2019 Legislative Session

Indiana University Office of Government Relations

 Statehouse Report 14 

Introduction 

With committee report deadlines approaching, several committees held their final meetings for the legislative session this week. The IU Government Relations team was busy following several bills in committees and on the House and Senate floor calendars.  

The House and Senate worked through more concurrences this week, and conference committees will begin in a few weeks. To provide some background on this process, bills that pass the second chamber without amendments will go to the Governor for him to either sign, veto, or allow to become law without signature. If a bill is amended, the chamber of origin may then either concur or dissent to the amendment. If the first chamber concurs, the bill goes to the Governor for his action. If the first chamber dissents, the bill will then go to conference committee for legislators from both the House and Senate (called conferees) to work out the differences. If an agreement is reached by the conference committee, the conferees will sign a conference committee report that will then have to be approved by both the House and Senate to pass and go to the Governor.

Bills that Moved

HB 1002 – Career & Technical Education: This bill would, among other provisions, allow workforce ready grants to be used for programs approved by the Commission for Higher Education, including programs offered by IU. The bill was amended in the Senate committee to require the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet to conduct a systematic and comprehensive review, analysis, and evaluation of whether Indiana's primary, secondary, and postsecondary education systems are aligned with employer needs and whether Indiana's students and workforce are prepared for success in the twenty-first century economy. The bill also now requires the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet to create a comprehensive strategic plan to ensure alignment between Indiana's primary, secondary, and postsecondary education systems with Indiana's workforce training programs and employer needs. Following its reassignment to the Senate Committee on Appropriations to review its fiscal impact, that committee heard and passed the bill on Thursday.

HB 1245 – Various Higher Education Matters: This bill contains a number of provisions related to higher education, including changes in status or name for various universities. It also requires the Commission for Higher Education to provide each high school in Indiana with names of students who have filed for financial aid, and requires high schools to enter into an agreement with the Commission to allow for this information to be shared. The House concurred with the Senate’s amendments on Thursday. It will now head to the Governor for his consideration.

SB 216 – Educational Costs Exemptions: This bill amends the eligibility requirements for educational costs exemptions for children of and certain individuals related to certain veterans. It also provides that a spouse or dependent of a qualified veteran is eligible to pay the resident tuition rate of a state educational institution if certain requirements are met. The House passed this bill on third reading on Tuesday. Because it was amended in the House, the Senate may now either concur or dissent on the bill.

Looking Ahead

The General Assembly will be busy next week with committee report deadlines scheduled for both the House and Senate. The House’s committee report deadline is Tuesday, and its second reading deadline is Thursday. The Senate’s committee report deadline is next Thursday, and we anticipate that the Senate version of the budget bill will be released at that time.