Bills move in Senate, House

INDIANAPOLIS — Five pieces of legislation authored by legislators who represent Jay County cleared their respective chambers this week.

State Sen. Travis Holdman had three bills clear the Senate on Monday and Tuesday while State Reps. J.D. Prescott and Matt Lehman each had one pass on third reading in the House.

Two of Holdman’s bills — Senate Bill 4 and Senate Bill 20 — passed the Senate unanimously Tuesday on 48-0 votes. He represents all of Jay, Blackford, Adams and Wells counties as well as part of Allen County.

Senate Bill 4, authored along with State Sens. Ryan Mishler (R-Mishawaka) and Sen. Chris Garten (R-Charlestown), addresses various fiscal issues, including a review every two years to identify dedicated funds that have not been used. Among other procedural changes, it would allow the Legislative Service Agency to adopt interim rules for “a reduction, a full or partial waiver, or an elimination of a fee, fine, or civil penalty.” It also lays out a procedure for developing new templates for creating funds and drafting appropriations to be considered by the code revision commission and possible new legislation in 2026.

Senate Bill 20, on which Sen. Andy Zay (R-Huntington) has been added as a second author, would expand the option of establishing riverfront districts.

The districts, which allow communities to provide additional liquor licenses at a lower cost in order to help drive economic development, are currently only available to cities. The bill would allow towns to establish the districts as well.

Those bills now head to the house with State Reps. Jeff Thompson (R-Lizton) and Lehman (R-Berne) as sponsors, respectively.

Senate Bill 234, which was also authored by State Sens. Aaron Freeman (R-Indianapolis) and Garten, passed the Senate on a 38-10 vote mostly along party lines. The bill indicates that a state of disaster emergency declared by the governor would expire after 30 days. It prohibits the governor from calling a new state of disaster emergency unless it is “wholly unrelated” to the previous disaster but allows renewal of a disaster emergency solely for the purpose of receiving federal funds.

Sen. Greg Walker (R-Columbus) joined nine Democrats in voting against the bill, which moves to the house with Lehman as its sponsor.

Prescott’s House Bill 1338 passed the house 79-17 Monday. It creates a structure for local units of government — school boards are excluded because they are already addressed in another section of Indiana Code — to establish rules for public comment during meetings, including restrictions on time. It sets up a “three strike” procedure — two verbal warnings followed by removal — for enforcing those rules and clarifies that law enforcement officers can’t be held liable for removing individuals from those meetings. The bill also would clarify what areas of government property are open to the public. Off limits would be areas marked as restricted, designated as employee or authorized personnel only, locked or otherwise not accessible to the public.

During Monday’s House session, Reps. John Bartlett (D-Indianapolis) and Bruce Borders (R-Jasonville) expressed concern that elected officials could attempt to use the legislation to avoid difficult questions from their constituents.

“This bill kind of scares me from that perspective,” said Bartlett.

Prescott (R-Union City), who represents all of Jay, Randolph and Blackford counties as well as part of Delaware and Henry counties, reiterated that the bill is not intended to silence anyone but rather to make sure government units can conduct business in an orderly fashion. He said the goal is to have civil, open discussions.

The bill now moves to the Senate with Sens. Scott Alexander (R-Muncie) and Jeff Raatz (R-Richmond) as sponsors.

House Bill 1158 from Lehman (R-Berne), who represents northern Jay County as well as Adams and Wells counties, lays out procedures for county elected officials to enter into contracts. It sets out steps for proposed contracts to be submitted to the county auditor, forwarded to the president of the executive branch (county commissioners) for review within 15 days and then either approved or returned to the elected official with a written explanation regarding what needs to be changed. It also details that commissioners would be able to specify language that contracts must include. 

The bill passed the House 94-0 and now heads to the Senate with Holdman and Garten as sponsors.

Also this week, Holdman’s Senate Bill passed out of the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee. It would exempt specialty or gourmet markets with a restaurant permit from income requirements to sell carry-out alcohol. It had previously passed out of the Senate Public Policy Committee. It is scheduled for second reading in the Senate today.