Friday, May 10, 2013
The Institute has made some great progress for our policy agenda this session. In three areas, we were successful in adding to legislation or convincing the General Assembly to further study issues that are vital to working families. Some of our agenda items were introduced but failed to pass this session; we will be discussing those in a forthcoming blog.
Unemployment Insurance
- Description: HR 95: Resolution calling for a study committee on the topic of Work Sharing Unemployment Benefits.
- Action Taken: Adopted.
- The Institute has been advocating that Indiana adopt a Work Sharing program, and while we have not yet reached this goal, this study committee will give us the opportunity to educate legislators and other stakeholders on the benefits of establishing a Work Sharing program.
- We'd like to extend our gratitude to Rep. Douglas Gutwein (IN-16) and Rep. Karlee Macer (IN-92) for their hard work on this issue during session. The Institute's research on Work Sharing can be found here.
Higher Education
- Description: HB 1314: Proprietary education.
- Action Taken: Signed by the Speaker and the President Pro Tempore, waiting to be signed by the governor.
- This bill was amended to include The "Counting Credentials Amendment", supported by the Institute and the Indiana Skills2Compete Coalition. This amendment would result in a single, measurable statewide post-secondary standard for skill attainment that counts the spectrum of skills outcomes and publishes them annually.
- Description: SR 87: Resolution calling for the study of part-time student completion.
- Action Taken: Filed and passed committee unanimously.
- Part-time students in Indiana need more support from the State if they are to attain the credentials they seek. Studying the challenges and barriers faced by Indiana's part-time students is the first step to coming up with a meaningful solution that improves student outcomes. The Institute's latest fact sheet on part-time students can be found here.
- The Institute would like to thank Senator Dennis Kruse (IN-14) and Representative Ed Clere (IN-72) for their hard work this year on improving skills attainments and supporting non-traditional students.
- Description: HB 1001: The Biennial Budget.
- Action Taken: Signed by the Speaker and the President Pro Tempore, waiting to be signed by the Governor.
- The original version of the budget cut the appropriation for the Individual Development Account (IDA) program in half from the last biennium. Indiana boasts one of the most successful programs in the nation and this cut's effects would have been doubled as it would have limited the state's access to federal dollars for this program. Thankfully, the final budget restored the funding to its previous level of $1,000,000.
The Rest...
Below you will find the rest of the bills we tracked this session, listed by whether or not the bill passed or failed. Click the links below if you are interested in learning more.
Passed Legislation
SB 162: Economic Development Reporting, SB182: State Educational Institutions; Credit Transfers, SB238: Charges for Consumer Loans and Credit Sales, SB305: Child Care Regulation, SB343: Local Government Reorganization, SB406: Post-Secondary Enrollment Opportunities, SB459: Local Government Reorganization, SB465: Indiana Works Councils, SB530: Schedule for Electronic Benefits Transfer, SB532: Higher Education, SB559: Fraud, HB1001: Biennial Budget, HB1002: Indiana Career Councils, HB1003: School Scholarships, HB1004: Early Education Evaluation Programs, HB1011: Public Mass Transportation, HB1067: Federal Fund Exchange Program, HB1170: Training 2000 Program, HB1312: EARN Indiana Program, HB1544: Various Tax Matters, HB1545: Tax Credits, HB1546: Tax Administration.
Failed Legislation*
HJR2: Supermajority Requirement for Tax Increases, SJR4: Governor's Veto, SB019: Local Government Reorganization, SB030: Early Childhood Literacy Pilot Program, SB052: Evaluations of Agencies and Programs, SB054: Redistricting, SB102: Release Time for Public Employee Union Activities, SB110: Use of Consumer Reports for Employment Purposes, SB121: Limitation on Adoption of Agency Rules, SB123: Public Employee Salary Limitation, SB129: Education Roundtable, SB185: Individual Development Accounts, SB192 : Income Tax Rates; SB193: Common Core State Educational Standards*, SB239: Tax Credit for Quality Child Care, SB299: Uses of Credit Reports for Employment Purposes, SB301: Required Curriculum for CCDF Funding, SB302: Redistricting Commission, SB307: Food Stamp Assistance after Drug Conviction, SB408: Single Articulation Pathways, SB413: Electronic Benefit Cash Assistance Access, SB418: Financial Literacy Curriculum*, SB438: Work Sharing Unemployment Benefit, SB461: Vocational Arts Education, SB482: Drug Testing of Public Assistance Recipients, SB488: Tax Credit for Hiring Certain Individuals, SB502: Preschool Education Pilot Program, SB533: Ineligibility for TANF Assistance for Truancy, SB540: Implementation of Federal Affordable Care Act, SB541: Unemployment Insurance Bonds, SB551: Federal Health Care Reform, SB556: SNAP and TANF, SB568: Income Tax Sales Factor, SB584: Individual Income Tax Rate, SB592: Property Tax Exemptions, HB1008: Redistricting Commission, HB1023: Partial Unemployment Benefit, HB1024: Private Sector Impacts of Administrative Rules, HB1039: State Administration, HB1047: Employment Training Priority for Military, HB1048: LIFE Postsecondary Education Scholarships, HB1060: Work Sharing Unemployment Benefit, HB1066: Local Government Reorganization, HB1073: Credit Scoring, HB1097: Right to Work, HB1103: Scholarship Granting Organizations, HB1155: Mortgage Recording Fee, HB1208: Study of Free and Reduced Lunch, HB1216: Tax Credit for Hiring Offenders, HB1218: Bonding At Risk Job Seekers, HB1232: Tuition at State Educational Institutions, HB1247: Waiver of Unemployment Benefit Overpayments, HB1288: Work Sharing Unemployment Benefit, HB1308: Mortgage Foreclosure Counseling and Education Fee, HB1329: Charging of Employer Unemployment Experience Accounts, HB1360: Education and Workforce Roundtable, HB1388: Limitation of Home Rule Power, HB1415: Ineligibility for TANF Assistance for Truancy, HB1416: Tax Credits for Family Caregivers, HB1418: Income Tax Rate Reduction, HB1431: Partial Unemployment Benefit, HB1437: Income Tax Credit for Student Loan Borrowers, HB1439: Affordable Care Study Committee, HB1456: New Employee tax Credit, HB1479: Administration of County Income Taxes, HB1483: Drug Testing on Recipients of Assistance, HB1489: Grants for Green Industry Jobs, HB1521: Tax Increment Funds, HB1541: Various Tax Matters, HB1542: Inheritance Tax, HB1547: Indiana College Graduate Employment Credit, HB1548: Kindergarten Readiness, HB1553: Tax Incentives for New Employees.
HJR2: Supermajority Requirement for Tax Increases, SJR4: Governor's Veto, SB019: Local Government Reorganization, SB030: Early Childhood Literacy Pilot Program, SB052: Evaluations of Agencies and Programs, SB054: Redistricting, SB102: Release Time for Public Employee Union Activities, SB110: Use of Consumer Reports for Employment Purposes, SB121: Limitation on Adoption of Agency Rules, SB123: Public Employee Salary Limitation, SB129: Education Roundtable, SB185: Individual Development Accounts, SB192 : Income Tax Rates; SB193: Common Core State Educational Standards*, SB239: Tax Credit for Quality Child Care, SB299: Uses of Credit Reports for Employment Purposes, SB301: Required Curriculum for CCDF Funding, SB302: Redistricting Commission, SB307: Food Stamp Assistance after Drug Conviction, SB408: Single Articulation Pathways, SB413: Electronic Benefit Cash Assistance Access, SB418: Financial Literacy Curriculum*, SB438: Work Sharing Unemployment Benefit, SB461: Vocational Arts Education, SB482: Drug Testing of Public Assistance Recipients, SB488: Tax Credit for Hiring Certain Individuals, SB502: Preschool Education Pilot Program, SB533: Ineligibility for TANF Assistance for Truancy, SB540: Implementation of Federal Affordable Care Act, SB541: Unemployment Insurance Bonds, SB551: Federal Health Care Reform, SB556: SNAP and TANF, SB568: Income Tax Sales Factor, SB584: Individual Income Tax Rate, SB592: Property Tax Exemptions, HB1008: Redistricting Commission, HB1023: Partial Unemployment Benefit, HB1024: Private Sector Impacts of Administrative Rules, HB1039: State Administration, HB1047: Employment Training Priority for Military, HB1048: LIFE Postsecondary Education Scholarships, HB1060: Work Sharing Unemployment Benefit, HB1066: Local Government Reorganization, HB1073: Credit Scoring, HB1097: Right to Work, HB1103: Scholarship Granting Organizations, HB1155: Mortgage Recording Fee, HB1208: Study of Free and Reduced Lunch, HB1216: Tax Credit for Hiring Offenders, HB1218: Bonding At Risk Job Seekers, HB1232: Tuition at State Educational Institutions, HB1247: Waiver of Unemployment Benefit Overpayments, HB1288: Work Sharing Unemployment Benefit, HB1308: Mortgage Foreclosure Counseling and Education Fee, HB1329: Charging of Employer Unemployment Experience Accounts, HB1360: Education and Workforce Roundtable, HB1388: Limitation of Home Rule Power, HB1415: Ineligibility for TANF Assistance for Truancy, HB1416: Tax Credits for Family Caregivers, HB1418: Income Tax Rate Reduction, HB1431: Partial Unemployment Benefit, HB1437: Income Tax Credit for Student Loan Borrowers, HB1439: Affordable Care Study Committee, HB1456: New Employee tax Credit, HB1479: Administration of County Income Taxes, HB1483: Drug Testing on Recipients of Assistance, HB1489: Grants for Green Industry Jobs, HB1521: Tax Increment Funds, HB1541: Various Tax Matters, HB1542: Inheritance Tax, HB1547: Indiana College Graduate Employment Credit, HB1548: Kindergarten Readiness, HB1553: Tax Incentives for New Employees.
*Some items may have been amended into legislation that did pass, the ones that are certain have been marked with an asterisk. Items in which the concept but not the exact details were amended into other legislation are not marked.
