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The bulk of this year’s new legislation will take effect July 1, with changes ranging from increased access to contraceptives to greater restrictions for public school educators.
Among the major changes passed by the legislature is a ban on gender affirming care for minors, which has passed in 19 other state legislatures and been struck down in one.
However, Indiana’s Senate Enrolled Act 480 will not take full effect July 1 due to a partial injunction ordered June 16 by a Trump-appointed judge. While gender affirming surgical procedures will be banned for minors, transgender minors will still have tentative access to puberty blockers and hormonal therapies.
Easier access to contraceptives beginning July 1
House Enrolled Act 1568 will allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control pills, patches or rings to adults for up to one year — though anything longer will require a referral to a provider.
Pharmacists who want to prescribe birth control will have to complete additional training. They are also required to provide patients with a self-screening risk assessment and refer them for a follow-up with their primary care providers.
However, pharmacists can refuse to prescribe hormonal contraceptives on the basis of ethical or religious objections.
Law enforcement “buffer zone” takes effect
At the urging of law enforcement officers, legislators passed HEA 1186, a bill that creates a 25-foot “buffer zone” around officers conducting official duties. Crossing within that barrier is a Class C misdemeanor.
Proponents of the legislation say that yelling and touching from bystanders can make an officer’s job more difficult and even dangerous while opponents say it will erode accountability for law enforcement officers.
The bill has no exceptions for people who want to record police interaction, including the media.
Annual gas tax increase extended to 2027
Legislators added an amendment to HEA 1050 to extend the state’s annual gas tax increase, which was set to expire in 2024.
In 2017, legislators raised the tax 10 cents as a way to fund road projects. They also set the tax to increase one cent per year to keep pace with inflation.
That means the tax, currently at 34 cents, will increase to 35 cents per gallon on July 1. The extension goes until 2027 and will cost drivers about $90 million.
The tax is on top of a regular 7% sales tax on gasoline and 18.4 cents per gallon in federal taxes.
Pilot program will use cameras to catch speeding
HEA 1015, which authorizes the Indiana Department of Transportation to use cameras to ticket people speeding in a construction zone, will also take effect beginning next month. The cameras are part of a pilot program aimed at reducing construction worker injuries and deaths as a result of speeding.
The technology will ticket people driving 11 mph over the speed limit in an active work zone, although only four cameras can be used across the state.
The law only applies if construction workers are present. The first violation would only result in a warning, with subsequent violations accruing progressively greater fines, beginning at $75.
Previously, drivers caught speeding by just one mile in an active work zone by police would result in a $300 ticket with no warning.
During the legislative session, the bill split Republican lawmakers, with some calling the program an example of government overreach.
Various controversial education bills also take effect this summer, including:
— HEA 1177 – grants funding for firearm training for teachers who choose to carry a handgun and covers the cost of counseling services for students, teachers and staff in the event of a shooting.
— HEA 1447 – allows community members to request removal of school library books deemed obscene or harmful to minors.
— HEA 1608 – bans instruction of human sexuality before fourth grade and requires parental notification if a student wants to change their name or pronoun.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
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I have to laugh at the new state law allowing cameras to catch speeders in construction zones. Well, almost.
Only in Indiana is going 11 miles over the speed limit not considered speeding. What is there about the term “speed limit” that legsilators don’t comprehend?
Back east, a camera catches you going one mile over the limit and bazinga! You receive a ticket in the mail (it matters not who is actually driving, the vehicles registrant pays the fine).
Great! now Illinois has cheaper gas than Indiana – signs on Westbound 74 show cheaper gas in Danville, IL. Thanks Eric
it’s increasing by 1 cent…….
This could not be a serious comment! And should one travel to Illinois to buy gasoline?
This school library book removal grievance bill is truly one of the dumbest laws ever passed in Indiana (and that’s a low threshold). Why trust the professionals when “the average person, applying contemporary community standards” has a grievance to lodge? Internet MAGA warriors now get a further means to muck up education and be a drain on our teachers and administrators. Just terrible.
+1
+1
I would love to see total reform of the way traffic rules are made and enforced.
To start, speed limits should be dictated primarily by road parameters – including lane width. For example, there is no point in having a 25MPH speed limit when lanes are 14′ wide; people will drive 45MPH+ because that’s what feels natural with such wide lanes. Such disconnects between lane width and speed limits amount to manufactured speed traps. They inherently cause endemic speeding, while also creating safety hazards for anybody on or near the road. And that’s not to mention the how excessively expensive it is to build and maintain excessively wide lanes for roads whose speed limits are meant to be low.
Most traffic enforcement should be done electronically. Police stops for minor traffic violations are just ridiculous invasions of privacy, and American courts – including SCOTUS – seem to not think that many basic 4th amendment protections should not apply to people who are behind the wheel of a car. Traffic stops as we know them give a mechanism for police to abuse citizens; open up the police and the public to danger; and prevent the police from investigating major crimes, building connections with the community; and doing other such important work. Instead of having a fleet of traffic police, we should have a fleet of cameras with a couple officers who sit behind a screen from 9-5 to review speed camera footage, identify drivers who are suspected of speeding, & write tickets.
Then we must make sure that any automated traffic enforcement is done in a way that is data safe and that builds trust with the community. Keep companies that get a commission on tickets out of the equation. Any system should be open-source and be subjected to regular 3rd-party audits such that the public knows exactly what “the system” is doing with the data it collects. These systems should not be storing data about anybody whose data may need to be used as evidence in court about a traffic violation. This should only be about traffic enforcement, not mass-surveillance.
$.604 taxes per gallon and this the roads we have, mission control we have a problem!