Statehouse Update 3
Introduction
Due to the observation of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, the General Assembly faced a shortened work week. Committees continued to hear and advance bills, and we saw more robust floor activity, with a number of bills advancing through second and third readings.
Please see below for a sampling of bills being tracked by our office that have moved during the last week. If you have questions about these bills or other legislation filed this session, please contact the Office of Governmental Relations at gov@bsu.edu.
Bills that Moved
House:
HB 1003 - Nursing programs and licensing matters: Nursing programs and licensing matters. Provides that the state board of nursing (board) shall issue by endorsement a license to practice as a registered nurse or practical nurse to an applicant who is a graduate of a foreign nursing school and provides certain documentation. Allows an eligible associate degree or bachelor's degree registered nursing program to increase enrollment at any rate deemed appropriate by the program. Allows a nursing program to substitute a certain number of simulation hours for clinical hours in certain circumstances. Establishes requirements for clinical preceptors. Provides that a majority of the faculty of each nursing program is not required to be full-time employees of an institution. Requires the board to amend or adopt rules to implement certain provisions. Requires the Indiana professional licensing agency to issue a temporary license to an individual who meets certain requirements in order to provide temporary health care services in Indiana. Makes conforming changes. HB 1003 passed on third reading and is now eligible for consideration by the Senate.
HB 1134 - Education matters: Contains provisions related to k-12 curriculum. Also includes provisions prohibiting a teacher prep program from including or promoting certain concepts as part of a course of instruction. HB 1134 passed out of the House Education committee and is now eligible for second reading amendment by the full House.
HB 1190 - Free speech at state educational institutions: Provides that a state educational institution may not: (1) designate an area on campus as an area where protected expressive activities are prohibited; (2) deny any benefit or privilege to, or discriminate against, a religious, political, or ideological student organization for its free expression; and (3) deny a benefit to or discriminate against a religious, political, or ideological student organization based on the expression or a requirement of the student organization. Allows a state educational institution to enforce reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions that comply with certain requirements. Requires a state educational institution to: (1) create and publish free expression policies; (2) submit certain reports to the governor and general assembly; and (3) make certain reports accessible on its Internet web site. Provides that a student or student organization may bring a cause of action for a violation of free speech rights. Allows a court to award compensatory damages, reasonable court costs, and attorney's fees to an aggrieved student or student organization if the court finds that a violation occurred. Provides that a state educational institution is not immune from certain liability. Requires the commission for higher education to create a form for a state educational institution to submit information on an alleged violation of this chapter. Makes conforming changes. HB 1190 was heard in the House Education Committee, and the state supported institutions of higher education provided testimony in support of the bill. The bill is scheduled for another hearing next week.
Senate
SB 89 - Higher education scholarships: The bill was heard in the Senate Education and Career Development Committee, and the state supported institutions of higher education provided testimony in support of the bill. The bill is scheduled for another hearing next week.
SB 91 - Accreditation of teacher preparation programs: Allows a teacher preparation program to report the program's admission practices, in accordance with the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP) standards, for teacher preparation programs accredited by the AAQEP. Requires the department of education to approve at least two accreditors that: (1) accredit teacher preparation programs; and (2) are recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation; to accredit teacher preparation programs for use in Indiana. SB 91 passed out of committee and is now eligible for second reading amendments on the Senate floor.
SB 366 - Higher education funding: Includes requirements for the commission on higher education to create a higher educational operating funding performance based formula and higher educational capital project evaluation metrics in each year prior to a budget session of the general assembly. Provides requirements for the commission to base its recommendations for capital projects based on the evaluation metrics. Also includes reporting and communication-based provisions for the budget committee and the commission upon a biannual third-party audit for the funding formula. SB 366 was heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Ball State provided testimony in support of the bill, which was amended and passed out of committee. The bill is now eligible for second reading amendments on the Senate floor.
Looking Ahead
Next week we can expect the General Assembly to continue to increase committee meetings while holding second and third readings for bills that have been moved out of their assigned committee. All bills must pass out of their assigned committee by the House and Senate committee report deadlines, January 25 and 27, respectively. Next week the House also has their second reading deadline on January 25. All bills that do not meet these legislative deadlines will be considered “dead” and will be ineligible for further consideration during the 2022 legislative session.
