Earlier this week, members of the Indiana Senate Republicans announced their agenda for the 2018 legislative session.
There are five main areas Senate Republicans have focused on this session to improve our state, which include curbing the rampant opioid abuse problem, streamlining our workforce development efforts, caring for our schools, updating our civil forfeiture laws and allowing Sunday alcohol sales.
To accomplish these goals, the following bills have been filed:
- Fight the drug epidemic (Senate Bill 221, authored by Sen. Erin Houchin, R-Salem)
Help prevent opioid abuse by phasing in a requirement for doctors to check INSPECT, the state’s prescription-monitoring service, when prescribing opioids to a patient.
- Improve workforce development (Senate Bill 50, authored by Sen. Doug Eckerty, R-Yorktown, and Senate Bill 172, authored by Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Centerville)
Expand financial aid for job-training programs and require high schools to offer computer science.
- Support our schools (Senate Bill 189, authored by Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Bremen, and Senate Bill 177, authored by Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn)
Increase school funding to account for higher-than-expected enrollment and adjust Indiana’s diploma system to make sure all high-school graduates are counted in Indiana’s federal graduation rate.
- Reform civil forfeiture laws (Senate Bill 99, authored by Sen. Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville)
Reform Indiana’s civil forfeiture laws to better balance law-enforcement needs and property owners’ Constitutional rights.
To stay up to date on what is happening in the Statehouse, you can stream session meetings and committee hearings online by visiting iga.in.gov. You can also view proposed legislation on this site.
