The first set of deadlines have passed for the Indiana Legislature, and we have now come to the halftime point.  Third Reading deadline was Monday February 27th in the House and Tuesday February 28th in the Senate. If bills did not pass the first half of the session, it’s likely the legislative language is dead. That said, the bill number itself may no longer be alive, but that does not preclude legislators from including language from those bills in legislation that is still moving through the process.

We watched some floor action last week but most of the legislation we were watching has already passed its house of origin (meaning Senate bills we’re watching have already passed the Senate and House bills we’re watching have already passed the House). Two bills we updated you on last week - Senate Bill 9 and Senate Bill 390 - passed the Senate without much issue. We testified last week on SB9 whose scope was changed significantly, as we reported in our Statehouse Report. 

Senate Bill 451 (Carbon Capture and Sequestration) also passed last the Senate last week. It had been languishing on the Senate calendar for more than a week, as there are a number of interest groups opposed to the legislation that would allow Wabash Valley Resources to take away the rights of property owners for the sake of their Carbon Sequestration science experiment in Vigo and Vermillion Counties.  We’ve been successfully fighting this proposal for years, and despite the fact that nothing in state law prohibits Wabash Valley Resources from moving forward with their project, they’ve again asked the legislature to grant them special treatment. 

We would also note that a large amount of legislation that would have benefited Indiana was not heard. This includes Senate Bill 335 which died despite an expertly strategized presentation led by a series of youth climate activists. SB335 would have created a Climate Solutions Task Force to reveal the data surrounding climate change issues in Indiana such as land acquisition for nature preserves, the creation of a carbon credit market, energy efficiency, and mass transit. Also dead are two bills that would’ve helped protect Hoosiers from the abuses of Indiana's monopoly utilities. SB40 would protect vulnerable consumers from losing utility service in the hot summer months. SB254 would make it more affordable and possible for customers to pay off utility debt and stay connected. Sadly, those bills didn’t get hearings, so we will continue to advocate for those outcomes with other methods.

This week we’ll be in the House Utilities Committee on Tuesday, Tuesday, March 7th, 10:30 a.m. You can watch live here and view the agenda here. They’ll be hearing:

• SB114: Receivership for past due utility - this bill attempts to address the issue of unpaid utility bills incurred by apartment complexes. Ko Lyn Cheang recently reported on this in the IndyStar: City, state, water company sue negligent apartment owners in Indianapolis.
• SB176: Small modular nuclear reactors - this bill increases the megawatt eligibility for CWIP (Construction Work in Progress) from 350 to 470, to include the Rolls Royce SMRs being developed in the UK.
• SB374: Regional water, sewage, or solid waste districts - this bill increases compensation for board members of a regional water, sewage, or solid waste district.

To follow these bills in real time, make sure you follow us on Twitter. We tweet throughout the week as to the progress of bills we mention in our reports and on the Indiana General Assembly page of our website. 

Respectfully Submitted,

Lindsay Haake & Kerwin Olson