Casey Smith | Indiana Capital Chronicle Indiana’s House Education Committee meets at the Statehouse on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023, in Indianapolis.
As the 2023 session at the Indiana General Assembly continues, bills filed by state lawmakers representing parts of Bartholomew County have advanced to varying degrees.
The legislators — Rep. Ryan Lauer, R-Columbus; Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour; Rep. Jennifer Meltzer, R-Shelbyville; and Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus — have authored a combined 36 bills this session.
So far, most of those bills were still pending before House or Senate committees as of Friday morning and had not advanced for a vote in either chamber.
Sen. Greg Walker
A bill authored by Walker that would direct the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to conduct a joint study on the decommissioning and disposal of solar equipment has advanced.
The bill, SB 33, cleared the Senate in a 50-0 vote and was pending before the House Committee on Utilities, Energy and Communications as of Friday morning.
“I hope they are as smart in the House as they were in the Senate to vote for it unanimously,” Walker said. “No one has approached me with new concerns and I’m getting nothing but positive remarks about it.”
“It’s to do it now before it become a problem. It’s time to think about it. We may not have the solution this year. We may not have the solution for two or three or five years, but it’s time to start to start talking about it.”
Additionally, Walker has authored SB 224, which would only allow public questions or referendums be placed on ballot for general elections or a municipal general election only if the election district for the public question is contained entirely within a municipality.
The measure also would allow local election officials to use a non-certified electronic device to display or print a sample ballot and make it a Level 6 felony for someone to attempt to influence an election worker by making threats, initiating criminal proceedings, damaging their business, among other things.
The bill cleared the Committee on Elections in a 8-0 vote on Jan. 30 and was then sent to the Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy because the bill also deals with public referendums, which could impact tax rates.
The bill was still pending before the Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy as Friday.
Walker also is a co-author of SB 480, which would prohibit a physician or other practitioner from knowingly providing gender-transition procedures to an individual who is less than 18 years of age that are intended to alter the gender of the minor or delay puberty.
The measure was still pending in committee as of Friday morning. Similar bills have been filed in the House.
“I think there is a possibility that the Senate … might see movement first,” Walker said. “…The bill is well written, and I think it deserves conversation.”
Rep. Ryan Lauer
Lauer has authored 10 bills this session, state records show. As of Friday morning, none had been granted a committee hearing.
That includes HB 1231, which would bar health care professionals in Indiana from providing children younger than 18 with gender reassignment surgery, puberty blockers, hormone therapy, among other treatments that aim to help enable them to present as a gender different from the sex on their birth certificate.
HB 1092, authored by Lauer, which would appropriate just over $5 million per year for the next two years to the Columbus Learning Center to pay for its operating expenses and would extend its lease for another 10 years, also was pending in committee as of Friday morning.
In addition, HB 1406, co-authored by Lauer, which would add the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. and five other school corporations to a high school equivalency pilot program, was pending before the Committee on Education as of Friday morning.
Lauer did not respond to requests for comment on how much support he believes that his bills have in the House.
Rep. Jennifer Meltzer
A bill authored by Meltzer that would allow courts in Indiana to place a person convicted of certain crimes directly in a Community Corrections program and would provide that a violation of certain terms of a Community Corrections program placement constitutes escape has cleared the House and is on its way to the Senate.
The measure, HB 1287, passed the House in a 93-0 vote on Tuesday and was then referred to the Senate, where it was still pending on Friday.
Meltzer also has authored HB 1286, which would require a coroner to test for an animal sedative called xylazine if he or she “reasonably suspects” that the person died from an overdose.
As of Friday morning, a hearing for the bill had been scheduled for Tuesday in the Committee on Local Government.
Rep. Jim Lucas
A bill authored by Lucas that would create a specialized firearms safety, education and training curriculum for teachers, school staff and school employees has cleared committee.
The measure, HB 1177, was passed by the Committee on Education on Wednesday in a 9-4 vote. Lucas said he is confident that the measure has broad support among state lawmakers to clear both chambers.
“I don’t foresee any issues with that being helped up and not becoming law,” Lucas said.
Lucas also has authored HB 1263, which would create a medical marijuana program in Indiana. The bill, however, was still pending before the Committee on Public Health as of Friday.
“There’s support (for the bill), it’s just getting leadership to give it a hearing,” Lucas said. “There’s plenty of support and that one issue polls higher than any other issue out there. …I know the governor is against it. That might be putting pressure on others, but amongst the caucus and the public at large, there’s tremendous support for it.”
Another bill authored by Lucas, HB 1356, would decriminalize possession of two ounces or less of cannabis and five grams or less of hash oil or hashish. It also was pending in committee as of Friday.
“We know for a fact that thousands of Hoosiers are going across state lines to get a legal product in other states, and when they bring it back across the state line into Indiana, we’re making those people criminals, and I think that’s wrong,” Lucas said. “And this is an issue that Indiana is going to have to face eventually. We can’t keep kicking the can down the road.”
“We’re just an island of insanity here not even talking about this issue,” Lucas said.
