State lawmakers have been meeting for weeks to debate and discuss new laws, programs and decisions that will have statewide impact.
Their discussions are on the minds of local officials, from the sheriff and county prosecutor to school superintendents, because of the impact they could have in Johnson County.
More than 1,000 proposals were made by state lawmakers, and each is going through the legislative system. In the coming weeks, some proposals will move ahead to committees and eventually the full House and Senate, and others won’t.
Here is a look at some of those proposals and how they could impact Johnson County:
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Education funding
Local school superintendents are closely watching a proposal that would combine the different funds used to pay for schools’ expenses.
Currently, public schools receive funding from the state for salaries and other operating expenses and from property taxes for other expenses, including transportation costs and building maintenance, and money in those funds is only supposed to be used for those purposes. Under the proposed legislation, schools would have two funds: operating and education expenses.
School officials are weighing in on the proposal with state lawmakers, which has led to discussion of amendments that could be necessary, Clark-Pleasant Schools Superintendent Patrick Spray said.
Whether the proposal will be beneficial to schools will depend on the details of the final legislation, but having more flexibility with spending would help, Greenwood Schools Superintendent Kent DeKoninck said.
Also on the list of proposals: returning money collected in tax-increment financing, or TIF, districts to local schools. Currently, TIF districts set aside property taxes from all new business development in specified areas, including what would go to schools. Under the proposals, cities could decide to give that money back to schools, or schools could opt out of their tax dollars being set aside in TIF districts.
The proposals likely won’t be approved, but the discussion is important to have and could lead to changes in the future, Spray said.
ISTEP replacement
Once again this year, the state’s standardized test, the ISTEP exam, is a big topic of discussion among lawmakers.
But local school officials aren’t confident anything will change this session. And no details have been discussed of what that future test will actually look like, DeKoninck said.
Spray would like to see the state consider other, nationally-used assessments, such as the SAT exam. Franklin Schools Superintendent David Clendening wants lawmakers to consider using NWEA testing that schools already use instead of the ISTEP.
“Let’s just get something and stay with it, instead of having this constant turmoil and change,” DeKoninck said.
Drug abuse and treatment
Lawmakers are considering multiple proposals to address the heroin and opiate addiction issues plaguing the state.
On the list of possibilities: a substance abuse pilot program in schools, a fiscal impact study of drug abuse, limiting the amount of opiates that can be prescribed, a new treatment program to be piloted in Allen County courts and a needle exchange program.
Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper is strongly against a needle exchange program locally and has testified against it. In other areas, people have started selling the needles to make money, he said.
But he is hopeful the new program being started in the Greenwood City Court, which uses a device to block pain signals for addicts in withdrawal to help them get off drugs, will be able to expand in the state in the future.
Jail crowding
More than two years after new legislation stopped counties from sending offenders convicted of the lowest level felonies to prisons, lawmakers are taking another look at that change.
Local officials have said the county jail has about 60 felons serving their sentence, contributing to overcrowding. The jail population has topped 400 people in recent weeks, or about 80 people above the maximum capacity.
Legislation proposed this session would make slight changes to the requirements, including clarifying some circumstances where the offenders could be sent to a state prison, such as when they have violated probation or their sentence is being served along with another conviction. And another proposal would eliminate the ban on sending the lowest level offenders to prison.
Sheriff Doug Cox, Johnson County Circuit Judge Mark Loyd and Cooper would all support changes that would help relieve crowding at the jail, they said.
Food and beverage tax
For the last few years, Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers has been asking the state for permission to collect a tax on meals at local restaurants that would bring in more money for local expenses, such as police officers.
This year, another piece of legislation has been proposed that would allow any city or town to approve and collect its own food and beverage tax for local expenses. The proposal was recently referred to a House committee.
Myers is hopeful the legislation will be approved this year.
Voting issues
Two different proposals would impact how and when voters can register to be eligible to cast their ballots.
One proposal would allow voters to register to vote and vote on Election Day, while also extending voting hours on Election Day until 8 p.m. And another would automatically register someone to vote when they get or renew their driver’s license.
Cigarette tax
Multiple proposals have been made this year that would increase the tax on a pack of cigarettes, and one would increase the legal age to smoke to 21.
Currently, the tax is about $1 per pack, and proposals range from increasing it by $1 to $2. That money would then be used to reimburse Medicaid providers, for tobacco cessation and education programs or for the medical residency education fund.
Tobacco Free Johnson County, which focuses on smoking cessation and prevention, is closely following the legislation, including the proposal to increase the legal smoking age to 21 years old, program coordinator Nancy Voris said. Changing the smoking age would remove 18-year-olds, who often are still associating with younger children through school, she said.
Handgun permits
Under one proposal, gun owners would no longer need to apply for and get a permit in order to carry a handgun.
But that is a concern to local law enforcement. Currently, residents apply for permits through their local police agencies, and Cox has seen people apply who should not have a license to carry a gun, he said.
“If everyone can carry a gun, where do we weed out individuals who shouldn’t possess them,” he said.
Eliminating the licensing requirement also would take money away from local police departments and the sheriff’s office. For example, last year the sheriff’s office collected more than $71,000 from fees collected from residents seeking gun permits, Cox said.
That money is used to purchase firearms and ammunition, and without it, that money would need to come from county tax dollars, he said.
Indiana Commerce Connector
A beltway around Interstate 465 that raised criticism from local residents was brought up in a state lawmaker’s proposal.
The proposal calls for tolling to be allowed on the Indiana Commerce Connector, an interstate first proposed more than a decade ago by former Gov. Mitch Daniels that would loop around central Indiana, passing south of Franklin and connecting multiple interstates.
Under the legislation, the state would also be required to study high occupancy lanes on I-465 and whether using the Commerce Connector as a toll road for commercial traffic is feasible.
Collecting DNA from people arrested
If someone is arrested, the state could collect their DNA and store it, allowing it to be compared to samples when crimes are committed, under one proposal.
The idea is one that has been discussed nationwide, but locally, officials are split on the idea.
The proposal smacks of presuming guilt over innocence, but is also similar to police collecting fingerprints and photos for lineups when people are arrested, Loyd said.
Currently, if investigators wants to get someone’s DNA, they would need to establish probable cause to link the person with the crime being investigated. And if they can’t do that, they can’t get a warrant for DNA, Cooper said.
Cooper said the measure could help solve crimes, but as an attorney, it would go against personal liberties. It also raises concerns with violating the Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens from unreasonable search and seizure, he said.
