The Indiana Publisher

March 2022 IP

Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher

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Publisher The Indiana Volume 87, Issue 3 • March 2022 Published monthly 2022 session ends in draw over newspaper public notices Legislative update The Indiana General Assembly action on public notices basi- cally ended in a draw for Indiana newspapers. On one hand, HSPA was able to block a Senate bill that would have allowed government units to move public notices from newspapers to "official websites," which could include Facebook pages. On the other hand, HSPA wasn't able to get a committee hearing for its bill that would modernize Indiana's policy on public notices. Following are the bills relating to public notices that HSPA monitored or acted upon: H.B. 1101 – This was HSPA's legislation to modernize the state's policy on public notices. It was authored by Rep. Ed Clere, R-New Albany. The bill both addressed concerns that have been raised over the past few years concerning the cost of certain public notic- es, how public notices should be distributed in counties with no paid- circulation newspaper, and set the frame- work for a transition from print to digital requirements for the distribu- tion of public notices. HSPA's proposal would main- tain the four essential elements for effective public notices: accessi- bility by the pub- lic, verification of distribution, pres- The 2022 Indiana General Assembly actions concerning government transparency contained a little good and a little bad. Hoosiers will now have the right to speak on items during school board meetings under the Open Door Law, but police will be pro- hibited from identifying juvenile crime victims in the "daily log or report" under the Access to Public Records Act. Following are the bills HSPA flagged relating to public access, First Amendment, taxes, advertising and other miscellaneous categories: H.B. 1130 – This is the right to comment at public meeting bill that emerged from the House. There were three filed, but H.B. 1130 author Rep. Tim O'Brien, R-Evansville, said there was a decision made to move his bill, rather than H.B. 1080, authored by Rep. David Abbott, R-Rome City, or H.B. 1290, authored by Rep. Ryan Lauer, R-Columbus. O'Brien's bill, which only covered school board meetings, was approved by the House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Doug Miller, R-Elkhart, 11-0, and by the House, 92-1. HSPA testified on the bill dur- ing its Senate Education and Career Development Committee hearing, chaired by Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Richmond. HSPA pointed out the bill did not include charter See Bills, page 10 Transparency issues log gains, losses at Statehouse Clere Public can now speak at school board meetings Apply for a $1,000 Legacy Scholarship. Deadline is April 8. Details on pages 14-16. 2022 Better Newspaper Contest deadline April 28 Entries are being accepted for the 2022 HSPA Better Newspaper Contest. There are scores of cat- egories and special awards to honor and showcase excellence in Indiana newspaper journalism. Entries are due 5 p.m., Thursday, April 28. For more information and to enter, visit https://bit.ly/3KP1h80. See Public Notice, page 2

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