Week twelve of the Legislative Session is now in the books and the Statehouse is headed into the final push towards sine die, or final adjournment, on or before April 21st. 

CAC attended multiple stakeholder meetings in addition to monitoring meetings of the Senate and House Environmental Affairs committees and the House and Senate Utilities Committee.

In a marathon six-and-a-half hour hearing, the House Utilities Committee heard Senate Bill 309 which would end Indiana’s net metering rule. We were part of a strong network of opposition to SB309, with more than fifty individuals signed up to testify. The bill did not receive a vote but was held for more amendments to be written. Read more about the hearing from the Associated Press here.

Upcoming this Week

This coming week attention continues to be dominated by House Bill 1001, the biennial budget, and the transportation bill, House Bill 1002. 

Although no committee meeting has been announced at the time of this update, we expect SB309 to be heard again on Wednesday March 29th. Follow our updates on Facebook and/or Twitter for announcements regarding SB309 and any other bills we’ve been following in these weekly reports.

In addition we are watching legislation in the Senate Utilities Committee including House Bill 1519, dealing with water infrastructure, and House Bill 1471. HB 1471, authored by Rep. Sally Siegrist (R-West Lafayette), would transfer the administration of the 211 Connect 2 Help dialing code from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. Both bills were heard last week but not given a vote. Though a committee meeting has not been announced as of yet, we expect the bills to receive additional discussion.

Upcoming Solar Rally

April 1st we will join the Indiana Sustainable Energy Coalition in organizing and attending the Rally to Save #IndianaSolar at the Statehouse. Plan on attending this family friendly event at noon which will feature speakers from all over Indiana. The focus is to heighten awareness about Senate Bill 309.

Respectfully Submitted,
Lindsay Shipps & Kerwin Olson