2011: New laws become effective July 1

The Indiana General Assembly approved 229 new laws this year, many of which will become effective July 1. The changes in state law taking place this summer impact a variety of issues, from alcohol sales to texting while driving. Read on for a brief summary of new laws taking effect July 1, 2011.

To see a complete list of new laws enacted and signed by the governor in 2011, visit www.in.gov/gov/billwatch.htm. The Senate Democrats’ Acts of Interest 2011, a summary of new laws approved in 2011, is also available for download (4.59 MB PDF).

Carding for alcohol purchases

The 2011 legislature amended a 2010 law that required retail clerks to verify the age of any customer purchasing alcohol for carry-out. State law requires that a photo ID with date of birth be presented by the customer for age verification. Senate Enrolled Act 78 changed the ID requirement to only require clerks to request an ID from customers who reasonably appear to be younger than 40 years old. The ID law, including the new changes, only applies to carry-out purchases. Restaurants and stores may have stricter policies for serving or selling alcohol.

Texting while driving prohibited

House Enrolled Act 1129 stipulates a Class C infraction, which carries a $500 fine, for drivers who are found to be using a cell phone or other device to type, transmit or read a text message or email message while driving. Use of hands-free devices, however, is permitted. The measure would not infringe upon a driver’s ability to talk on the phone while driving.

2011 Focus: Education Matters

The Indiana General Assembly considered a number of measures related to education, and the following summary briefly describes some of the bills that were approved:

School vouchers:

A plan to redirect state funds from public schools to pay for tuition and fees at private schools through a state voucher program has been sent to the governor for his signature. Under House Enrolled Act 1003, families who qualify for the federal free and reduced lunch program (annual income less than $40,800 for a family of four), will be eligible to receive a voucher equal to 90 percent of the public school corporation’s per-pupil funding. With a household income of about $61,000, a student could receive a voucher in the amount of 50 percent of the school corporation’s per-pupil funding. The maximum voucher amount for students in grades 1 through 8 will be limited to $4,500 per school year. The act includes a short phase-in period allowing up to 7,500 available for the 2011-2012 school year, 15,000 available for the 2012-2013 school year, and no cap after that.

Charter schools:

House Enrolled Act 1002 is the state’s plan for the expansion of charter schools and virtual charter schools in Indiana. HEA 1002 would expand charter school sponsors to include universities and private colleges with 4-year education programs, the mayor of Indianapolis, education service centers and a newly created statewide charter board. For any group other than a mayor to sponsor a charter, a public hearing would be required within the district.  The act would allow conversion from a traditional public school to a charter school if the school board votes in favor of conversion or if 51 percent of the parents in a school sign a petition requesting conversion to a charter school.  It would also make unused public school buildings available for rent or purchase to charter schools. The act has been amended to require 90 percent of charter school teachers be licensed or in the process of obtaining a teaching license. Public funding available to virtual charter schools would be expanded and the current limit on the number of students statewide that can be enrolled in those schools at state expense would be eliminated.

Teachers:

Controversial legislation limiting teacher collective bargaining rights was signed into law April 20. Senate Enrolled Act 575 will limit what may be collectively bargained by teachers to salary, wages, hours, paid time off and wage-related benefits including retirement. Two immediate changes will limit contract terms to end with the state’s two-year budget cycle and stop negotiations on teacher evaluation procedures and criteria. Among other provisions, the new law will terminate current terms of the members of the Indiana Education Relations Board effective upon passage. New members will be replaced with appointments made by the governor.

Legislation tying teacher evaluations to student performance and test scores has been approved by the General Assembly and now awaits the governor’s final approval. Senate Enrolled Act 1 establishes an annual staff performance evaluation that categorizes teachers as highly effective, effective, improvement necessary or ineffective. Although the act will not cut teachers’ pay, it will allow schools to withhold salary increases due to poor performance ratings. Salary raises based upon completion of additional college degrees or graduate credit hours will not be permitted under the act. A teacher’s seniority must not account for more than 33 percent of the basis for salary increases. However, the local salary structure may still be collectively bargained. The act exempts charter schools from due process requirements for educators.

Senate Enrolled Act 1 also provides that a student may not be instructed for two consecutive years by two different teachers who have been rated as “ineffective,” if avoidable. If not avoidable, parents must be notified prior to the start of the second consecutive school year. A teacher who receives a rating of ineffective, under the act, will be considered a probationary teacher. If that teacher receives a rating of ineffective in the year immediately following their original rating, their contract may be terminated. On the other hand, a teacher who enters into a contract after receiving 3 “effective” ratings in a row during a 5-year period will be considered “established,” and their contract will then be considered “indefinite” until they receive a rating of “ineffective” two or more years in a row or a new contract is established. If a school corporation plans to modify its staff evaluation plan, it must submit the plan to the Department of Education for approval in order to qualify for any grant funding.

Education funding:

The new state budget (House Enrolled Act 1) for fiscal years 2011-2013 establishes a new funding “base” for K-12 education, the largest appropriation in the state budget. The new funding base incorporates the governor’s 2010 $300 million cut as a permanent base reduction. The budget makes other changes in the state’s school funding formula, including the elimination of a phase-out funding provision for schools that lose students as well as grants for small schools. Democrats also expressed concern over the unforeseen implications of new charter school, virtual charter school and voucher laws that could result in even fewer dollars available to traditional public schools.

While more funding has been committed to full day kindergarten under the plan, the additional dollars will not guarantee full day kindergarten for every child in Indiana’s public schools. The additional dollars will expand the number of schools receiving state grants that partly pay for kindergarten, but parents will likely still need to contribute as much as $2,000 per child in many schools.

The budget includes a new $1,000 tax deduction that will be provided to families with children in private schools and an “early graduation scholarship” of $4,000 to a student who graduates from high school before grade 12. The early graduation funds will be deducted from the student’s high school’s funding.

Another new K-12 provision contained in the budget will allow the Indiana Department of Education to bring private companies to take over public schools after five years of poor performance. Referred to as “turnaround academies,” the schools will be managed by private companies.

Total general fund appropriations for the state’s universities will be $14.8 million less in 2012 compared to 2011, and down $10.1 million from 2013 to 2011.

2011 Focus: Immigration matters

Published June 29, 2011 Uncategorized Closed
Tags: 2011 legislation, higher education, immigration, Immigration Law, Indiana Senate Democrats

ILLEGAL STATUS, DETENTION, and IDs

Originally introduced as an Arizona-style immigration law, Senate Enrolled Act 590 was ultimately watered down to primarily address issues related to employers hiring illegal immigrants.

Much of the law enforcement provisions were removed from the original language, with the exception of a section that allows local officers to arrest an individual for whom a detainer or notice of action has been issued by an immigration court or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. That provision along with a second part of the new law has been blocked by an injunction issued by U.S. District Court’s Southern District calling the measure “seriously flawed.”  According to the  complaint filed in the case, a notice of action does not necessarily imply illegal activities, but can often be issued “in response to an application by an alien, for example, an application for an immigrant or non-immigrant visa, refugee status, or even an application for naturalization to become a U.S. citizen.”

Read the official Order Granting Preliminary Injunction from the U.S. District Court Southern District here>>

According to the general counsel for the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles, as quoted in a recent story by The Indiana Lawyer,  “… a police officer in the field would have no way to know whether an immigrant who is subject to a removal order is contesting the order on appeal, or is otherwise not subject to detention by federal immigration officers, such as is the case with non-citizens released under an order of supervision because their removal cannot be effected.”

A number of Senate Democrats expressed concern during the debate of the legislation after questioning why the legislature was addressing a federal issue rather than other pressing matters to the state such as job creation and funding for K-12 education.

The second provision in question blocked by the U.S. District Court’s Southern District makes it a crime for anyone to accept an ID, other than a passport, issued by a foreign consular as a valid form of identification.  At question is whether that conflicts with international agreements or overrides the fact that the U.S. Treasury Dept. allows banks to accept those IDs.

A decision in the federal case is expected by July 1, the effective date of the law.

Other provisions in SEA 590:

• Increases criminal sanctions for human trafficking or harboring illegal immigrants for financial gain.
• Places restrictions on bail options if the defendant is an illegal immigrant.
• Prohibits law enforcement from requesting citizenship or immigration status verification of an individual who is a witness to a crime or reporting a crime or and instance of child abuse or neglect.

TUITION FOR HIGHER ED

House Enrolled Act 1402   passed out the 2011 legislative session, also targeting illegal or undocumented immigrants in the state. The act restricts undocumented students living in Indiana from receiving in-state tuition rates. That could mean a substantial increase in tuition costs for students living in Indiana. At Indiana University, for example, the jump would be from approximately $9,000 for in-state tuition to more than $27,500 for out-of-state tuition for full-time undergraduate students.

Opponents expressed numerous concerns that the bill would stymie economic development, leaving a portion of the state’s population without affordable options for higher education. In addition, concerns were expressed that the bill would limit the academic recruitment potential of state universities.

Senate Democrats offered an amendment  to the bill that would have retained the in-state commission rate for students who had graduated from an Indiana high school and lived in the state for three consecutive years. Through this measure, Senate Democrats would have provided in-state tuition for students who had grown up within the state’s education system regardless of their parents’ legal status. However, the provision was voted down largely along party lines.

This bill goes into effect on July 1, 2011, and will affect students attending state universities in the fall of 2011.

Indiana unemployment rate remains unchanged

Published June 17, 2011 Uncategorized Closed
Tags: Department of Workforce Development, DWD, Indiana Department of Workforce Development, unemployment, unemployment rate

On Friday, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development(DWD) announced that Indiana’s unemployment rate for May 2011 remains unchanged at 8.2 percent.  Indiana’s unemployment rate continues to sit below the U.S. rate of 9.1 percent, and stands lower than neighboring states Illinois (8.9 percent), Ohio (8.6 percent), Kentucky (9.8 percent) and Michigan (10.3 percent).

• County with the highest unemployment rate: Fayette 12.0%
  
• County with the lowest unemployment rate: Daviess 5.4%
  

Employment Report (LAUS)

• Labor Force Estimates for U.S., Indiana, MSAs, Counties, Cities
• Ranking of Indiana Counties by Unemployment Rate
• Indiana County Map with Unemployment Rates

Jobs Report (CES)

• Seasonally – Adjusted Employment Table for Indiana
• Non-Seasonally – Adjusted Employment Table for Indiana
• Detail Employment Listing – Statewide & MSAs

2011 Study Committees announced

Published June 7, 2011 Committees: Interim Closed
Tags: child protection laws, Commission on Military and Veterans Affairs, Commission on State Tax and Fiscal Policy, Criminal Code Evaluation Commission, Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Study Committee, Environmental Quality Service Council, graduation rates, Great Lakes, Health Finance Commission, Interim Study Committee on Education, legislative council, marijuana, mass transit, national health care reform, project labor, right to work, sales tax, special education, veterans, workers' compensation

Throughout the summer and fall when the Indiana General Assembly is not in session, numerous interim committees and commissions are convened to conduct in-depth research and analysis on many of the complex issues facing the state. The recommendations formed over the next few months by the work of these committees, which includes public testimony, are included in proposals likely to be considered during the next legislative session. Most study committees must complete their work by November 1st.

Today, the Legislative Council approved a resolution adopting a variety of topics for study, including:

• Laws and penalties for child solicitation, child trafficking, and sex crimes against children – Criminal Code Evaluation Commission.
• Cost effectiveness and the state’s criminal justice system (after last year’s proposal went off the tracks) – Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Study Committee.
• Indiana’s criminal laws regarding marijuana – Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Study Committee.
• Low graduation rates and special education programs – Interim Study Committee on Education.
• Project labor agreements and employee organization, or “right to work,” policies – new Interim Study Committee on Employment Issues.
• Water quality of the Great Lakes – Environmental Quality Service Council.
• Health care exchanges – Health Finance Commission.
• Worker’s comp, health care service prices and billing – Interim Study Committee on Insurance.
• Veterans’ procurement preferences – Commission on Military and Veterans Affairs.
• Transit funding, the state inheritance tax, property tax exemptions for non-profits, sales tax holidays, internet sales tax collection – Commission on State Tax and Fiscal Policy.

Read the full list of summer study committee topics here >>

Committee meeting dates, agendas, and minutes will all be available online at www.in.gov/legislative/interim/committee.

View the interim calendar >

Sen. Tallian on education reform from the 2011 session

Published June 1, 2011 Legislation , Senator Tallian Closed
Tags: 2011 General Assembly, 2011 legislation, education, education reform, Public schools

 

From the Desk of State Senator Karen Tallian: Education Update

June 2011

 

Thanks to everyone who contacted me about the recent changes to our state’s education system. I appreciate your input on this very important public policy issue.

This year the Indiana General Assembly passed, and Governor Daniels immediately signed, legislation that substantially diverts money from traditional public schools and funnels funds to private schools and charter schools. I opposed both bills.

House Enrolled Act 1002 expands charter schools in our state in an unprecedented manner. Charter schools have been sold as an alternative to traditional public schools, to offer students another venue to succeed.  However, it is interesting to note that 8 out of the 10 bottom schools in ISTEP passage rates are charter schools and 21 out of the bottom 40 schools in ISTEP passage rates are charter schools. These numbers are baffling to me. Why would the state choose to provide more money for more charter schools and make it easier for children to move into underperforming institutions? This isn’t to say that traditional public schools don’t have problems- they do indeed.