Committee advances hospital-reporting amendment after brief testimony from IU Health and child-care advocates

The Family, Children and Human Affairs Committee advanced House Bill 1412 on a unanimous voice/roll-call vote after a brief exchange about an amendment and a technical correction.

Representative Dale Devon, chairman of the committee, opened the item and invited Representative Cash to speak on the amendment. Representative Cash said the amendment had been added the previous week and that committee members and stakeholders needed time to review it. "The amendment's probably not quite where we would like to see it, but Representative Cash has been very good to work with, and I consider this sort of an ongoing discussion," Tori Castor of IU Health and Riley Children's Health told the committee, adding that her "testimony from last week stands." Heather Harris of the Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children also rose in support of the bill and thanked the author.

After discussion, the committee agreed to a chairman's technical correction to remove an extra "2" in the language of the previously adopted amendment. Devon asked for consent to the correction, which passed by voice. A motion to "pass, as amended" was made, seconded and carried on roll call. The clerk announced the vote as 12 in favor and 0 opposed.

The committee did not discuss statutory citations or fiscal figures during the public remarks recorded in the transcript. No witness identified a specific statute or funding source during testimony on this day.

The committee moved on after the vote and recognized attendees in the gallery and other pending agenda items.