Hoosier lawmakers appear to have backed away from a proposal to prohibit the state from contracting with any company seeking to reduce its fossil fuel use, or any business that does business with those companies.
House Bill 1224, if enacted into law, potentially could have returned state government operations to the paper records and cash payments common in the 19th and early 20th centuries, as many of the nation’s leading technology, banking, manufacturing and retail operations have pledged to reduce or eliminate their carbon output in the years ahead, primarily by replacing their use of electricity derived from coal and natural gas with renewable energy resources.
The sponsor of the measure, state Rep. Ethan Manning, R-Logansport, said his goal was to send a message to big business and big banks that the General Assembly sets energy policy for Indiana — "not corporate boards in far-off places."
"It is my view that we cannot sit idly by and allow these companies to get away with harming Indiana energy companies, and Hoosiers themselves, by making poor decisions not based on financial returns, but on some political philosophy and pressure from activists who don't care about the reliability or affordability of energy for Hoosiers," Manning said.
The notion of sending that message, however, apparently was not shared by a sufficient portion of the House Republican caucus because Manning did not call his legislation for a final House vote by Monday’s deadline following an extended, private meeting of GOP House members.
As a result, Manning’s proposal cannot advance to the Republican-controlled Senate and generally may be considered dead for the remaining five weeks of Indiana’s annual legislative session.
But because the measure never was voted on by the full House, Hoosiers have no idea where their local representatives stand on the issue.
Moreover, there remains a very slim possibility the plan could reemerge in the frenzied final negotiations at the end of session because it was not “decisively defeated” by a House majority, which by rule would deem the legislation ineligible for further consideration this year.
Manning did not respond to a request for comment on his decision not to call the measure for a House vote.
The fossil fuel proposal was among a dozen or so similarly controversial items that advanced out of a House or Senate committee and either failed to reemerge from a second committee or never were called by the sponsor for a final vote by the full chamber before this week’s deadlines for House-originating measures to pass the House and Senate plans for new state laws to clear the Senate.
Other so-called “dead bills” include House Bill 1321, mandating businesses accept cash and provide change for all transactions; House Bill 1109, requiring non-alcoholic beverage companies to generally provide their product at the same price to every retailer; and Senate Joint Resolution 3, directing Indiana to join other states in calling a national constitutional convention to permanently set the number of U.S. Supreme Court justices at nine.
At the same time, several measures advanced out of either the House or the Senate that leaders in the opposite chamber have signaled they have no interest in taking up absent significant changes.
They include House Bill 1001, sharply limiting the ability of private businesses to impose a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on their employees; House Bill 1002, providing approximately $1.3 billion in tax cuts to Indiana businesses and Hoosiers in the years ahead; and Senate Bill 179, authorizing the use of speed camera enforcement in highway work zones.
Meanwhile, hundreds of other proposals never even made it out of committee, including a plan to develop a Lake County convention or entertainment facility in or around Lake Etta County Park in Gary (Senate Bill 373), authorizing a food and beverage tax for Merrillville (House Bill 1267), and House Bill 1187 restructuring the state takeover of the Gary Community School Corp.
A measure to permit local governments to further restrict fireworks use to four days a year from at least 11 days a year (House Bill 1053) also died in committee.
The General Assembly returns to the Statehouse Monday when the Senate will begin evaluating House-approved legislation and the House will take up Senate-approved proposals.
Items must pass both chambers with identical language to advance to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb to be signed into law or vetoed.
By law, the Legislature is required to adjourn for the year on or before March 14.
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