The special legislative session that was called by Gov. Eric Holcomb to provide inflation relief to Hoosiers is entering a second week. Lawmakers are also tackling the issue of abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court recently overturned the key holding in Roe v. Wade. If lawmakers are unsuccessful in reaching consensus on the main issues of the session before August 5, it’s anticipated they will continue their work into a third week. Bills must reach the Governor’s desk by August 14.
A hearing was held on July 26 by the House Ways and Means Committee on House Bill 1001, authored by Rep. Sharon Negele (R-Attica). The bill includes a tax refund of $225 per taxpayer, a sales tax exemption for diapers, increases various child tax deductions, enhances Medicaid and Healthy Indiana Plan coverage for expectant and new mothers, and provides funding for various wraparound services. A slightly amended version of HB 1001 was unanimously approved by the committee and sent on to the full House of Representatives.
The House returned on July 28 for further debate and to consider 26 amendments to HB 1001. Most of these amendments were defeated along party lines. However, several amendments were adopted that change how Safety PIN (Protecting Indiana’s Newborns) grant funding is prioritized, seek to boost public awareness of wraparound services and newborn safety devices and establishes a Family and Social Services Administration advisory board to provide recommendations related to reimbursement for doula services. The amended version of HB 1001 was considered the next day and gained overwhelming bipartisan approval with a vote of 93-2. The bill is referred to the Senate for consideration with Sen. Travis Holdman (R-Markle) as the sponsor.
Although unanticipated, a pair of bills related to tax and fiscal matters were introduced in the Senate by Sen. Holdman. Hearings on these bills were held July 26 by the Senate Appropriations Committee. Senate Bill 2 establishes the Hoosier Families First Fund and appropriates $45 million to the fund for enhanced services to expectant and new mothers in addition to families. Additionally, Senate Bill 3 is intended to provide inflationary relief to Hoosiers. Some of the measures in SB 3 include: capping the gas sales tax and freezing other fuel taxes, a sales tax exemption for utility services, provides funding for local governments to replace lost gas tax revenue, transfers excess revenues to the capital reserve account and the pension stabilization fund.
The Senate considered amendments to SB 2 and SB 3 on July 28, rejecting most amendments along party lines. Amended versions of SB 2 and SB 3 were debated on final passage July 29 and gained approval 46-1 and 40-4 respectively. Both bills are referred to the House for consideration with Rep. Tim Brown (R-Crawfordsville) as the sponsor.
The House and Senate are in session this week with hearings scheduled for HB 1001 and SB 2.
Resource: David Ober at (317) 264-6887 or dober@indianachamber.com
