Friday, March 17, 2017
This week...
GOOD NEWS! The Indiana House Committee on
Employment, Labor, and Pensions voted 12-0 this morning to pass SB 253, a bill
calling for a study on ways to expand access to paid family and medical leave
for working Hoosiers. Erin Macey from the Institute was there to testify on how
paid leave helps keep families healthy, workers productive, and businesses
attractive to employees. Thank you for your calls and emails supporting the
bill. It will now move to the House floor; please let your representative know
that you would like him or her to support the bill when it is called for a
vote: https://iga.in.gov/legislative/find-legislators.
SB 154 Asset
limitation for SNAP eligibility (Merritt) was heard on Wednesday morning in
House Family, Children, and Human Affairs. Lawmakers asked some great questions
about the logistics of applying and receiving SNAP, like what happens when the state
distributes assistance in error and what effects have been seen in states
that removed asset limits? Legislators also asked about the use of SNAP by
Hoosier families, wondering if alcohol and tobacco can be purchased with SNAP dollars (they cannot) and what
are SNAP households buying? These questions generated a valuable discussion
about the program and its administration. The bill was held for 1-2 weeks so that
committee members can file amendments. We expect an amendment that will lower the asset limit from $10,000 in the
current language, to $5,000 and remove the self-attestation. We would prefer
that self-attestation stay in the bill as it protects vulnerable Hoosiers who
are currently denied or cut off from SNAP due to
either difficulty producing the necessary paperwork or caseworker errors.
However, increasing the asset test to $5,000 is an important step forward in
improving access to SNAP and helping to mitigate the SNAP benefit cliff.
In committee:
SB 114 Professional
licensing (Kruse) passed 8-0 from the House Committee on Government Reduction.
HB1002 Transportation infrastructure
funding (Soliday) had many people there to speak both in support and
opposition. The discussion was around how taxes are used and the
appropriateness of a gas tax increase, which is a regressive tax that
disproportionately affects low-income families. It was held for further
discussion.
SB 440 Various
tax matters (Holdman) passed 20-0 with a minor amendment.
HB 1439 FSSA
matters (Kirchhofer) was held in committee. The discussion revolved around an
extension of the Medicaid period for incarcerated individuals. Currently, Medicaid
is suspended one year before being terminated; this bill would suspend it for
two years.
SB 42 Pro bono
legal services fee (Grooms) postpones the current sunset provision for the pro
bono legal services fee from July 1, 2017, to July 1, 2022. It passed 10-0 in
House Courts and Criminal Code.
SB 346 Donation
of certain local funds to a foundation (Grooms) was brought about because a
community foundation was having trouble knowing how they could use the proceeds
from the sale of a hospital in their area. This bill was held.
SB515 Tax administration (Hershman)
was held. The conversation in committee centered on the effects on the
agriculture industry, the increase in military income deduction, and the effect
on manufacturing.
HB 1004
Prekindergarten education (Behning) passed. Prior to passing, the
committee passed amendment #20 9-0. The amendment makes HB 1004 look
like SB 276, which gives foster children in the state the ability to be looked
at first for Pre-K, includes a $16 million budget with $6 million in expansion,
removes the provision that requires two annual inspections and changes it to
random/when needed evaluations, removes the provision for a longitudinal study,
earmarks technology based at-home early education, and renames the bill to
Pre-K pilot program. The amended bill passed the committee 8-1. It is committed
to Senate Appropriations.
HB 1281 Various
higher education matters (Sullivan) held for a week as requested by Commission
for Higher Education for an amendment.
HB 1384 Various
education matters (Behining) included quite a bit of discussion ranging from
vouchers to homeschooling to concern over schools being held accountable for
students leaving the school and what that means for graduation rate calculation.
This bill was held for amendments, one of which the Institute hopes will
include adult literacy language. Stay tuned!
HB1308 Various professional licensing
matters (Zent) passed 7-0 out of Senate Commerce and Technology.
On the floor:
In the House, SB 412 529
education savings plan matters (Koch) was voted upon. Some opposed the
exclusion of 529 accounts from asset tests for public assistance which brought
forth a discussion on breaking the cycle of poverty and the necessity of
low-income families to be able to save for their children’s future while still
receiving the state assistance they need to meet basic needs. It passed 93-1.
SB 253 Study of
voluntary paid family and medical leave (Tallian) will move to 3rd reading
calendar next week. Remember to let your representative know you’d like them to
support this bill when it comes for a vote. You can find your legislator
here.
SB 307 Veteran
preference for employment and training (Hershman) passed the House Employment,
Labor, and Pensions committee 12-0 with several legislators asking to sign on.
The bill was passed this week, but there is an amendment filed that would
change the bill to use the “Hoosier veteran” definition already in Indiana code
instead of the “veteran” definition in the bill.
In the Senate, HB 1080
Commission on improving the status of children (Frizzell) passed 37-11 and was
returned to the House with no amendments.
HB 1268 Traffic
amnesty program (Shackleford) passed committee 7-0 out of the Senate committee
on Corrections and Criminal Law. Andrew Bradley from the Institute was there to
testify on the importance of a study on traffic amnesty as access to a driver’s
license is often vital to employment and self-sufficiency. It was on 2nd
reading Thursday.
Next Week...
In committee:
SB
346 Donation of certain local funds to a foundation (Grooms), SB
507 Economic development (Head), and SB
515 Tax administration (Hershman) will be heard in House Ways and Means Tuesday,
March 21, 2017 at 10:30 in Rm 404.
Wednesday, March 22, 2017 will see HB
1154 Unemployment insurance (Leonard) heard in Senate Pensions and Labor at
10am in Rm. 233 and HB
1523 Search fee for public records requests (Richardson) in Senate Local
Government at 1:30pm in Rm. 130.
Thursday, March 23, 2017 will see HB
1539 Financial institutions and consumer credit (Burton) in Senate
Insurance and Financial Institutions at 9am in Rm. 130 and HB
1626 Study of universal service for telecommunications (Negele) in Senate
Utilities at 10am in Rm. 233.
On the floor:
Monday, March 20, 2017 at 1:30pm
Senate 3rd reading – HB
1268 Traffic amnesty program (Shackelford)
House 2nd reading – SB
307 Veteran preference for employment and training (Hershman)
House 3rd reading – SB
114 Professional licensing (Kruse) and SB
253 Study of voluntary paid family and medical leave (Tallian)
The schedules above are current as of March
16, 2017. It is always important to verify the scheduling of bills and sessions
on the General Assembly website as these
can and do change.
