The House has already filed more than 600 bills-but usually only half will ever see the governor's desk to be signed into law. Some bills will look completely different in their final form than what they did when they were first filed - the result of being heavily amended over its lifetime in the General Assembly. Many bills have already passed out of their assigned committees, and are now receiving their second or third hearings. This week in the House Education Committee, we heard several bills dealing with education reform and ways to improve the education system. One of those bills we heard testimony that dealt with charter schools. A charter school is a public school that gives families more options to their child's education. House Bill 1002, which passed out of committee, would set guidelines for charter schools to be created or converted into a charter school. House Bills 1341 is a great example of the proposed changes that could affect our education system in District 70. Some schools do this already, but with this bill, all school corporations can service these children. I'm committed to seeing improvements made to the state's education system, and this bill is just one way we plan to make those improvements. In addition to education, we are hearing several other pieces of legislation that could directly affect us at home. House Bill 1265, for example, would establish the River Ridge Commerce Corridor and designate it as an extra heavy duty highway before the East End Ohio River Bridge is completed and open to traffic. This would allow companies to haul steel and other large loads from barges at the port to the warehouses or manufacturers at the commerce center. This is important because the port is running out of space for new development. House Bill 1460 would require the Clark and Floyd County special funds board of managers to have only nine members, instead of the current 13 member board. At least five of those nine members would be required to have experience in the tourism business, thus helping the board operate more efficiently while keeping costs down. In addition, I authored House Bill 1084 to provide whistleblower protection to employees and residents of nursing homes. If a resident or employee in good faith reports a problem with a resident's health to a supervisor, the nursing home cannot retaliate against that individual. The bill would allow the offended party to file a complaint with the Department of Health. The Commissioner of the Department would then investigate these complaints and take action against the nursing home, if necessary. Another bill I authored, House Bill 1089, would give taxpayers in Dearborn, Switzerland, Ohio, Harrison and Orange counties more control over how their tax dollars are managed. My motivation for filing this bill came from my experience with the hospital built in Harrison County several years ago. During the debate about the project, I felt that the county council and county commissioners did not listen to the concerns of taxpayers. Many people asked me if they could request a referendum on the project. However, I found out that Indiana law did not allow a referendum. When I arrived in Indianapolis, I decided to file this bill to give the taxpayers more of a say in how their tax dollars are used. The legislation would allow taxpayers in those counties to request a referendum on hospital projects that cost more than $2 million. Property taxes would have to be used as a backup if other sources of revenue are insufficient to pay off the debt. Finally, the referendum would have to be requested by at least 100 property owners or five percent of the voters within the county. You can see what takes place during House committee meetings, floor discussions or follow the status of any bill at www.in.gov/legislative. It is our duty as legislators to bring issues to the table that will impact us at a state and local level. I encourage you to contact me with any ideas or concerns you might have. |
