We have come to the midpoint of session in the General Assembly. Over 650 bills were filed in the House, and of those more than 100 have already been sent to the Senate for their consideration. I am pleased to report that my bill on recreational trail policy, House Bill (HB) 1471 passed out of the House. I am confident that this bill will make sure responsibility for trail maintenance is clearly understood.
The House recently passed HB 1001, Indiana’s biennial budget, authored by Ways and Means Chairman Tim Brown, and I would like to share with you some of the details. Indiana has a strong history of fiscal integrity, and our proposed budget continues that legacy by funding our priorities while maintaining healthy reserves. These reserves are in place to protect Hoosiers in case of another economic downturn and keep taxes low so that you can keep more of your hard-earned money.
We made a list of priorities this year, and our budget funds these responsibly. Public safety was one of the priorities we identified at the beginning of this session. To combat the high infant mortality rate in Indiana, we have funded the Safety P.I.N. (Protecting Indiana’s Newborns) Grant program, which will provide funding for creative proposals that seek to reduce infant mortality and improve the health of new and expectant mothers in Indiana. In addition, our budget doubles funding for domestic violence prevention throughout the state. Last year, many victims were turned away from shelters for lack of resources, and it is our goal to make sure that does not happen again in the coming years.
We remain focused on education. The House budget increases education funding by $469 million over the biennium for a total of over $16 billion through the 2017 fiscal year. We have also been able to rework the funding formula, which allowed us to raise the foundation level of dollars spent on every student. This money will go a long way to prepare our students to succeed in their future goals.
I want to also mention Senate Bill (SB) 62, which the House and Senate sent to the governor recently for his signature. This bill was our response to the problems with the ISTEP testing time. I know many of you were concerned about the length of time it was going to take students to complete the test. The bill we passed shortens the test by at least three hours for every student, reducing the stress and anxiety associated with this type of high-stakes testing. The General Assembly expedited SB 62 through the legislative process to make sure the change was in place before students began taking the test.
On a personal note, I am not sure how many of you have had to apply for a spousal visa to be here in the U.S.A., but our son, Daniel, is married to a Brazilian woman and is struggling to complete the bureaucratic process. This all began almost two years ago when they began submitting documents to government agencies to initiate the proper procedure and do it all legally and “by the book.” It has been one request, followed by a submission, and then a never-ending parade of demands for more detailed information. We received the last information from the IRS and can now submit it to the visa center in Portsmouth, NH. Hopefully, everything will be in order and the visa will be issued. It is a very long and difficult process.
On Feb. 18, my Aunt Mildred Sarver passed away. She lived over 100 years on this earth. Aunt Mildred was born when farmers used horses and mules to work the land. She saw agriculture progress from horses to computerization. Mildred lived through two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East encounters. She saw the hand crank phone on the wall progress to a cell phone. The point is obvious; in 100 years of life Mildred witnessed amazing changes.
She was married to Ralph Sarver and they had two sons, Jerry and Ed. The family owned Midland Lumber in Peru and it continues in business today. Mildred was a very spiritual person and taught children’s classes at church. My aunt taught me much and added to the community. She was devoted to family and her church. Mildred Sarver will be mourned and missed.
More later,
Bill Friend
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Rep. Bill Friend represents portions of Cass, Fulton and Miami counties. He also serves as Speaker Pro Tempore.
