2011 Focus: Employment-related bills

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

• Find all of the new laws on the Governor’s Bill Watch>>
  

Indiana Business Price Preferences:  One of the few bills approve this year that may directly help small businesses and their employees in Indiana,  House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1183 provides an additional preference for purchases made by a state agency for supplies manufactured, assembled, or produced by an Indiana business in Indiana.  The act also allows a 10% price preference for agricultural products grown in Indiana.

Final Votes
House: vote of 77-0
Senate: vote of 49-1
Governor: Signed May 9, 2011

“Right to Work”: After weeks of protests at the Statehouse by thousands of laborers, teachers and students over bills that would have a negative impact on working families, at least one compromise was reached over the “Right to Work” measure proposed by House Republicans. In it’s original form, House Bill (HB) 1468 would have made it illegal for a group of unionized workers to require each employee who enjoys the benefits of a negotiated contract’s terms to pay organizational dues for negotiation and policing the contract. While the bill has been portrayed as a matter of employee choice, the National Labor Relations Act within federal law already affords protection for workers from forced union membership.

An agreement to put this bill aside and move the topic to a summer legislative study, not a change in state law, was one factor in the House Democrats return to the Statehouse in late March. Look for the topic to be discussed this summer in a legislative study committee.

Mid-session review of Senate bills

This week was the mid-session deadline for Senate bills to advance out of the Senate. Beginning February 28, the Senate will begin work on House bills that were approved in that chamber. This brief summary includes highlights of a few of the 198 bills approved by the Senate that are now eligible for action in the House of Representatives:

Controversial bills restricting organized labor

Thousands of laborers, teachers and students came together at the Statehouse this week to rally against bills that would have a negative impact on working families, including measures that would restrict their ability to organize and limit collective bargaining with employers on a variety of topics.

Video: Tallian Statehouse Update

Reopening debate on unemployment insurance reform

This week the Senate again took up changes to the state’s unemployment insurance policies, with a proposal (Senate Bill 23) to delay reform approved with bipartisan support in 2009.

Monday: Not enough bipartisan support to leverage $150M for out of work Hoosiers

Senators voted along party lines against making changes in state law that would have made $150 million in federal funds available to provide benefits to more unemployed Hoosiers. The author of the proposed amendments (to SB 23), Sen. Karen Tallian of Portage, says that money could have meant more dollars spent in the local economy.  The amendments would have made changes to conform with federal modernization standards determining an employee’s base wage period and expanding eligibility for those caring for an ill spouse, child or parent and continue to receive benefits while enrolled in approved training.

Listen to Sen. Tallian’s comments from Monday’s debate in the Senate:

Tuesday: Senate Democrats vote against delay in getting unemployment benefits to Hoosiers

While most Senate Democrats supported this bill as it made its way through the Senate Tax and Fiscal Committee, a last minute amendment caused the vote to split along party lines. The amendment includes language that would delay out-of-work Hoosiers who have been denied unemployment benefits from receiving any help until a hearing for an appeal is set and a judgment is made.

Sen. Tallian says that the lag time between when an appeal for unemployment benefits is filed and a date is set for the hearing is too long for Hoosier families to withstand. Sen. Tallian also says that this one amendment has caused a once bipartisan agreement to go by the wayside.

Listen to Sen. Tallian’s comments from Tuesday’s debate in the Senate:

Sen. Tim Skinner of Terre Haute says that families should not have to wait for their benefits while they wait for the outcome of an appeal. Sen. Skinner noted his support for the bill before the amendment was included and says that because the bill was changed, so was his vote.

Listen to Senator Skinner’s comments from Tuesday’s debate in the Senate:

Audio: Tallian says unemployment benefits would help Hoosier families, economy

State Senator Karen Tallian proposed an amendment today that would allow Indiana to access approximately $50 million in federal funds to provide unemployment benefits to more unemployed Hoosiers. Tallian says those benefits could mean more dollars spent in the local economy, and the federal government would cover the cost for the next two to four years. Tallian told her colleagues today that, should the changes become burdensome on the state once the federal funds run out, the provisions could be repealed. The amendment, which was called on Senate Bill 23, failed today along party lines.

Listen to Senator Tallian’s comments:

Video: Senate Democrats focus Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund