By Erica Irish and Tabby Fitzgerald

TheStatehouseFile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS—Protecting businesses from being sued because of COVID-19 and crafting the state budget are some of the top legislative priorities for Senate Republicans in 2021.

Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, said his party, which holds a supermajority in both chambers at the Statehouse, will prioritize policies they believe most help Hoosiers recover from the pandemic.

Many of the top policies are focused on money. Leading the list is Senate Bill 1, which would protect businesses from being sued if someone is exposed to COVID-19 at their establishment.  The bill is also a top priority for the influential Indiana Chamber of Commerce and was included in Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb’s agenda.

Senate Democrats, who unveiled their own agenda Tuesday, have criticized the bill for prioritizing corporations and business interests without considering workers impacted by the pandemic.

“Nowhere in the bill, which is disturbing to me, are we giving protection to the Hoosier workers who make those companies go,” said Senate Minority Leader Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis. “So we’re not considering the fact that Hoosier workers lost opportunities to work during this pandemic.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony on the bill Wednesday, most of it supportive from groups including the Indiana School Board Association, Indiana Restaurant Marketing Association, Cook Medical and the Indiana Hospital Association. The Indiana AFL-CIO opposed the bill.

Senate Republicans further want to use the long legislative session, where lawmakers will have to agree on the state’s next two-year budget with constrained revenue, to fully fund schools serving virtual students because of COVID-19. Currently under Indiana law, schools that serve virtual students only receive 85% funding per student compared to students going to class in person.

Bray said Republicans will also seek to permanently allow telehealth services that expanded because of COVID-19 so patients can continue to seek medical treatment online or over the phone and give local elected officials, rather than health departments, more control over responses to COVID-19.

Senate Democrats said they will focus on raising the state minimum wage, updating Indiana’s schedule for workers compensation and reforming elections and law enforcement.

Taylor added in a press conference he wants to see the supermajority Republicans adopt the issues as priorities because of pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This pandemic has quickly and overwhelmingly shown how public policy is lacking in many ways,” Taylor said.

Bray also discussed the importance of public access to Senate Republicans and specifically referenced the need for transparency as the legislature debates redistricting this session.

“Redistricting is a duty assigned to the legislature by our state constitution, and we are committed to completing that task fairly and transparently,” Bray said.

FOOTNOTE: Erica Irish is the 2021 Russell Pulliam student editor for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.