Acts address variety of local issues
State Senator Karen Tallian (D-Portage) proposed several bills during the recently adjourned legislative session that were approved and signed into law by the governor. Her legislative initiatives this session included the following:
House Enrolled Act 1054 contains language from legislation introduced by Sen. Tallian that is specifically designed to attract private operators to the Indiana Dunes State Park pavilion in Northwest Indiana. The act, co-sponsored by Sen. Tallian, provides that land controlled by the Department of Natural Resources may permit the retail sale of alcohol on the licensed premises of a pavilion located within the Indiana Dunes State Park, which has been bypassed by private operators in the past because of its no-alcohol rule.
HEA 1264, sponsored by Sen. Tallian, addresses the flooding issues on the Little Calumet River by establishing a funding mechanism for needed repairs along the river basin. Repairs will be overseen by a new Little Calumet River Basin Project Advisory Board. Under the new law property owners in the boundary area will contribute to the repair and maintenance funding through an annual special assessment based on the property classification for all parcels of land within the Little Calumet River and Burns Waterway watershed in Lake County. For residential properties, the assessment will be $45 per year. The repairs and improvements will help curtail rising flood insurance costs for property owners and spur economic development in the area by minimizing risk of future flooding.
Senate Enrolled Act (SEA) 4 strengthens the state’s human trafficking laws by eliminating loopholes and making it easier to prosecute offenders with the removal of a requirement to prove force or fraud. The legislation, co-authored by Sen. Tallian, increases penalties with new language stating that any person who recruits, harbors, or transports a child less than 16 years of age with the intent of engaging the child in forced labor, involuntary servitude, prostitution or sexual conduct commits promotion of human trafficking of a minor, a Class B felony punishable by six to 20 years in prison. Further, the new law makes it illegal for any adult to sell or transfer custody of a child for sexual activity, expanding old law that only applied to a child’s parent, guardian or custodian.
HEA 1250, co-sponsored by Sen. Tallian, aims to deter nepotism and conflicts of interest in state government. The act prohibits state employees from working in the same agency as a relative if that relative is in direct line of supervision or is the appointing authority of the agency. Jobs that match these conditions but existed on or before July 1, 2012 will not be affected. Further, the act allows an individual employed in an agency for at least 12 consecutive months immediately preceding the date the individual’s relative becomes the appointing authority to remain under the agency and under the direct line of supervision of the relative.
Most new laws will become effective July 1, 2012. This is only a sample of Sen. Tallian’s legislation set to become law. For a complete list, click here.
For more information on Sen. Tallian, her legislative agenda or other State Senate business call 1-800-382-9467 or visit www.SenateDemocrats.IN.gov.