Bills quickly making their way through short session – Goshen News

GOSHEN This short session of the Indiana Legislature is getting the reputation for bipartisanship and getting work done quickly. But Sen. Blake Doriot, R-Syracuse, the lone legislator at Friday mornings Advocate@8 at the Goshen Chamber of Commerce, said speed and cooperation were out of necessity.

Some longtime legislators have commented to Doriot, They have never seen anything like this, he told the group of about 15 people. It is moving so fast. Weve got pressure from the outside to finish early. Its called the NCAA. We will be without rooms if we do not get done. If youre in a hotel youre gone because the big money is coming to town.

One of the big items on everyones mind at the Statehouse is education, he said, adding legislators are decoupling teachers from iLEARN, the statewide student assessment testing.

Ill be honest, in my opinion, and probably the man in the downstairs office probably wont be happy with what Im saying, but testing is a mess in Indiana. I think there are more viable options to what we are doing. I have learned so much. I appreciate the Red for Ed people well most of them, Doriot said, causing the group to laugh. Some of them came down and talked with us. I was very appreciative. Dwight Moudy, who does a program Cowboy Ethics, he scheduled the best teacher meeting I have ever had with Elkhart teachers.

Doriot met with the teachers in the library and talked about how they have students who are coming in January in shorts or ragged sweatpants and Crocs or flip flops. Its terrible, he said. The teachers are ending up having to be parents to these kids.

Doriot said there was an option for teacher pay this year that was shot down over one simple reason: they were taking money from the teachers retirement fund for older retired teachers and wanting to move it over to fund the pay raise. In the meantime, he said, the state is trying to pay down the debt and get the retirement fund more solvent.

Were not going to jeopardize the retired teachers retirement fund to do this, he said. We will be looking at teacher increases in the budget year, where we should be.

In this short session, Doriot has proposed nine pieces of legislation.

Senate Bill 187 would relocate all of Elkhart Countys courts into one place, but it would not have to necessarily be in the county seat as state law mandates. This legislation would allow Elkhart County to build the courts building outside of Goshen if the County Commissioners so decide. Currently the courts are located in downtown Goshen and Elkhart. That bill passed out of the Senate by a vote of 48-1 and will now be considered by the House of Representatives.

Senate Bill 146 concerning sexual assault victim rights creates the right for a sexual assault victim to have a counselor present before and during a forensic medical exam or an interview with law enforcement or defense attorney. This has been referred to the Senate Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law.

Doriot said this bill is a result of activism by actress Mariska Hargitay, who is making a nationwide push. It gives victims more rights during the process, he said. Legislators talked with prosecutors and believes they have made the bill better so victims of sexual assault dont feel so alone in the process. I cannot imagine the trauma [being alone] puts on an individual. There will be a hearing on that bill next week. So hopefully we can get that passed and get these victims some more help as they go through this traumatic time, he said.

Railroad crossing safety is another issue Doriot is addressing this session.

Currently Senate Bill 54 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Transportation. Doriot said his bill would require additional lanes and signs to be constructed at dangerous railroad crossings on state highways.

Senate Bill 100 would protect property owners whose homes are nonconforming to local zoning regulations and are then damaged by a disaster. He said, those homeowners could then rebuild their homes on the same footprint with less hassle with this bill. Building codes would still need to be observed.

Senate Bill 148 would protect housing affordability by limiting local regulation of modular homes in mobile home parks, according to information provided by Doriot. This just basically says that modular homes are a viable construction, he explained. The bill passed out of the Senate Committee on Local Government and will now move to the full Senate.

Senate Bill 55 seeks to reduce the cost of public works projects by allowing competitive bidding on piping materials for construction. This was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce and Technology. There were groups lobbying against this, Doriot explained. Its probably not going to go this session, he said. It will probably come back next year.

A number of residents had questions and comments for the legislator.

Moderator Vince Turner asked if there was any action on transparency in hospital billing.

Doriot, who is not in health, has not seen any of those bills yet concerning that issue, but they are moving through.

He and Sen. John Ruckelshaus have filed bill SB 232 that eliminates the property tax exemption for property owned by an Indiana nonprofit corporation and used by that corporation in the operation of a hospital.

Doriot said that when nonprofit hospitals buy private practices, those practices can become part of the nonprofit system. Then, if a city is jammed up against tax caps, its losing money. Maybe next year, he said, the legislators will look at the effect of expansion of nonprofits on local government.

Goshen Mayor Jeremy Stutsman addressed the issue of trains parking in Goshen.

What were seeing in Goshen now is weve become the parking ground for the Elkhart rail yard, he said.

Aware that no one can put a stop to trains parking and blocking intersections after a federal ruling, Stutsman would like to see the railroad contact Elkhart County dispatch to tell them which roads are being blocked. That would allow dispatchers to give an alternate route to people or ambulances that are trying to get to the hospital.

Doriot said he thought that was a great idea. Although it would be impossible to write an amendment to a bill at this point, he would contact the railroad to see if they would be on board with the idea.

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Bills quickly making their way through short session - Goshen News