As the first half of Indiana's legislative session drew to a close, lawmakers had to make final decisions on some bills. Here's the votes you may have missed this week:
Measure to penalize for hate crimes dies
Sen. Susan Glick, R-LaGrange, decided to let her bill adding more penalties for hate crimes die without a vote this week. In a statement, Glick said she made the decision because there were disagreements on amendments that could be added to the bill.
Indiana is only one of five states without any hate crime legislation, and lawmakers have been proposing bills for years that would add language to the Indiana code about crimes motivated by bias. Last year was the farthest the legislation made it, with the Senate approving a hate crime bill 34-16.
Glick said she hopes to bring the legislation back next year.
House approves $1 cigarette tax increase
The two-year $31.5 billion budget passed through the House 68-29 Monday with pushback from Democrats. The budget increases cigarette tax by $1, which makes up for some of the money lost when gas sales tax is dedicated completely to roads, instead of partially to the general fund.
Aside from that, the budget increases K-12 spending by 2.8 percent, and focuses on allocating more money on a per-pupil basis. Democrats, however, were concerned about the 201 school districts that would lose money with the equation.
The budget also dedicated an additional $10 million to pre-K, an increase in state police officer salaries and left almost $2 billion in reserves in the second year of funding.
It'll head to the Senate next where it could be altered.
Previous drug users could receive SNAP benefits
Lawmakers voted to opt out of a federal requirement that prohibits some drug offenders from receiving supplemental nutrition assistance program help, if they meet certain requirements.
Supporters of the measure, such as Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, emphasized that the state lets other previousl -convicted felons receive SNAP benefits. Former drug users should not be different.
But Erin Houchin, R-Salem, and others worried about taking away benefits from hard-working citizens.
"I am sensitive to wanting people to get back on their feet, but I'm also sensitive to hard working people who are obeying laws and not dealing drugs to our community,"Houchin said.
The measure passed the Senate 34-16.
Punishments increase for heroin dealers
On the same day Senators voted to give former drug users SNAP benefits, lawmakers also increased penalties for those dealing heroin.
Some lawmakers saw this as a return to the "war on drugs" concept that they said did not work.
"You’re not going to get the big heroin dealers by trying to get the street level dealers," said Sen. Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis. "This is the wrong tactic. We’ve tried it before."
Proponents sold the measure as one of many bills to address the opioid epidemic in the state.
The Senate bill passed 40-10 and heads to the House for consideration.
Bill prohibiting 'sanctuary campuses' moves forward
Schools could be penalized for admitting undocumented students, unless those students are protected under former President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
The Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would make it illegal for public universities to become "sanctuary campuses." Although there are no known ones in Indiana, students across the state and country have petitioned their schools to make the move.
Notre Dame's faculty joined the movement too, passing a resolution in January calling for the president to designate the university as a "sanctuary campus." The president denied their request.
Although President Donald Trump has kept Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals intact for now, if he ever repealed the order, children brought here by their parents would no longer be protected or allowed to attend universities.
Bills on abortion pass in both the House and Senate
Both the House and Senate adopted measures that would add more requirements to teens seeking abortions and abortion providers.
House Bill 1128 requires abortion providers to tell patients about the potential for their drug induced abortion to be reversed, while Senate Bill 404 requires a notice be sent to a parent when a minor tries to get an abortion through the court.
The Senate's abortion bill also would punish those who help a minor get an abortion without a parent's consent.