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2008 Indiana Legislative Update - Final

Executive Director's Report from the State House
Vol. 28, No. 4
© 2008
by Ernest Klein, CAE
Executive Director and Lobbyist
Note: Views stated may not necessarily represent those of the Indiana State Nurses Association, Inc.

We are half way through this short session. In spite of discussion and action about property taxes, a lot of other bills continue through the process. You will note from the bill lists that sponsors have been identified and, in many cases, bills have been assigned to committees. The House and the Senate will reconvene at 1:30 pm on Monday, February 4, 2008. Several committee meetings have already been posted. You may want to check the committee schedules over the weekend and on Monday as more meetings may be posted. The last week of February will be the last week to finish action on bills in the second chamber. That means, of course, that there are only three short weeks to get committee hearings scheduled.

The Senate will start testimony on the large House property tax bill, HB 1001, on Tuesday morning.

On Wednesday afternoon, February 6, 2008--House Chambers, 3:30 pm--the House Public Health Committee will hold a joint Health Committee meeting with the Senate for an informational update on HEA 1678. This is the bill from last session that raised the cigarette tax in order to increase health care coverage for low income Hoosiers.

SB 003, Dispensing of Drugs by Pharmacists, was reconsidered. The bill failed to get a constitutional majority on January. 24 when the vote was 24-24. On January 29, six Senators changed their vote and the bill passed 30-18.

HB 1172, Various Occupations, which contains the language for the Nurse Licensure Compact, passed 80-14. The Senate Sponsors are Ryan Mishler, (R) Bremen, and John Broden, (D) South Bend. It was assigned to the Health and Provider Services Committee chaired by Sen. Patricia Miller.

Additional bills have been add to the lists:

SB 350, Funding for Community Mental Health Centers
SB 142 Childhood Lead Prevention Screening
HB 1187, Not For Profit Corporations. This bill is initiated and supported by the Indiana Society of Association Executives. It updates Indiana law and will affect how ISNA and other not-for-profit corporations can conduct business.

A few of the bills we were following did not make it through the first half: These include HB 1020, Umbilical Cord Blood Bank, and SB 150, Physical Therapists.