By: Ashley Bergeron
Staff-Writer
Last issue, we discussed seven new bills in the Indiana legislature. Let’s look at two more.
HB 1677
Authored by Rep. Mitch Gore and co-authored by Rep. Kendall Culp, Rep. Beau Baird and Rep. Sue Errington, HB 1667 calls for an act to amend the Indiana Code concerning environmental law.
In this bill, a new section would be added to the code stating that if a person intentionally or recklessly causes or dumps 30 square feet or more of contaminants or solid waste onto land not owned by them, or has more than two cases of dumping solid waste onto another person’s land, they would receive a Class C misdemeanor. Dumping on sanctuary landfills, incineration, composting, garbage grinding or other acceptable methods would still be permitted.
This bill was read on Jan. 21 and referred to the Committee of Environmental Affairs. On Jan. 30, the bill was recommitted to the Committee of Courts and Criminal Case. On Feb. 13, HB 1667 passed with 95 yeas and 0 nays, and it was referred to the Senate on Feb. 14.
SB 10
Authored by Sen. Blake Doriot, Sen. Chris Garten and Sen. Mike Gaskill, co-authored by nine other senators and sponsored by three representatives, SB 10 calls for an act to amend the Indiana Code concerning elections.
Documents from an educational system, like an IU CrimsonCard, would no longer be accepted as proof of identification to register to vote. County voter registration offices would need to perform maintenance on the voter registration list on a regular basis and not less than twice a year. People would be removed from the list for criminal conviction, failure to provide proof of citizenship, confirmation that they live outside the county in which they are registered, or failure to respond to a notice that their registration will be deactivated.
A new section will be added to the code stating that the county voter registration office will send a notice to people who have not voted in the past two general elections.
Health officials will also be required quarterly to provide a copy of the death certificate for each individual included in death records to the voter registration office.
SB 10 was read on Jan. 14 and referred to the Committee of Elections. On Feb. 4, it passed the senate and was referred to the House on Feb 5.
If you want to see what new bills are being proposed in our state legislature, go to legiscan.com to find bills in Indiana as well as other states. If you want to contact your representative but don’t know who they are, you can find them usa.gov/elected-officials. If there are any bills you want us to report on, please let us know at iusbpreface.com/feedback.
