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Senate Activity

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Some of the Senate Committee activity today:

  • SB 39 Legal settlement in a school corporation. Passed committee. A parent granted physical custody of a child can elect to have the child’s “legal settlement” be either the residence of the mother or the father. The election must be made more than 14 days before the school year starts and can be made only once per year. No transfer tuition may be charged.
  • SB 42 FSSA evaluation survey. Passed committee. Requires the office of the secretary of the Family and Social Services Administration to provide to LSA the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of individuals who receive services administered by the office.
  • SB 69 Governance of rural telephone cooperatives. Passed committee. A rural telephone cooperative can provide that, in the case of an election for a director where more than two people are running, whoever gets the most votes wins, regardless of whether that person received a majority.
  • SB 105 License branches open on election day. Passed committee. Requires all license branches that provide state identification cards (rather than only full service branches) to be open on the day before election day and on election day to issue driver’s licenses and state identification cards. This bill was recommended by the interim study committee on motor vehicle issues in response to the new voter ID requirement that mandates a citizen identify themselves with a state or federal ID, with no other manner of identification being acceptable, in order for the citizen to exercise his or her right to vote.
  • SB 111 Student nutrition and physical activity. Passed committee after amendment. Requires a school board to establish a “school health advisory council.” The council is permitted to review the school corporation’s wellness policy on an annual basis. Requires the council to meet at least once per year to take public testimony on the wellness policy. Requires a school board to adopt a district policy on child nutrition and physical activity which takes into consideration recommendations by the council (presuming the council exercises its discretion to make such a recommendation.) Requires the department of education to provide information on health, nutrition, and physical fitness. It puts restrictions on food and beverages that can be sold to students, but the restrictions do not apply to part of a school lunch program or school breakfast program (except for items sold in the a la carte line); sold in an area that is not accessible to students; sold after normal school hours; or sold or distributed as part of a fundraiser. It goes into some detail about the foods that can and can’t be sold, but basically soda, coffee, and high sugar fruit drinks = bad; milk, water, low sugar fruit drinks = good. Sugary and fatty foods are also bad. Elementary schools are required to conduct daily physical activity for students. Vending machine contracts entered into before July 1, 2006 are grandfathered in but may not be renewed.
  • SB 172 Teacher shortages. Passed committee. If the state board of education designates a geographic area or a subject area as having an insufficient supply of licensed teachers, a school corporation is allowed to hire an unlicensed teacher if the individual is in the process of obtaining a license. The person must obtain the license within 3 years of being hired.
  • SB 231 Academic honors diploma. Passed committee. Allows a school corporation that, before January 1, 2006, used its academic honors diploma award to purchase United States savings bonds for graduates who earned an academic honors diploma to continue to use its academic honors diploma award to purchase savings bonds for students graduating in 2006 and 2007 who earn an academic honors diploma.
  • SB 256 Credit for excessive residential property taxes. Passed committee. Provides the following with respect to the credit for excessive residential property taxes: (1) Eliminates the county option as to whether to apply the credit. (2) Requires each county to adopt an ordinance to specify the types of residential property that are eligible for the credit (which may be any combination of homesteads, apartment complexes, or other residential rental property). (3) Eliminates the authority for a county to borrow to cover revenue reductions that result from application of the credit and to levy property taxes to repay the loans. (4) Requires the county auditor to notify each political subdivision of those reductions. (5) For taxes payable in 2006, allows a county fiscal body to adopt an ordinance, before 2006 tax statements are issued, authorizing the credit under the law as it applied before the amendments under this act.

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    1. […] Back in January, I described the bill as follows: Requires a school board to establish a “school health advisory council.” The council is permitted to review the school corporation’s wellness policy on an annual basis. Requires the council to meet at least once per year to take public testimony on the wellness policy. Requires a school board to adopt a district policy on child nutrition and physical activity which takes into consideration recommendations by the council (presuming the council exercises its discretion to make such a recommendation.) Requires the department of education to provide information on health, nutrition, and physical fitness. It puts restrictions on food and beverages that can be sold to students, but the restrictions do not apply to part of a school lunch program or school breakfast program (except for items sold in the a la carte line); sold in an area that is not accessible to students; sold after normal school hours; or sold or distributed as part of a fundraiser. It goes into some detail about the foods that can and can’t be sold, but basically soda, coffee, and high sugar fruit drinks = bad; milk, water, low sugar fruit drinks = good. Sugary and fatty foods are also bad. Elementary schools are required to conduct daily physical activity for students. Vending machine contracts entered into before July 1, 2006 are grandfathered in but may not be renewed. […]

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    Senate Activity

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    Some of the Senate activity today:

  • SB 5 concerning disorderly conduct at funerals passed out of committee. The crime of disorderly conduct is normally a Class B misdemeanor. Under the provisions of SB 5, the conduct would be a Class D felony if it takes place within 500 feet of a funeral, funeral home during the viewing of a deceased, funeral procession if the person knows that the funeral procession is taking place, or a building in which a funeral or memorial service is being conducted. There is no requirement that the disorderly conduct be in any way directed at the funeral activity, only that it take place near by.
  • SB 43 concerning free state fair admission for military personnel passed out of committee. Specifically, it requires the state fair commission to provide for the free admission to the state fair of veterans, active military personnel and their dependents. That’s gonna cause a spike in enlistment.
  • SB 47 concerning free criminal background checks for churches passed out of committee. It provides for free criminal criminal histories to be provided to churches or religious organizations requesting the information as part of a background investigation of an employee or adult volunteer working in a nonprofit or ministry capacity for the church. I guess I’m unclear on why churches are more deserving of this free government service than other nonprofits. I suppose because churches have had more problems (or more publicity about problems) with child molesters and the like.
  • SB 73 concerning indemnity agreements in motor vehicle contracts passed committee. It provides that certain indemnity provisions contained in, collateral to, or affecting a motor carrier transportation contract are against public policy and are void and unenforceable. I read it twice, and there is a twist in there allowing certain kinds of indemnity provisions I couldn’t quite parse. Nobody is paying me for this, so I’m not reading it again.
  • SB 102 concerning anatomical gift liability passed committee. It provides that a person making an anatomical gift and the decedent’s estate are not liable for any injury or damage that may result from making or the use of an anatomical gift.
  • SB 245 concerning telecommunications deregulation passed committee. (Per the Indy Star. I haven’t seen the entry on the LSA page yet.)
  • SB 259 concerning the end date for capture of certain stadium funds passed committee. It provides for the termination of the annual capture of $11,000,000 of state revenue for use to pay obligations owed by the Marion County capital improvement board to the Indiana stadium and convention building authority or a state agency. After January 1, 2010, the annual capture terminates in the year following the first year when none of the obligations remain outstanding.

    In addition, a lot of bills were assigned to committee on first reading.

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