© 2024 Northeast Indiana Public Radio
A 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Public File 89.1 WBOI

Listen Now · on iPhone · on Android
NPR News and Diverse Music
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Support for WBOI.org comes from:

Weekly Statehouse Update: Antisemitism compromise, no halt to attendant care cuts, 13th check OK'd

The eastern exterior of the Indiana Statehouse at sunset, framed by rows of buildings.
FILE PHOTO: Justin Hicks
/
IPB News
Lawmakers ended the 2024 legislative session on March 8, nearly a week before the deadline.

Indiana lawmakers wrap up the 2024 session with a compromise on a bill banning antisemitism in higher education. Final language does little for attendant care. And retirees will get a 13th check.

Here’s what you might have missed this week at the Statehouse.

HB 1002: Enforcement of equal educational opportunity

The debate over the antisemitism bill was whether to use a definition from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and its examples, some of which include criticism of Israel. The compromise references the IHRA definition but leaves out the examples — a middle ground that garnered HB 1002 near unanimous approval.

HB 1120: State and local administration

Some lawmakers’ efforts to stop cuts to a Medicaid program that serves families with medically complex children did not make it to the finish line. Provisions that were approved in HB 1120 require more transparency from the state on the $1 billion Medicaid shortfall that prompted the proposed cuts, and compel the state to set a minimum percentage of money given to caregivers from providers.

Join the conversation and sign up for the Indiana Two-Way. Text "Indiana" to 765-275-1120. Your comments and questions in response to our weekly text help us find the answers you need on statewide issues, including our project Civically, Indiana and our 2024 legislative bill tracker.

HB 1004: Pension matters

And after two sessions of wrangling between the House and Senate, around 100,000 public pension recipients will receive a 13th check this year, an additional benefit between $150 and $450. HB 1004 also establishes a long-term solution to the annual benefit enhancement debate.

Find all the bills our statewide team covered this session in our bill tracker at ipbs.org/2024billtracker/.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Tags
Brandon Smith has covered the Statehouse for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He's also the host of Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state. He previously worked at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and WSPY in Plano, Illinois. His first job in radio was in another state capitol - Jefferson City, Missouri - as a reporter for three stations around the Show-Me State.