DYING BILLS

How can bills be dying 3.5 weeks into session?

There are rules for the legislative session and how bills are moved through the legislature.  Each bill must pass through both chambers, the House & Senate. This year is a short session, and everything is a little faster than what it was last year.  Legislative session will only last for about 2 months total.

This neat graphic shows how bills move through the legislature, but more on that later.

How do you know bills are going to die?

You can visit the Indiana General Assembly (IGA) website to see the deadlines under session or via the chamber’s daily calendar. When looking at the calendar you can see that the deadline for “committee reports” for senate bills is Jan 27th. Today Jan 25th is the deadline for House Committee reports.

So what does that mean?

It means that all bills in the chamber must have had a “committee report” completed prior to that day.  The committee report entails the first reading along with the first vote. If a bill passes the first reading it moves out of committee, gets a report, and is sent to the full chamber for 2nd reading.
 
Even though the Senate date isn’t until the 27th, these bills die earlier. Tomorrow Wednesday Jan. 26th is the last committee meeting for Health & Provider Services in the Senate and the last chance to be heard. Public comment is only taken during committee hearings or “1st reading.” Committee chairs are required to give at least 48 hours’ notice to the public prior to hearing a bill.  That means that any bills not already on the committee calendars are not eligible to be heard.
 
This year multiple Medical Liberty bills were filed, I am pretty sure there are more that what I listed.

Why were so many filed and not heard?

This is a hard question to answer. It is probably a combination of factors. First, the legislature knows that Medical Liberty is the hottest issue of the time. Over the past year Hoosiers have made it perfectly clear that they do not want to be forced to take a vaccination.
 
That explains why so many were filed, but not as to why they weren’t heard. The answer to this can be found in so many of our blog posts. The Indiana State legislature seems to be snared by corporate interest groups, lobbyists, and the chamber of commerce. These entities do not want the rights of the individual preserved over the rights of business.
 
Representatives Curt Nisly and John Jacob have both worked with H4ML over the past two years to bring about Medical Liberty. Time and again their amendments and bills are discarded and avoided at all costs. We are now seeing this type of behavior against other bills offering Medical Liberty protections. Some wonder if the only way that Medical Liberty will be permitted is if it is under the watchful eye and discretion of special interest groups.

Who is to blame?

This is another tough question, in part- we need to take a long look in the mirror. For decades most of us (as a culture) have been politically apathetic. We have blindly trusted our Indiana “Republican supermajority” to represent conservative values of Indiana. While we have been off living the American dream corporations, lobbyists, and greed have been able to swoop in and control the thoughts, values, and voting habits of our legislators.
 
We must take ownership of the mess we are in. Only through our involvement and continued accountability for our legislature will we see proper representation.
 
The purpose of this was not to chastise or discourage you. It is quite the opposite. I hope this encourages you to stay involved and become an active member of the organizations that align with your values.
 
If you are looking for a no-nonsense Medical Liberty group you are in the right place. We are going to keep writing these blogs, exposing truth, and educating our followers. We want you to feel empowered to take an active role in our government. This is the only way out of the tyrannical mess we are in.
 
We invite you to become a member of Hoosiers for Medical Liberty, make sure you are on our contact list, and of course, share with your friends!
 
Thank you for your attention and I hope this helps clear up some confusion.
 
Thank you,
Ashley

I didn’t forget! Here is more information on how a bill becomes law.

A little more on how bills become a law:

First someone has an idea and they present that idea to a legislator. The legislator weighs the pros and cons and if they like it they draft and file a bill.
Once filed the bill is assigned to a committee in the chamber the legislator belongs to.

In committee lucky bills get to be heard- this is also called “1st reading.”
Bills are not guaranteed to have a first reading or vote. One of the most common ways for bills to die is in committee. Bills that do have first reading can be amended or “refined” in committee.

If the bill passes then it moves “out to the full chamber.” During 2nd reading any member of the chamber may offer amendments and each amendment can be voted on. Once the amendments are voted on the chamber votes to move the bill to 3rd reading. 3rd reading is when a vote is taken on the final version of the bill before sending over to the other chamber.

Once the bill “flips” to the other side the whole process starts over again. 
If the bill is amended in the second chamber the author can approve the changes or challenge the changes. If challenged the bill versions go to “conference committee.” In conference committee a small number of legislators from each chamber are brought together and decide on a final draft before passing. If an agreement is not able to be reached the bill fails.
If a bill makes it through both chambers unchanged it moves on to the Governor for signature.

Once on the Governor’s desk, he or she can sign or veto the bill.  If the bill is vetoed, then it goes back to the originating chamber and can be voted on again. 

That is a crash course in how a bill becomes a law.

Paid for by the supporters of Hoosiers for Medical Liberty, a tax exempt non-profit organization under IRC 501(c)(4) which does not endorse, support, or oppose candidates for election.