By Jessica Karins | Daily Reporter
INDIANAPOLIS — Despite the extraordinary circumstances of conducting a legislative session amid COVID-19 and the need to pass both a two-year budget and a map of redrawn House and Senate districts, local lawmakers are aiming to find time for their own priorities in the Indiana General Assembly.
The state legislature reconvened this week for its first full session since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March, and lawmakers are set to meet in person through April. A new budget and redistricting map must be completed before the session can adjourn.
Sen. Mike Crider, R-Greenfield, is working on a number of legislative priorities including issues he has addressed in previous years such as domestic abuse, human trafficking and mental health. Crider said the session will be a busy one, but he anticipates having time to address important issues.
“These four months should go by pretty quickly if we all stay healthy — that’s certainly the goal,” Crider said.
One of Crider’s bills, Senate Bill 79, aims to enhance the penalty for domestic violence involving strangulation. Domestic violence experts consider strangulation severe violence that is more likely to lead to the death of the victim. The bill would make domestic battery a Level 4 felony if the perpetrator has a previous conviction involving strangulation of a member of the same household. Domestic battery charges are generally Level 5 or Level 6 felonies.
Previous bills resurface
Crider said he is optimistic about the chances of several of his pieces of legislation that were introduced during the last session but did not ultimately pass. Senate Bill 76 would enhance the penalty for human trafficking if the victim is a minor, aiming to avoid plea deals where the penalty for such offenses is sometimes reduced to a misdemeanor. Crider said he spoke to members of Senate leadership about the bill during the study session and believes it is likely to pass. He said the same about Senate Bill 19, which would require student IDs printed in schools to include numbers for hotlines that deal with prevention of suicide and human trafficking.
Another bill, Senate Bill 34, is unlikely to advance, Crider said, because several similar bills are being considered. The legislation deals with the issue of enhanced penalties for “rioting” and with the possibility of municipalities “defunding the police.”
“Generally, with the caucus, there’s quite a lot of concern about that movement,” he said.
Other bills Crider has filed include one that would expand the number of providers permitted to diagnose mental health conditions; and bills to increase trauma-based training for law enforcement personnel who work with sexual assault victims and to standarize training for forensic nurses who respond at crime scenes.
Bill would add magistrate
One of Rep. Bob Cherry’s highest priorities for the session is the creation of a full-time magistrate position in Hancock County.
Cherry, R-Greenfield, said the position will likely end up being part of the House’s budget bill — in which he’ll play a key part as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee — but procedure requires him to request it by filing separate legislation. The measure would upgrade the county’s court commissioner position, vesting more judicial duties in the job and essentially adding a fourth judge to the county’s court system.
Other Cherry legislation this year will include a bill to allow school corporations to have a voting representative on tax increment fixing districts and one to expand Indiana’s school voucher program, which provides support to private schools for qualifying students. Cherry’s bill would eliminate requirements that students who qualify for the program because of their household’s low income either have previously attended public school or live in the attendance area of a school corporation assigned a failing grade by the state Department of Education.
Cherry said he wants to make school vouchers available to more students, including those whose parents have been homeschooling them or paying for private school via other means.
Setting priorities
Rep. Sean Eberhart, R-Shelbyville, whose district includes the southwest corner of Hancock County, said his top priority for the session will be the legislation the House is required to pass.
“I’m going to focus on the budget. That’s the most important bill we have this year,” he said.
Eberhart has also co-authored a piece of legislation that would eliminate the requirement for Indiana residents to obtain a license before carrying a handgun.
“Both the federal and the state constitution are very clear when it comes to the right to protect yourself and your family,” Eberhart said, and he believes the bill would bring Indiana’s laws into closer alignment with that principle.
Rep. Chris Jeter, R-Fishers, said it is important for legislators to prioritize, since time to deal with issues apart from creating the budget and redrawing the map will be limited.
“I don’t know how much else is going to get done, to be honest with you,” Jeter said.
Easing businesses’ liability
Jeter, whose district includes much of northwest Hancock County, has also signed on to Cherry’s bill creating the magistrate position and has filed bills relating to law enforcement. One would increase the penalty for killing or injuring a police dog. One of his primary concerns, however, is the passage of legislation that would protect businesses from being sued by their employees or customers due to damage caused by COVID-19.
The bill, House Bill 1002, would limit the ability to sue businesses to situations where “gross negligence or reckless misconduct” occurred. It would also protect health-care providers from being sued as the result of actions “undertaken in good faith and in response to a lack of resources caused by a state disaster emergency.”
“Our small businesses have just been absolutely battered by COVID-19,” Jeter said, and this legislation would protect them from having to defend themselves in court from lawsuits.
Eberhart is also co-sponsoring the legislation.
“That’s an extremely important bill for our small and large business,” he said. “…It’s a very, very difficult time for everyone, including small businesses, and I for one don’t want to see them subjected to what I think would be a frivolous lawsuit.”
Redistricting
Redistricting of Indiana House and Senate districts will be one of the legislature’s largest tasks this year, using data from the 2020 U.S. Census. With a Republican supermajority in place, legislators said they expect the process to go smoothly, though some Democrats and advocacy groups have called for the creation of an independent redistricting commission that would work to prevent gerrymandering.
Crider said the legislature has gotten preliminary indications that the state’s population has risen, but leaders do not expect to receive final numbers until April. He said he expects the current number of approximately 130,000 people per Senate district to rise slightly. His own district might look different too, he said, with rising populations in communities like Fortville and McCordsville.
“I anticipate some changes, but I don’t know what they’re going to look like,” Crider said.
Cherry, who has voted in favor of the creation of an independent redistricting commission in the past, said he now has doubts about whether a body like that would be an improvement over what the legislature currently does.
“It’s not even possible to have a nonpartisan committee,” Cherry said, because anyone who could be appointed would have their own political views.
Eberhart said he anticipates that the process for redistricting will be similar to what was carried out 10 years ago, the last time a national census was taken. Eberhart said he believes Indiana’s districts are fairly drawn. However, he anticipates that the session may be extended this year since census numbers are not expected to be available until the spring.
Jeter said he expected to see some change to House districts to account for the growth of suburban communities near Indianapolis in recent years.
“I know there’s going to be a lot of outside noise, but once it works its way through the process, I think we’ll get a good result,” he said.
