INDIANAPOLIS—The Indiana House reviewed over 45 bills Monday, with topics varying from handguns for teachers to child support.
Rep. Ed Delaney, D-Indianapolis, proposes two amendments before the House Chamber. Neither amendment passed.
Post-childbirth expenses
Authored by Rep. Elizabeth Rowray, R-Yorktown,House Bill 1009has seen a lot of changes since the start of the session. Initially, the bill aimed to add a portion to Indiana law about child support from conception, but after research found some troubling statistics regarding maternal death, Rowray reworked her bill.
If passed in its current version, HB 1009 would instead push for child support to include hospital and post-birth expenses, like strollers and therapy for mothers struggling with postpartum depression.
Lawmakers spent little time discussing the bill, though they did get into fine details of an amendment proposed by Rep. Cherrish Pryor, D-Indianapolis, making minor changes. It was found that some of the amendment’s language went against Indiana’s current law, and the amendment was voted out of order.
Handgun training for teachers
Rep. Ed Delaney, D-Indianapolis, proposed an amendment enabling parents to know if their children’s teachers are carrying if House Bill 1177 passes.
HB 1177 creates a standardized handgun curriculum for teachers to be trained in the case of an active shooter. In the bill’s original state, author Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, made it so that teachers carrying handguns could be anonymous. Lucas included this to eliminate active shooters from knowing which classrooms would have a firearm.
Delaney considered this part of the bill a violation of parental rights.
“The parents have a right, in my mind, to know whether the teacher assigned to their child will be either wearing or somewhere securing a weapon,†Delaney said.
Delaney brought another similar amendment, and both failed to pass.
Other bills
Additional bills that were heard regarded finances, veterans’ cemeteries and compliance fees for dental hygienists and dentists.
Ashlyn Myers is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
