Legislators discuss potential incoming laws in Goshen

Jan. 26—GOSHEN — Area lawmakers visited Goshen Friday morning to talk about bills coming to the State Legislature.

Senator Blake Doriot, R-District 12; Rep. Joanna King, R-District 49; Rep. David Abbott, R-District 18; Rep. Doug Miller, R-District 48 were in attendance at the Goshen Chamber of Commerce Third House meeting.

"To say that this year has had a different complexion than other years would be an understatement," Miller said, adding that they've had 10 official days in session, almost a week late.

The target finish date for each legislature is Feb. 8.

House of Representative members were encouraged to file no more than five pieces of legislation, and many found that bills they were working on were also being authored by others and chose to combine.

Abbott added that among the legislature, 756 bills were filed in total, and 29 have been passed on Third Reading in the House of Representatives, while 17 have been passed in the Senate.

"Not all of those will get heard, of course — not all of those will even get into a hearing," Abbot admitted. "It's almost overwhelming."

Bills this cycle from everything from cosmetology to the military and most are not without controversy.

Miller was part of a bill that would create an option for chaplains in public and private schools that's gained some traction and also some contention. Even if passed, Miller explained, chaplains would still need to be permitted and then approved by a school district's board of trustees. Miller said in his original rendition of the bill, he intentionally included a broad definition of the term 'chaplains.'

"(In) my conversations with the education chair, he was a little uncomfortable with the breadth of my interpretation of chaplains, which I understand, but the fault still is that the school board and the administration can make the determination about who can come in and what type of chaplain that could be."

Senator Stacey Donato, R-District 18, has a related bill and Miller said he hopes to be one of the sponsors of the bill if it moves to the House.

"I think it's important that parents and students have that opportunity under the mental health provisions of code to have that opportunity as a counselor available," Miller said.

Miller is also backing a bill to codify Space Force as a recognized armed service for the United States. The Department of Defense, he said, contacted him asking if he would author the bill, but with Assistant Majority Whip Stephen Bartels, R-District 74, already working on a military bill, he gave the piece to Bartels to add to his omnibus military bill which ratifies Space Force, cleans up military code for consistent wording, and expands some opportunities.

Miller also helped Rep. Tim Wesco, R- District 21, with a cosmetology bill that will establish an interstate cosmetology licensure compact allowing licensed cosmetologists to operate between states within the compact.

Another bill Miller is working on would allow doctors to not provide certain procedures if they conflict with their personal beliefs.

"I think we're living in very very interesting times," Miller said. "There's a wide variety of things that are out there that different folks are interested in and I think that we need to have these discussions, whether they move forward or not, so that we're paying attention to those details as they arise."

Abbott also spoke briefly about bills he's involved in — he's working on a bill to further define the bill passed last year surrounding obscene material in schools by describing terms.

"We're not going to ban books or censor books," he said. "We're going to keep pornography out of the schools and specifically pornography. We're not going to get into To Kill A Mockingbird or things like social values — it's simply pornography."

Specifically, the bill identified material "obscene or harmful to minors" if it has "not been approved for instruction on human sexuality by the governing body of a school corporation or equivalent authority of a charter school or state-accredited nonpublic school."

The law would also identify roughly a dozen specific descriptions of depictions that would be deemed obscene. To view them, and read the entire bill in its current iteration check out HOUSE BILL No. 1221 at iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/house/bills/HB1221/HB1221.01.INTR.pdf.

Abbott was also working on a bill to help seniors stay in their homes by lowering taxes, but there are problems yet to be navigated.

"You made a good living, put a little bit of money aside, and you retire in that house you bought 40 years ago, and you find that all the houses are going up in value and people are paying three, four times what you paid for your house and that tax shift is going to you, too," he explained.

The bill would aim to increase Assessed Value tax breaks from $240,000 to $350,000, and also increase the income limit by $10,000 to $50,000 for a married couple.

"The problem is it creates a tax shift, so if this person is paying less, the rest of the people have to pay more as a general rule, and in some people, that shift would also create a tax cap loss," he explained. He's hoping it'll be able to return for consideration for next year's session.

Joanna King said the majority of her bills are moving forward to the Senate. One bill asks universities to adopt policies to protect their intellectual properties. It passed unanimously in the House of Representatives.

Another bill she's working on will confirm food truck language and statutes across the state.

"It makes it very difficult for food truck vendors when they're going to other counties," she explained. "The pandemic has really brought those challenges to light."

The bill will expand the state food code to mobile food licensing. It will take two years to roll out.

An age verification bill sponsored in the house by King will focus on requiring online retailers providing pornography to have age verification technology to ensure that minors cannot access it.

Doriot said parents have been calling him about a Senate bill that would hopefully provide additional information on degree opportunities for prospective state college students.

The bill would require state colleges to provide information on each available degree's graduation rate, debt load, and employment rates, among other things. The bill will be heard Monday. Doriot said he believes most of the senators in the education committee are on board with the bill.

Legislators will return to Goshen for another Third House session Feb. 9.

Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.