By Dan Carden, Times of Northwest Indiana
dan.carden@nwi.com
INDIANAPOLIS | The General Assembly on Monday approved dozens of changes to a smoking ban, alcohol sales regulations, gambling legislation and other proposals, setting them up for a final vote ahead of a Wednesday deadline for legislation to be approved by one chamber.
In the House, state Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, reintroduced his proposal for a statewide smoking ban, only to see it watered down again.
Lawmakers agreed to exempt private clubs, such as American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars halls, from the proposed indoor smoking ban. An exemption for family-owned businesses with no nonfamily employees also was approved.
Brown consented to those two changes after lawmakers voted down a proposal that would have allowed smoking on all property owned by a casino, in company cars if occupied only by a smoking employee and in health facilities if the hospital or nursing home allows it.
Last week Brown withdrew House Bill 1131 after amendments exempting restaurants, bars and tobacco shops from the indoor smoking ban were approved. Brown's original proposal also exempted gambling facilities.
"It'll pass now," Brown said after all of the exemptions were approved. A smoking ban with exemptions for bars and casinos was approved by the House last year but never got a vote in the Senate.
The Gary representative said he plans to work with senators starting next week to restore the smoking ban legislation to his original proposal.
But if that doesn't work, Brown said he has a Plan B "that cannot be revealed at this point."
In the Senate, lawmakers added a requirement that store clerks check the identification and age of alcohol purchasers to legislation permitting alcohol sales at bars and restaurants from 12:30 p.m. Sundays to 3 a.m Monday mornings.
A proposal allowing alcohol sales on Election Day went unchanged.
Senators also added language clarifying horse track ownership rights to Senate Bill 405, the only gaming-related measure still alive in the General Assembly. Authorization for a land-based Gary casino was stripped from that proposal last week, and no one tried to restore it Monday.
State Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, said she plans to work with representatives in the House to revive the inland casino option.
In separate votes, the Senate:
- amended an ethics proposal to require university lobbyists to register with the state and to prohibit statewide elected officials from appearing in radio and television public service announcements.
- voted to allow elementary and high schools in cities where the school calendar is coordinated with a nearby state university to set a start date before Labor Day.
- agreed to permit excess funds in police continuing education accounts to be used to buy electronic devices and computer software.
In the House, representatives changed legislation by:
- deciding to take into account liquidation fees when considering whether to divest from banks that engage in aggressive lending practices.
- requiring hospitals to provide free counseling about long-term care options for patients in need of those services.
- permitting home-schooled students to participate in athletics at their local public high school.
Wednesday is the deadline for bills to win approval by one chamber of the General Assembly, Otherwise, the legislation is dead for the rest of the session.