The Legislature is quickly barreling towards sine die, or final adjournment, which must occur, according to state statute, on or before April 29th. We attended multiple committee meetings and stakeholder meetings this week. 

Neither the Senate nor House Utilities Committee met last week. Focus was on the bills on the House and Senate Calendars. 

The House unfortunately passed the HB1421 concurrence motion and the bill heads to the Governor. House Bill 1421 gives utilities Construction Work in Progress, or CWIP, for the construction of dirty and expensive fossil-gas power plants. You can keep track of the bills on the Governor’s desk here.

The House amended Senate Bill 180 last week. SB180 is authored by Senate Utilities Chairman, Sen. Eric Koch, and would allow recently acquired distressed wastewater utilities to link a small portion of the costs associated with environmental investments, like wastewater treatment plants, to water customers, with IURC approval. The bill could face a vote as soon as Monday.

House Bill 1007 passed the House 92-2. The bill places 5 considerations into state statute for the state’s energy conversation to include: reliability, affordability, resiliency, stability, and environmental sustainability. The bill now heads to the Governor.

SB114: Receivership for past due utility bills is also on the Governor’s desk awaiting action. SB114 attempts to address the issue of unpaid utility bills incurred by apartment complexes. Ko Lyn Cheang recently reported on this in the IndyStar.

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) bill we told you about last week has been passed by the Ways and Means Committee. SB265 brings TANF funding up to date. If you can believe it TANF hasn’t been increased or adjusted since 1988 (coverage here.) The bill heads to the House floor for further action.

As you may remember, we testified in support of House Bill 1138 in the Senate Environmental Affairs Committee—they passed the bill after amending it last week. HB1138 is a follow up bill to Rep. Carolyn Jackson’s (D-Hammond) 2020 Legislative Session House Bill 1265 requiring lead testing in schools, which is now state law. Since daycares were not included in the 2020 bill, the sole aim of HB1138 is to include those daycares. The bill will be up for a vote in the Senate as soon as this coming Monday.

After a rogue amendment in the House Environmental Affairs Committee at the behest of the Indiana Builders Association, SB414 was passed by the House last week. SB414 radically departed its original subject matter and further degrades Indiana wetlands and we encourage you to contact your legislators immediately. SB414 now heads back to the Indiana Senate where its author will file a concur or dissent motion, agreeing or disagreeing to changes made to the bill in the House.

We testified in favor of House Bill 1290 in the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee. HB1290 will increase the Earned Income Tax Credit to 12% and recoupled Indiana’s EITC with that of the federal EITC. It didn’t receive a vote in committee and it’s not scheduled (yet). We will keep an eye on this and update you.

Upcoming 

Committee meetings have not been announced for the House nor Senate Utilities Committee. We are still awaiting news as to whether House Bill 1420 will receive a hearing in the Senate. HB1420 would grant utilities what is known as the Right of First Refusal (ROFR) for most transmission projects built in their monopoly service territory. The bill will further undermine competition against monopoly utilities that is essential to controlling electric bills, by effectively blocking competitive bidding on the maintenance, operations, and ownership of highly expensive transmission projects. This bill is newsworthy right now because a similar proposal in Iowa was rejected by the Iowa Supreme Court recently. 

After languishing for weeks, Senate Bill 451’s author, Sen. Jon Ford (R-Terre Haute) filed a motion to concur, so we’ll expect a final vote on that bill later this week. SB451 forces Hoosier property owners in Vermillion and Vigo Counties - families, farmers, and businesses - to allow toxic, highly pressurized carbon dioxide waste to be stored long-term underneath their properties without their consent. SB451 also authorizes Wabash Valley Resourcesto condemn property in those counties with no notification to the property owner. The Indianapolis Star covered the issue here, and you can take immediate action on SB451 here. 

We are still awaiting a Senate vote on HB1417, a dangerous piece of legislation that will unquestionably lead to unaffordable utility bills for all utility consumers (including electric, gas, water, and wastewater) by significantly eroding IURC authority. The bill will allow utilities to self-approve and book any expenditures they make, and all but guarantees that they will recover those costs from ratepayers in a future rate case, including financing costs and return on investment (profit margin) for those investments. Our testimony on House Bill 1417 can be viewed here. 

Follow our updates on Facebook and/or Twitter for announcements regarding these and other bills we’ve been following in these weekly reports.

Respectfully Submitted,

Lindsay Haake & Kerwin Olson