INDIANAPOLIS — It was another productive legislative session for Sen. Michael Crider, R-Greenfield, despite the uncertainty he said he felt going into the process.
Before the session started, Crider said, he was involved in trying to create the rules of conduct the state Senate would operate under during COVID-19 and was worrying about whether they would be effective in keeping legislators safe and allowing the session to move forward unimpeded. Not only did the General Assembly make it through the session without a coronavirus outbreak, but Crider was able to pass what he said were several significant bills relating to longtime priorities like mental health and domestic violence.
“I personally had probably one of the best sessions I’ve ever had,” Crider said.
Six of the bills Crider authored this session, and a number of the House of Representatives bills he carried through the Senate, passed both chambers of the General Assembly. Gov. Eric Holcomb recently signed several of Crider’s bills, among them Senate Bill 7, 79, 365 and 400.
One of the bills, SB 7, increases the training requirements for nurses who treat sexual assault victims during a criminal investigation. Crider authored a similar bill on training for police investigators in sexual assault that Holcomb signed earlier in the month.
SB 79, a bill on domestic violence, originally only contained provisions related to increasing the penalty for domestic violence cases in which the perpetrator has a previous offense involving strangulation, increasing the penalty to a felony. In the House, amendments added the same enhancement for cases in which a perpetrator commits violence against someone with a protective order against them. It also offers guidance for how schools should handle it if one student is granted a protective order against another.
Crider said the amendments made a strong bill even stronger.
“I’m pleased to see that one signed into law,” he said.
SB 365 creates enhanced confidentiality protections for peer-to-peer counseling for physicians, which Crider said he hopes will encourage more health care providers to take advantage of such programs after a difficult year. SB 400 requires the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles to implement a statewide title and lien system.
The governor also signed Senate Bill 3, a bill related to telehealth that Crider helped author. It is largely aimed at helping ensure services delivered via telehealth are held to the same standard as in-person health services.
Still waiting for a signature is Senate Bill 82, which expands the category of medical practitioners who can make a diagnosis of a mental health problem. Crider said he expects the governor to sign the bill, which is aimed at allowing people to get treatment for mental health issues more quickly, within the next week.
“It puts Indiana in line with 48 other states,” he said.
In the House, Rep. Bob Cherry, R-Greenfield, successfully championed a bill calling for a magistrate to be added to Hancock County’s court system. The bill has passed the House and Senate and is awaiting the governor’s signature.
Several of Cherry’s other bills failed to get off the ground during the session. He said he was disappointed by the failure of the House to take up a bill he thought enjoyed broad support, which would have stopped penalizing schools by subtracting funding when high school seniors graduate early. Leaders of Hancock County school corporations said the bill would have helped them; some lose over a hundred thousand dollars because of high early graduation rates.
“I had so much support for it and didn’t get it, so I’m a little disappointed in that,” Cherry said.
The House of Representatives and Senate both closed out the session by voting to pass the state’s budget bill on Thursday, April 22.
Cherry said he was happy with the state’s budget and with the bipartisan passage of the budget bill. Only two members of the House of Representatives voted against it, Republicans John Jacob and Curtis Nisly. Cherry described them as representing the furthest right portion of the Republican caucus.
“I think we had a really strong budget,” he said. “I’m really proud of it.”
Crider said he thought the budget was a strong one and was happy to see increases in funding for education and for mental health programs.
“It’s an absolute home run,” he said.
In a press release, Holcomb praised the productivity of the General Assembly.
“Indiana will remain on a roll thanks to the teamwork of all those involved throughout this legislative session,” he said.