2013 Legislative Session Wrap Up “This session has been a success for Hoosiers,” said Rep. Karickhoff. “Looking back, we were able to accomplish much of what we set out to do by focusing on a strong budget that strengthens Indiana’s position moving forward; an education system that best prepares students for the future; and the state’s economy to provide more job opportunities for Hoosiers.” HEA 1170 expands the Training 2000 Program to provide assistance to new or existing businesses in Indiana for training or retraining employees, or additional training to upgrade skill levels. The Training 2000 Program and Fund is comprised of the Skills Enhancement Fund, Indiana Specific Insurance Related Education Training Program and Technology Enhancement Certification for Hoosiers Fund. The programs and funds are administered by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) to provide reimbursements for a qualified business’s training costs. HEA 1170 passed unanimously out of the House. HEA 1219 allows a local unit of government operating a public website database containing the names and addresses of property owners to establish a procedure giving law enforcement officers, judges and victims of domestic violence the option to restrict disclosure of their home addresses to the general public. A police officer, judge or victim of domestic violence who wants their information to remain private must submit a written request to have their addresses removed from public databases. HEA 1219 passed 96-4 out of the House. HEA 1381 requires a school corporation to publically establish the number of transfer students per grade level each school will accept from outside their district and to not allow the school to deny a request for a student to transfer from another school for any reason other than capacity. This balances local control by ensuring school choice is available to all students without preferential treatment. HEA 1381 passed 85-11 out of the House. SEA 180 requires each public university to prepare and publish a report on its grading and employment practices. Employee salaries, faculty responsibilities and student grade point averages must be included in the report. The Commission for Higher Education will then compile this data into a public annual report for the General Assembly to review. SEA 180 passed out of the House 74-18. SEA 182 develops curriculum standards between state educational institutions in order to ease the credit transfer process from one institution to another, increasing opportunities for students to transfer credits from a two-year associate degree to a four-year bachelor’s degree program. SEA 182 passed out of the House 91-2. SEA 285 provides that if a person releases their right to protest against an annexation as part of a contract with a city for providing sewer service to their property, the release is not binding on the next property owner unless, for sewer contracts made after June 30, 2013, the successor of the title has notice of the release. SEA 285 passed out of the House unanimously. Other bills that Rep. Karickhoff authored, co-authored, sponsored and co-sponsored that were signed into law include: • HEA 1029 – Adoption history information • HEA 1044 – Public safety training on Alzheimer’s and dementia • HEA 1045 – Airports • SEA 319 – Soil productivity factors “Following our House Republican Agenda, ‘Own Your American Dream,’ kept the House on course to fulfill its promises to Hoosiers. The tone of this session was much different than the past because both parties were able to work together on the issues that matter most,” Rep. Karickhoff said. “I am honored to have had the opportunity to serve my community for another session and look forward to being back in the community for the interim.” -30-
State Rep. Mike Karickhoff serves on the Ways and Means Committee and the Natural Resources Committee. He is also the chair of the Indiana Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. Rep. Karickhoff represents portions of Howard and Grant counties, most of the city of Kokomo and the towns of Swayzee and Greentown. |
