Issues addressed

Road funding has been the focus thus far for the Indiana General Assembly during its 2017 session.

Rep. Greg Beumer (R-Modoc) referred to it as the No. 1 priority during a Third House Session in Jay County earlier this month.

But Beumer, who represents all of Jay and Randolph counties and part of Delaware County, has also authored bills on a variety of other issues.

Two of those deal with drug issues — one part of an effort to stop residents from cheating on drug tests and the other to allow use of a compound to treat the effects of epilepsy and other ailments.

Beumer’s House Bill 1104 would ban the synthetic urine, which can be used for “the purpose of defrauding an alcohol, drug, or urine screening test.” It would make the distribution, marketing, offering for sale or transportation into the state a Class B misdemeanor.

“It is simply an attempt to ban from Indiana the sale of an adulterant for your drug test,” said Beumer. “We have people who are hooked on an illegal substance, and we’re allowing them to go to work, in some cases impaired, a danger to themselves and certainly a danger to their co-workers.”

His House Bill 1563 deals with the use of cannabidiol, a compound derived from cannabis that can provide relief to patients dealing with epilepsy and other similar ailments. It is one of five bills in the house and senate in an effort to address the issue.

Beumer noted that a child in his district suffers from as many as 100 seizures per day, and that the use of cannabidiol can drop that number down to just a few.

“We all have constituents who are impacted in a positive way if they basically break the law and acquire this product for their children,” he said.

Beumer’s legislation would require a letter from a physician and that the cannabidiol “not contain tetrahydrocannabinol or another psychoactive substance.”

“This isn’t a step down the road toward approving medical marijuana,” he added. “It’s totally separate.”

His other bills include:

•1103 — to provide a $250,000 grant to Winchester Speedway from the motorsports improvement fund for the addition about about 1,200 seats.

•1105 — to allow Randolph County to exempt Randolph County YMCA from property taxes for 2014 and 2105. The organization had failed to notify the county of its not-for-profit status after acquiring the Camp Yale property.

•1564 — to repeal a requirement passed in 2015 that requires all city and town court judges to be attorneys. The bill would eliminate the requirement for municipalities with a population of 10,000 or fewer.

•1565 — to create an interim study committee to review the possibility of investing state surplus funds in gold.

Sen. Travis Holdman (R-Markle), who represents Jay County, also has a bill addressing the city/town court judge issue.

Beumer is listed as the co-author on a couple of bills, one of which would allow video gaming terminals in certain establishments and another that would require school corporation’s to report substitute teaching hours for those who qualify for the teacher’s retirement fund.

In addition to the bills he has authored, Beumer has also taken part in some of the lighter activities of being a member of the general assembly, including authoring resolutions congratulating the Indiana State Fair Band Day Champion Winchester Marching Force, the IHSAA Class 2A volleyball state champion Wapahani Raiders. He was also one of a list of co-authors for a resolution honoring Olympic champion Lilly King of Evansville.

The Wapahani team visited the statehouse in early January to receive its honor.

“It’s good for the young people because they get to see the legislature, do the tour of the statehouse and see how government works, and then also be recognized,” said Beumer. “It’s the fun stuff that you get to do.”

He also authored a resolution requesting that U.S. 27 near Lynn be renamed Captain Charles Edwin Engle Memorial Mile. Engle, a native of Randolph County, was killed in action on June 20, 1970, when his plane was shot down while he was attempting to locate another pilot. He was honored with the Silver Star and twice with the Distinguished Flying Cross.