2019 Legislative Session

Indiana University Office of Government Relations

 Statehouse Report 9 

Introduction 

This week marked the halfway point for the legislative session, with the General Assembly working long hours to meet their second and third reading deadlines. The House completed their third readings on Monday night and the Senate completed all of their third readings by Tuesday night.

Of the 1,344 total bills introduced this year, 218 were passed in the Senate and 201 were passed in the House, with a total of 419 bills getting through their first chamber. The remaining 925 bills failed to progress and are no longer under consideration.

At this point, bills that are still alive will go to the other chamber for consideration. These remaining bills will have to go through the same process – passing out of committee and the second chamber – to keep moving. The House and Senate committee report deadlines for the second half are April 9th and 11th respectively. All third reading votes have to be completed by April 16th.

Bills that are Still Moving

The bills below passed in their chamber of origin and have been introduced in the second chamber as of this week. IU’s Government Relations team will continue to track them throughout the rest of this session.

HB 1002 – Career & Technical Education Matters: 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. Funding for this bill was included in the House version of the budget. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development.

HB 1009 – Teacher Residency Grant Pilot Program: This bill establishes a teacher residency grant pilot program and fund. Under the program, the Commission for Higher Education may award grants to school corporations and charter schools to partner with postsecondary education institutions to establish a teacher residency program that provides stipends to program participants and teachers who serve as mentors. The grant award may also be used to pay the approved postsecondary educational institution the school corporation or charter school has partnered with for administrative costs incurred in developing and implementing the program. Funding for this bill was included in the House version of the budget. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development.

HB 1245 – Various Higher Education Matters: This bill contains a number of provisions related to higher education, including updates to the code to reflect various universities that have changed names. 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 it also requires high schools to enter into an agreement with the Commission to allow for this information to be shared. This bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development.

HB 1526 – Hazing: Among other provisions, this bill would require postsecondary educational institutions to develop a program to educate students about hazing and to report incidents of hazing on the institutions’ websites. This bill has not yet been assigned to a Senate committee.

SB 93 – Let Indiana Work for You Program: This bill requires the Commission for Higher Education to establish a program to provide students information concerning workforce opportunities in Indiana and other benefits of residing and working in Indiana after graduation. This bill has not yet been assigned to a House committee.

SB 158 – Indiana Youth Service Program: This bill requires Ivy Tech to develop a proposal to establish the Indiana Youth Service Program to provide high school graduates with the opportunity to learn various skills and participate in work at various sites throughout Indiana. Ivy Tech may consult with the Department of Workforce Development, the Commission for Higher Education, and the Legislative Services Agency in developing the program, and Ivy Tech shall present the proposal to the State Budget Committee by December 1, 2019. This bill has been referred to the House Committee on Education.

SB 188 – Nursing Faculty Loan Repayment Program: This bill establishes the nursing faculty loan repayment grant program with the intent of increasing the number of nursing faculty in Indiana. This bill has been referred to the House Committee on Education.

SB 216 – Educational Cost Exemptions: This bill amends the eligibility requirements for educational costs exemptions for children of and certain individuals related to 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. This bill has been referred to the House Committee on Education.

Looking Ahead

Committees are already scheduled to meet next week and begin considering legislation. Legislators will be busy with hearings on bills that they authored, as well as handling bills they are now sponsoring in the second chamber.

The process of hearings on the budget bill will start again next week, this time in the Senate. The Senate Appropriations committee will hear from universities on their budget requests on Tuesday, March 5th. President McRobbie will present IU’s budget request to the committee at 10:30 a.m.

We are also excited to host the Senate Appropriations committee for a joint lunch with the other university representatives on Monday.

We look forward to sharing more updates with you in the second half of session.