Looking ahead to the 2024 legislative session
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Statehouse leaders have said they plan to focus only on the most pressing issues during a particularly short legislative session that starts Monday.
📚 State of play: Education issues are at the top of the priority list even though leaders assigned zero topics to the interim education study committee this summer.
- Truancy is on lawmakers' radar thanks to a report from the Indiana Department of Education that found hundreds of thousands of students are missing weeks of school. But leaders haven't said exactly how they intend to address the problem, only that they do.
- Lawmakers also want to move the needle on the state's third-grade reading problem and are considering stricter retention policies for kids who don't pass the IREAD-3 exam.
- A bill addressing antisemitism on college campuses that passed the House but not the Senate last year will return in some form — made top of mind by the Israel-Hamas war.
The intrigue: There are always a few eyebrow-raising bills, and Rep. Vernon Smith (D-Gary) may have filed the first.
- Smith's bill, which is likely dead on arrival, prohibits schools from teaching about Christopher Columbus or presidents who owned a slave — unless it's about their role in U.S. slavery or the harmful effects of colonialism.
- This bill probably won't even get a hearing in the Republican-controlled House, which has previously sought to pass legislation that can best be described as the opposite of Smith's proposal.
Between the lines: Leadership said their priorities won't include social issues, which have dominated the last several years and often take more time and energy than other bills.
- There's not a hard-and-fast definition for "social issues," but at the Statehouse, it tends to mean controversial bills focusing on race, religion and LGBTQ+ topics.
Yes, but: Tackling social issues doesn't cost anything, so a non-budget session may seem like a good time to try it.
- Plus: It's an election year, so lawmakers will be looking for a win to take home to voters.
What they're saying: "Leadership wants do no harm," said Greg Shufeldt, associate professor of political science at the University of Indianapolis. "Some individual members may want to go out on their own."
What we're watching: How the Statehouse will set its sights on Indianapolis.
- Sen. Aaron Freeman (R-Indianapolis) has already filed a bill aimed at stopping IndyGo from dedicating two lanes on Washington Street to the Blue Line, but similar legislation has failed in the past.