Indiana

Bills, Bills, Bills

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

In addition to the budget and government consolidation, there are a lot of other pieces of legislation that will try to work it’s way through the Indiana General Assembly.  Here are a few that I’ll be paying attention to. Hat tip to Doug Masson, his web blog gives a pretty good summary of a lot of these bills.  I recommend him as a resource if you’re trying to follow this stuff.

SB 11 - Prohibits an employer from banning employees from bringing weapons onto their property as long as the gun stays locked in the vehicle.

SB 17 - Reduces the amount required for disclosure of legislative gifts from $100 to $25.

SB 15 - Requires a one-year “cooling off” period before lawmakers can lobby the legislature after leaving office.

SB 20 - Requires pharmacists to fill contraceptive prescriptions in a timely manner.

SB 40 - Caps increases in the annual property tax assessments at five percent of a home’s value unless the home changes owners that year, or the increase results from physical changes to the home.

SB 40 is something that really peaks my curiosity as it has been one of the big questions left over in the property tax debate about assessments and making sure what while increases are capped on one end, there was nothing to stop local governments from hitting consumers in the pocket on the front end.  Capping assessments at 5% gives homeowners even more predictability with their property taxes.

SB 11 and SB 20 are an interesting dichotomy in balancing employer and employee rights.  Philisophically I tend to favor an employer’s rights to regulate his or workplace and if employees don’t like it, they exercise their free market choice and not work there, so leave your gun at home and go get the box of ribbed condoms.  I’ll be watching these two bills pretty closely.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on January 06, 2009 (boomark / email).