Guide to the 2018 Legislative Session
Welcome to FV Indiana's Guide to the Legislative Session. This year brings a "short session" that will begin on January 3, 2018, and is expected to last through March 14, 2018. This session will provide many opportunities for families to be involved, share your experience, and build relationships with legislators that will impact current and future decisions. This guide is intended to be a reference issue; in it you will find information on how a bill becomes a law, definitions and translations of acronyms and information on the House and Senate leadership. We encourage you to contact your legislators, make the effort to introduce yourself, share your perspective, and continue to build a relationship.
Watch FV Indiana and other sources for action alerts as the session progresses.
If you have information about the session to share please call us at 844 F2F INFO or email info@fvindiana.org.
Bills for 2018 Session:
Key dates for session
Start date: Jan. 3
House bill filing deadline: Jan. 9
Senate bill filing deadline: Jan. 5
Session end date: Must end no later than March 14
Many community organizations host "Third House" or "Meet Your Legislator" events throughout the legislative session. These events provide an opportunity for constituents to hear about the latest from the Statehouse and to ask questions. You can find a calendar that lists those events here:
How a Bill Becomes Law
Legislation 101
Any legislator in either chamber (House or Senate) can initiate a bill on any matter. The Indiana Constitution provides that all appropriations and revenue-raising bills MUST originate in the House. To introduce a bill, a member files it with the Clerk. The bill is first read to the chamber, at which time each member has a printed copy to study. After the first reading, the bill is assigned to a committee. On the next legislative day, the bill is read for the second time so it will be ready for action when it comes out of the committee. Much of the "work" on a bill comes in the committee. Members of key committees, and particularly committee chairs, can be very influential in modifying the language of a proposed bill and determining whether or not it advances to a vote by the full house. Amendments (changes in the original bill) or even complete bill substitutions may be offered by the committee that studies the bill or by a member from the floor. Sometimes there may be several versions of one bill before the committee can agree. If a committee reports favorably on a bill (a majority of the committee votes for it), it is returned to the full house for a third reading and possibly further debate. Most bills passed out of committee are passed by the full house, but they may be altered, sometimes dramatically, or perhaps not voted upon at all.
Parliamentary maneuvers are sometimes very confusing to spectators, but these rules help to maintain order. Sometimes a bill's opponents can use parliamentary procedures to block a vote on a bill they cannot defeat or amend to their liking. Assuming that a bill survives such parliamentary maneuvers, the vote is taken. If a measure receives a majority of votes, it is passed and sent to the other chamber for consideration and goes through the whole process again. The second chamber can amend the bill, pass it as is or defeat it. If the legislation is amended, it is returned for consideration by the originating chamber. When the House and Senate disagree about amended portions, the presiding officers of each body appoint members to a conference committee which tries to find an acceptable compromise which must be approved in identical form by a majority of both houses. If the second chamber passes the bill without any changes, it is sent to the Governor, who can sign it or veto it. If he signs it, it becomes law; if he vetoes it, the bill "dies" and would have to be reintroduced another year unless the veto is overridden by the legislature, which is rare.
All bills vetoed by the Governor are sent back to the presiding officer of the house of the General Assembly where it originated with a list of reasons for the veto. The Governor's veto can be overridden by two-thirds of the votes in each house. When this happens, the bill becomes law. All bills introduced in the current session, as well as their current status in the process and any amendments, can be viewed on the state website at http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2016/bills/
Take Action!
Advocacy Questions and Answers
How can I take action on legislation?
1. Form a relationship with your representatives and senators by calling, emailing, faxing, and scheduling meetings to tell them about how their decisions on the budget and laws affect the quality of life for you and your family.
2. Consider focusing your efforts on key issues such as the Medicaid services, ensuring that any plans for K-12 supports inclusive education practices, or First Steps issues.
How can I contact my state representative or senator?
Every member has an email address and an office phone number at the statehouse. The most effective ways to communicate are by personal contacts, be they emails, phone calls or face-to-face meetings. Legislators prefer to hear from their own constituents directly and may not pay attention to mass emails or form letters, especially from people outside their districts. Many legislators even invite constituents with concerns to contact them at home or via cell phone. Information about legislators is available on the state website at http://iga.in.gov/legislative/find-legislators/
You can mail and phone your legislators at the following:
House of Representatives
Indiana House of Representatives
200 W. Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2786
(317) 232-9600
(800) 382-9842
Senate
Indiana State Senate
200 W. Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2785
(317) 232-9400
(800) 382-9467
TDD Telephone Numbers
TDD (317) 232-0404
TDD (800) 548-9517
Governor Holcomb:
By Phone: 317-232-4567
By Mail:
Office of the Governor
Statehouse
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2797
Office of the Governor
Statehouse
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2797
Email: http://www.in.gov/gov/2752.htm
Tips for communicating with legislators by e-mail or phone:
E-mail Subject line: Make sure your subject line is clear, such as “support Medicaid” or “why I support Medicaid” or “how Medicaid helps my community/mother/brother,” etc.
Constituent: Be sure to specify when you are a constituent reaching out to your legislators. If you are an organization that serves constituents in a district, explain how in as few words as possible.
Impact: Describe the specific impact for you, your family, your friend or client who is uninsured or who is insured and paying costs for the uninsured. Did you have garnishments from medical costs? Lose a home? Declare bankruptcy? Go without other basic needs? Delay life-sustaining treatment?
Brevity: Communications should be clear and concise. Emails should be short. Opinion pages usually limit letters to 150, 200 or 250 words (check your media). Guest columns allow greater lengths.
Resource for follow up: If you have local data or a story to share, please let the legislator (or his/her legislative assistant) to know that you have information to share, clients to meet, etc. Provide the ways to contact you (cell, email).
Tips for communicating with legislators by e-mail or phone:
E-mail Subject line: Make sure your subject line is clear, such as “support Medicaid” or “why I support Medicaid” or “how Medicaid helps my community/mother/brother,” etc.
Constituent: Be sure to specify when you are a constituent reaching out to your legislators. If you are an organization that serves constituents in a district, explain how in as few words as possible.
Impact: Describe the specific impact for you, your family, your friend or client who is uninsured or who is insured and paying costs for the uninsured. Did you have garnishments from medical costs? Lose a home? Declare bankruptcy? Go without other basic needs? Delay life-sustaining treatment?
Brevity: Communications should be clear and concise. Emails should be short. Opinion pages usually limit letters to 150, 200 or 250 words (check your media). Guest columns allow greater lengths.
Resource for follow up: If you have local data or a story to share, please let the legislator (or his/her legislative assistant) to know that you have information to share, clients to meet, etc. Provide the ways to contact you (cell, email).
How do I contact other state agencies?
The State of Indiana website is found at: www.in.gov and contains links to all state as well as many federal and local web resources. Many State Agency and programs have email newsletters that you can sign up for on their website, these are a great way to get up to date information about the agency.
Stay Informed
Groups that provide legislative updates and Action Alerts:
Family Voices Indiana
The Arc of Indiana
Information on the Arc's legislative agenda and general legislative information including link to sign up for action alerts.
Indiana Association of United Ways:
http://www.iauw.org/advocacy/advocacy.htmIndiana Coalition for Human Services:
http://ichsonline.org/
Take Action: http://ichsonline.org/take-action/
Indiana General Assembly
Indiana General Assembly website.
Indiana DOE
Legislative agenda by the Indiana Department of Education.
Glossary
Become familiar with these commonly used acronyms
Appropriation: a specific amount of money that is intended for use by a specific state program
FSSA: Family and Social Services Administration (in charge of Medicaid & First Steps)
DD: Developmental Disabilities
DOE: Department of Education
FY: Fiscal Year
HB: House Bill
HR: House Resolution
SB: Senate Bill
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