Statehouse Update 8
Introduction
This week, legislative committees worked diligently to finish hearing all bills assigned to them in time for the House and Senate committee report deadlines, which were Tuesday and Thursday for the House and Senate, respectively. The House also had a second reading deadline on Thursday. All bills that were not voted out of committee by their chamber’s deadline are considered “dead” and are no longer eligible for passage during this legislative session. Bills that did not receive a second reading by the Thursday deadline in the House are also considered dead.
This week, the General Assembly also continued to advance legislation through the 2nd and 3rd reading process. Bills that have passed a third reading in the second chamber, if unchanged, will move on to the Governor for signature or veto. Authors of bills that were changed in their second chamber must file a motion to concur or dissent. The full chamber of the chamber of origin must then either vote to concur on the changes that were made to the bill or, if a dissent has been filed, a conference committee will be formed with members from each chamber to work out differences on bills in a conference committee report. The legislation must receive a final vote from each chamber to adopt the changes included in the conference committee report before the bill moves to the Governor for signature or veto.
Bills That Moved
House:
HB 1003 – Nursing programs and licensing matters: Establishes certain requirements for the temporary licensure of retired or inactive emergency medical services personnel, retired or inactive health care professionals, out-of-state health care professionals, or recently graduated students who have applied for certain licenses. Allows a health care provider or an officer, agent, or employee of a health care provider who has a temporary license to qualify for coverage under the Medical Malpractice Act. 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: (1) an eligible associate degree or bachelor's degree registered nursing program to increase enrollment at any rate deemed appropriate by the program; and (2) a nursing program that is not an eligible program but meets specified requirements to increase enrollment by not more than 100%. 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 is not required to be full-time employees of a state educational institution that operates a nursing program that predominantly issues associate degrees. The bill’s author filed a motion to concur on the amendments made by the Senate and the bill was passed by the House. HB 1003 will now move to the Governor for signature or veto.
HB 1045 – College savings accounts: The bill increases the maximum amount of the annual credit against adjusted gross income to which a taxpayer is entitled for a contribution to a college choice 529 education savings plan. HB 1045 passed a third reading in the Senate and the amended bill now returns to the House for concurrence or dissent.
HB 1134 – Education matters: The bill was amended in the Senate Education and Career Development Committee. The amendment removed provisions in the bill requiring classroom materials to be posted online and vetted by parent review committees. Instead, the amended bill now gives parents access to their school’s learning management system and allows parents to review learning materials used in their child’s classroom upon request. Parents could also request a school board to adopt a parent committee to review curriculum, though it would not be required. Other provisions that would have restricted teaching about racism and politics were also substantially modified. HB 1134 was amended and voted out of the Senate Education and Career Development Committee and is now eligible for second reading by the Senate.
HB 1190 – Free speech at state educational institutions: The bill provides that a state educational institution may not: (1) designate an outdoor 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 protected expressive activity; and (3) deny a benefit to or discriminate against a religious, political, or ideological student organization based on the protected expressive activity 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 create and publish protected expressive activity policies. 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 injunctive relief, compensatory damages, reasonable court costs, and attorney's fees to an aggrieved student or student organization if the court finds that a violation occurred. Allows a court to award compensatory damages up to $50,000. 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. The bill was amended and passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Ball State, provided testimony in support of the bill on behalf of several of our sister institutions as well. HB 1190 is now eligible for a second reading by the Senate.
Senate:
SB 82 – FAFSA: The bill requires each school corporation and charter high school to: (1) use the model FAFSA notice prepared by the commission for higher education (commission); and (2) provide the model notice to certain students. Allows a nonpublic school to provide the model notice to certain students. Requires the commission to develop an online FAFSA affirmation form and provide information to certain schools to determine which students have completed the FAFSA and the affirmation form. Amends the information required to be included in the model FAFSA notice. The bill was voted out of the House Education Committee and amended on second reading. SB 82 is now eligible for a third reading by the House.
SB 89 – Higher education scholarships: The bill provides that the commission's annual schedule of awards must provide award amounts on the basis of a federal needs calculation. Amends language concerning teacher stipends to teacher scholarships. Provides that the total amount of scholarships or other financial aid received by an individual may not exceed certain total expenses. SB 89 received a third reading in the House and, since it was unchanged from the language passed by the Senate, will now move to the Governor for signature or veto.
SB 91 – Teacher preparation programs: The bill 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 (department) 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. Requires the department to annually report to the legislative council the percentage of teachers who complete a particular teacher preparation program who are teaching in Indiana: (1) five years; and (2) ten years; after completion of the particular teacher preparation program. Removes a requirement that each charter school and school corporation annually provide to the department: (1) the name of the teacher preparation program that recommended the initial license for each teacher employed by the school; and (2) the annual retention rate for teachers employed by the school. SB 91 passed a second and third reading in the House and passed a concurrence vote in the Senate. The bill now moves to the Governor for signature or veto.
SB 366 – Higher education funding: The bill requires the commission to create a higher educational operating funding outcomes based formula (funding formula) in each year prior to a budget session of the general assembly. Provides that the commission shall (not may) develop a long range plan for postsecondary education. Requires the commission to take: (1) reducing the financial burden on students and their families for postsecondary education; (2) the impact on economic development; and (3) the funding formula; into account in developing the long range plan. Requires the commission to present to the budget committee a summary of the legislative requests of all state educational institutions and the commission's recommendations concerning operations, capital projects, and financial aid. Requires the commission to biannually measure and make findings on the progress of each state educational institution in meeting the goals of the commission's long range plan as those goals pertain to the funding formula and include the findings in its presentation to the budget committee. Requires the commission to present the funding formula created by the commission to the budget committee. Requires the commission to biannually engage a third party examiner to audit the data submitted by each state educational institution for use within the funding formula and submit a copy of each audit report to the audit and financial reporting subcommittee of the legislative council. Requires the commission to present recommendations for the funding of state educational institution capital projects to the budget committee. The author filed a motion to concur, which is eligible for a final vote by the full Senate.
SB 388 – Foreign gifts and ownership of agricultural land: The bill contains language that would require a postsecondary educational institution to file a disclosure report to the Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education of gifts and contracts of at least $50,000 from a foreign source. This is similar to existing federal reporting requirements. SB 388 passed out the House Education Committee and was amended on second reading on the House floor. The bill is now eligible for a third reading by the House.
Looking Ahead
Next week, the General Assembly will face 2nd and 3rd reading deadlines, on March 2 and 3, respectively. After the deadlines, the conference committees will be assigned and also begin work, which must be accomplished before the House and Senate adjourn sine die. Statutorily, the legislature must conclude work by March 14, but the legislative leaders have predicted an earlier, mid-week ending for the General Assembly.
