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Page 14 June 2021 Against Public Participation). HSPA was prepared to oppose the bill, which died in the House Judiciary Committee chaired by Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, before HSPA had the opportunity to talk to Rep. Borders about his motivation in filing the bill. Advertising H.B. 1125 – This bill would make false, misleading, or deceptive advertisements for claims related to medical devices and legend drugs and certain other actions a deceptive act. HSPA asked author Rep. Matt Lehman, R-Berne, to seek advice from Legislative Services Agency on whether the media could be liable for running ads that were later ruled improper. Rep. Lehman said the media would not accidentally get swept up by enforcement of the law. The bill was approved by the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, and the House, 97-1. The Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, who also was the bill sponsor, passed the bill along with the Senate, 48-1. It ended up in a conference committee, whose report was passed by the House, 90-0, and the Senate, 31-18. Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the bill on April 29. H.B. 1312 – Authored by Rep. J.D. Prescott, R-Union City, this bill proposed a social media provider surcharge tax. HSPA was concerned about a possible extension of such a tax to advertising in general. It reached out to the News Media Allliance's Danielle Coffey to determine whether that should be a concern. The bill died without a hearing in the House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Tim Brown, R-Crawfordsville, before any answer was determined by HSPA. H.B. 1048 – Authored by Rep. Dennis Zent, R-Angola, this bill set up some identification and advertising requirements for medical practitioners. HSPA contacted Rep. Zent with a question about the intent and scope of the advertising restric- tions. Zent said there wasn't any intent to create a liability for newspapers. The bill died without a hearing in the House Public Health Committee, chaired by Rep. Brad Barrett, R-Richmond. Compacts Bills to allow Indiana to join interstate compacts with other states are frustrating because they routinely contain provisions for secrecy that run contrary to Indiana's Open Door Law or Access to Public Records Act. The ability to amend those troubling provisions is nil because any change will prevent Indiana from being allowed to join the compact. All four of the bills included in this section died in the House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Tim Brown, R-Crawfordsville. S.B. 123 – This is the audiology and speech-language pathology compact. It was authored by Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn. HSPA raised the question about language that allows the compact board to meet behind closed doors to discuss Indiana's non-compliance with compact requirements. The sponsor was Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis. Sen. Kruse agreed to amend the language before he learned that the compact states would not allow Indiana to join if it made that amend- ment. S.B. 36 This is a psychology interjurisdictional compact. It was authored by Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville. While Sen. Becker was sympathetic to HSPA's concern with language that would allow the compact board to discuss Indiana's non-compliance to the agreement behind closed doors, she said the offending language could not be changed. The sponsor was Rep. Ed Clere, R-New Albany. S.B. 305 – This bill is the physical therapy licensure compact. It was authored by Sen. Mark Messmer, R-Jasper. The bill contained the same offending language as the two previously noted compact bills. The sponsor was Rep. Shane Lindauer, R-Jasper. S.B. 356 – This was a tribal compact bill – different from the other compact bills because it basically is a contract between the state of Indiana and the Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi concern- ing casino operations by the tribe. HSPA had a concern with the level of confidentiality afforded the operation and reached out to the bill's author, Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Bremen. Sen. Mishler confirmed HSPA's suspicion that the language reflected the autonomy of the Indian tribe from state law. The sponsor was Rep. Tim Brown, R-Crawfordsville. Miscellaneous H.B. 1049 – Authored by Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Lizton, this bill concerned the operation of legislative sessions. HSPA talked to Rep. Thompson about transpar- ency with the conduct of some legislative meetings. Thompson was able to assure HSPA that the language would not impact current public access to the process. The bill died without a hearing in the House Rules and legislative Procedures Committee, chaired by Rep. Dan Leonard, R-Huntington. H.B. 1001 – The budget bill, authored by Rep. Tim Brown, R-Crawfordsville, contained a change in the governing body that establishes reasonable fees for enhanced access to public records and other electronic records, replacing the State Librarian with the Budget Director. HSPA reached out to see if State Librarian Jacob Speer shared our concern that the change might make the group less empathetic to citizen concerns with access to informa- tion. Speer said he had no problem with the change. HSPA also shared a note with Rep. Brown with its concern, but no amendment was made to the provision in question. Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the budget bill into law on April 29. H.B. 1433 – Authored by Rep. Dave Abbott, R-Rome City, this bill concerned automatic Internet subscriptions. HSPA had a question about its impact on the renewal of newspaper subscrip- tions. The bill died in the House Committee on Commerce, Small Business and Economic Develop- ment, chaired by Rep. Bob Morris, R-Fort Wayne, before HSPA could talk to Rep. Abbott. S.B. 398 – Authored by Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, this election law bill includes a requirement that the notice of an election must include the dates, times, and locations of voting at the circuit court clerk's office and at satellite offices. It also provides that notices of elections must be published not later than 21 days before election day. (Under current law, these notices must be published at least 10 days before the date of the election. The Senate Elections Committee, chaired by Sen. Jon Ford, R-Terre Haute, approved the bill as did the Senate, 46-0. The House Elections Commit- tee, chaired by Rep. Tim Wesco, R-Osceola, who also was the bill sponsor, passed the bill along with the House, 93-0, passed the bill. Sen. Walker filed a concurrence which the Senate favored, 40-2. Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the bill on April 23. Walker Bills Continued from Page 13 Kruse

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