Golf cart bill rolls to Senate

INDIANAPOLIS—On a slow day for the Indiana House of Representatives, three bills, House Bills 1193, 1078 and 1034, passed on third reading and now will move to the Indiana Senate.

HB 1193, if made law, would create a work group that would be staffed and administered by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute to make recommendations for Hoosier youth and the way their schools are policed.  

This bill would also make each school corporation turn in a report once a year informing the department of education of the year’s incidents and the relationship that the school has with its local law enforcement agency.  The report would have to be published on the department of education’s website.  HB 1193 passed the House, 94-1. 

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Linda Lawson, D-Hammond, said that the bill is a step in the right direction for the safety of Indiana children.

“This really is a great way to handle our kids,” said Lawson.

HB 1034 passed the House, 65-30.  This bill would allow Hoosiers to transfer unused bankruptcy exemption amounts in one category, and move them to another category.

The final bill that passed through the House on Wednesday was HB 1078, which passed, 89-1.  If this bill passes through the Senate and is signed by the governor, it would enable counties to have the same rights as cities and towns in relation to golf carts being driven on roads.  This bill would allow Hoosiers to drive their golf carts on county and state roads with a speed limit under 35 miles per hour.

All three of these bills now head to the Indiana Senate.