Senate Bill 415 - which offers long term, rehabilitated non-violent offenders an earlier opportunity for parole - will now be sent to the governor’s desk, where it could be signed into law.

“Not only could this measure help relieve Indiana’s overpopulated prisons, but it would also encourage non-violent offenders to prove they’ve learned their lesson and a chance to start over,” Waterman said. “Lawmakers did the right thing by supporting this common-sense proposal.”

Waterman said Indiana’s Parole Board currently reviews the sentences of non-violent offenders who have been incarcerated for 25 consecutive years. Under SB 415, offenders accused of non-violent crimes could be eligible for parole after 21 years if they meet stringent criteria:

• The offender must obtain four years of credit time. Credit options include earning an associate or bachelor’s degree or participating in various community transition programs offered throughout the state;
• The offender is required to serve 21 consecutive years;
• A Parole Board must determine the offender has been rehabilitated; and
• A Parole Board must be convinced the offender has suitable plans warranting the discharge.

“This bill aids with inmate rehabilitation while reducing Indiana’s prison population,” Waterman said. “Non-violent felons can either serve 25 years and be eligible for parole or be eligible for parole after serving 21 years by earning a degree and making suitable plans for a life outside of prison walls.”

As the former sheriff of Sullivan County, Waterman said he understands many jails and prisons are at full capacity, creating heavy burdens on taxpayers.

“It takes nearly $20,000 per year to keep someone in jail,” Waterman said. “If we successfully rehabilitate some of the 7,500 non-violent offenders in Indiana who are serving sentences longer than 20 years, we can get them out of the system and stop wasting Hoosier tax dollars to keep them locked up.”

According to the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC), 15 adult education programs were offered at various state facilities last year. As of July 2009, more than 3,300 offenders were enrolled in college courses.

“Studies have proven that the odds of an ex-offender staying out of jail increases if they have a job, and getting an education increases their chances of finding a job,” Waterman said.

Waterman serves Senate District 39, which includes Clay, Greene, Knox, Daviess, Owen, Sullivan and Vigo Counties.

House Bill 1297 easily passed its final legislative hurdle, advancing to the governor’s office after a 93-0 vote.

“This legislation would help universities accelerate building projects by allowing them to finance grant and contract anticipation loans for the full amount, as opposed to 80 percent of the grant as allowed by current law,” Hershman said. “By no longer delaying building projects due to the financing process, colleges and universities can help spur economic development opportunities and job creation.”

Schools can also issue grant anticipation notes for projects funded by individual donors as opposed to waiting to receive the full donation amount. Currently, debt cannot be issued based on individual donor gifts, Alting said.

“Some donations and gifts to colleges are not given in lump sums,” Alting said. “When funding for a project depended on a donation, that project ran the risk of being put on hold until the entire gift amount was received. Now, projects can be started without waiting for the entire gift amount.”

Hershman represents Senate District 7, which includes Carroll, Clinton, Howard, Jasper, Tippecanoe and White counties.

“According to recent studies, 383,000 Hoosiers abuse prescription drugs each year,” Delph said. “I believe we must do a better job at identifying problem prescribers and ‘doctor shopper’ patients in an effort to reduce prescription drug abuse in our state.”

SEA 356 expands the data collected by the Indiana’s prescription monitoring program (INSPECT) to include the recipient’s method of payment for a controlled substance. The measure also allows INSPECT to release information on prescribers and patients to the state’s toxicologist, Medicaid fraud investigators and substance abuse assistance programs.

Delph said his legislation requires health care provider boards to establish guidelines for prescribing and dispensing of prescriptions and would direct the boards to report to law enforcement or the attorney general when a practitioner deviates from the established guidelines. The bill also includes a civil immunity to prescribers and dispensers who pass along a good faith tip to law enforcement on suspected prescription drug abuse.

Delph’s legislation also makes updates to the state’s professional licensing code in several ways:

• Allowing criminal history check for employees of home health agencies to be provided by a private agency;
• Establishing a uniform procedure to allow a board of a regulated occupation to issue a cease and desist order to an unlicensed person who is engaging in an activity that requires a license;
• Merging and changes the membership of the barber and cosmetology boards;
• Establishing a mental health associate license;
• Requiring the Health Finance Commission to study the issue of paramedic licensure;
• Establishing  a water well driller and water well pump license;
• Repealing law requiring certification of environmental health specialists and licensure of hypnotists;
• Eliminating the Controlled Substance Advisory Committee and transferring responsibilities to the Indiana Board of Pharmacy; and
• Providing automatic revocation of controlled substances permit if physicians’ license is revoked.

Despite the documented success of vote centers, Alting said the bill continuing their operation is in limbo due to a proposed House amendment regarding no-fault absentee voting. This provision would allow voters anywhere to cast early ballots by mail, even if they do not meet established criteria for voting absentee.

Alting is a member of a conference committee designed to work out differences between House and Senate versions of HB 1106, which is set to expire before the 2011 municipal elections.

“Hoosier voters and the local units of government operating in the three pilot program counties should not be punished because agreements can’t be made about absentee balloting,” Alting said. “The issue of absentee balloting should not hold this bill hostage, but rather, absentee voting provisions should stand on their own in a separate bill where they can be debated and sent through the legislative process.”

Vote centers - tested during the 2008 election in Tippecanoe and two other Indiana counties - showed high rates of success, in part, because of their convenience and accessibility. According to the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute, vote centers also provide significant cost savings because they allow election officials to staff fewer polling places and reduce the number of voting machines needed to conduct an election.

Sen. Alting represents Senate District 22, which includes a portion of Tippecanoe County.

Lawmakers unanimously agreed Tuesday on final language of House Bill 1084 - requiring truck drivers to be certified on proper securement of large metal coils to their rigs before driving - and sent it to Gov. Mitch Daniels for further consideration.

Steele said HB 1084 would enhance the training process truck drivers receive in order to haul metal coils on the state’s highways.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) mandates truck drivers to follow load transportation guidelines, Steele said. These regulations mandate trucking companies and their employees to be trained on the proper ways to tie down and transport various forms of oversized cargo.

“HB 1084 would add one more step to this process,” Steele said. “After their training, semi-drivers would be tested on their knowledge of the proper load securement techniques to receive official certification before hauling metal coils in Indiana.”  

Steele said the bill would make hauling massive metal coils without proper certification a Class A misdemeanor - a crime punishable by a fine of $5,000 and up to one year in prison.

Steele said motivation behind the bill came following the tragic deaths of four Orange County residents who were killed after a metal coil weighing more than 43,000 pounds broke loose from a tractor trailer’s flatbed and slammed into the car. Orange County police reports stated improper load securement was the cause of the accident.

One of the victims, 21-year-old Shannon Steele, was not related to the senator.

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Steele serves Senate District 44, which includes Lawrence and Jackson counties as well as portions on Monroe, Orange and Washington counties.

Bray (R-Martinsville) said Senate Bill 163 would require casinos to withhold winnings from parents who ignore their court-ordered child support obligations.

According to the Indiana Department of Child Services, more than 165,000 non-custodial parents owe more than $2,000 each in unpaid child support bills.

“Parents have responsibilities to provide and care for their children,” Bray said. “The intent of this bill is to hold parents accountable and collect late payments for families and children who need the money for day to day necessities.”

If the governor approves Senate Bill 163, parents who win more than $1,200 at Indiana casinos would have their names checked in a database containing information on parents who owe child support. If their name appears in the system, the amount they owe in child support payments would be withdrawn from their winnings.

Additionally, Bray said SB 163 increases the use of wage withholdings, possible suspension of certain state issued licenses and provides tools to locate run away non-paying parents. 

More than $600,000 in gambling winnings has been collected since lawmakers in Colorado implemented a similar system last year, Bray said.

In his State of the State address this year, Gov. Mitch Daniels endorsed Bray’s bill because he believed it would improve the current system of child support collection in Indiana.

“We need new tools to make further headway,” Daniels said in his annual address. “For instance, allow us to see that a delinquent father who wins money in one of our casinos shares some of the take with his children. Every percent of child support improvement sends $7 million directly into the pockets of some of our neediest households.”

Sen. Bray represents Senate District 37, which includes Morgan, Putnam, Owen, Clay, Johnson and Monroe Counties.