210 also was the target of many amendments. And when debate is about abortion, it is often contentious and emotional. Three of the 12 amendments offered were accepted. One would add breast and cervical cancer screening for low income women. This is likely to be removed in the Senate due to cost, should the Senate move the bill. A severability clause was added to protect existing statute should aspects of this bill be challenged in court. And a fund was established to provide for costs of defending the law should the constitutionality of the law be challenged. The bill adds to existing informed consent law. Another provision prohibits abortion coverage in any Health insurance exchange adopted as part of the federal health reform law.  An amendment referencing Texas law and information was not accepted. The intent of the amendment was to provide extensive information regarding abortion and fetal development. To avoid the cost of developing this for Indiana, the plan was to require a link to the State of Texas website. Because of the confusion this could cause the amendment was withdrawn.
 
HB 1001, Budget, makes significant changes in funding of schools and provides for reductions in allocations for many state programs. Over 300 amendments were filed by the Democrats. After several hours of debating amendments the bill passed on partisan lines.
 
HB 1474, Termination of pregnancy form, passed the House 83 - 11. It provides that Indiana's pregnancy termination reporting be amended to require that abortions done on girls under the age of 14 be reported to authorities within three days of the abortion in order to streamline the reporting of child sexual abuse.  The bill also requires that pregnancy termination reports list the age or estimated age of the father as another provision to help authorities identify potential cases of child sexual abuse.
 
HJR 6, Marriage amendment, passed the Senate 40 -10. The process regarding this issue is now over for the session. Resolutions are not signed by the Governor. It will have to be passed again in 2013 or 2014 before it can go to the voters to be adopted in the Indiana Constitution.
 
In addition to the Update, one can obtain more detailed information regarding the bills and detailed information about the legislative process through the ICC Legislative Action Center. Under "policy tools" click on "issues and legislation" and access the state or federal bills by clicking "current legislation". Also, you can access the archived updates, ICC positions and other background information at the ICC web site, www.indianacc.org