Before the August 11 derecho hit, utilities legislation was already top-of-mind for the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus.
Now, with communities still picking up the pieces, as well as dealing with either no power or power still going out intermittently, the caucus plans on trying its best to make improvements to House Enrolled Act 1002, it vowed at a town hall it conducted Saturday afternoon at the Hammond Sportsplex. While beneficial in some ways, HEA 1002 didn’t go as far as they would’ve liked, State Representative Cherrish Pryor, D-Indianapolis, told the room.
“There were some major provisions, such as changing budget billing to ‘levelized billing’ because people didn’t always understand that their payment could still go up if they hadn’t paid their balance; we also changed it to where utilities reconfigure the billing twice a year,” Pryor said. “The bill also put a moratorium on disconnect notices in the cold winter months, but we made sure that included the hot summer months because people have died in their homes with it being so hot.”
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Additionally, utilities going before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission for rate increases are now required to show metrics on how well they’ve performed during outages versus how affordably they’re providing services, Pryor said.
When State Senator Mark Spencer, D-Gary, asked how many people had their power out for more than a couple days, the majority of attendees raised their hands.
“This wasn’t an inconvenience; it affected food, refrigerated medicines and businesses trying to make a living,” he said. “I don’t want to prejudge, but there are investigations happening.”
The caucus was successful in getting some good legislation passed, such as Spencer’s Senate Enrolled Act 164, which allows the state to study best practices in urban micro farms; and SEA 232, which prohibits City of Gary employees and appointed or elected officials from purchasing property that’s been appraised by a special appraiser allowed by the law to dispose of real property, he said. Another bill, House Bill 1114, makes sure people with Medicaid or HIP cannot be denied treatment if they’re diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, Pryor said.
In environmental issues, Senate Bill 277, which Governor Mike Braun signed in March, makes most of the functions of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management optional, Senator La Keisha Jackson, D-Indianapolis, pointed out.
“Indiana was already in the top three worst in the country for water and air pollution. These rollbacks are likely to result in even worse outcomes,” Jackson said.
But other good legislation, such as the prohibiting the Bureau of Motor Vehicles from selling license holders’ information and restoring the property tax deduction to the less than 20 surviving spouses of World War I veterans, didn’t pass, Pryor said. Neither did legislation for data center studies on water use and utility regulation pass, but those are issues the caucus plans on hammering home this session they said.
State Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago, who chairs the IBLC, hopes November’s elections at least help break the supermajority so that more of the caucus’s ideas can get a fighting chance. To those who believe their vote doesn’t count need only look at the Spencer Deery case from this week to see how wrong they are, he said.
“We had an election that was decided by three votes. When it comes to local offices, we have the greatest impact because everything we do has an impact on your lives,” he said, referring to Thursday’s Indiana Supreme Court decision that declared state Sen. Spencer Deery, R-Lafayette the winner of the May primary over challenger Paula Copenhaver. The decision reversed the Indiana Recount Commission’s move that disallowed six ballots — all cast for Deery — that lacked a county clerk’s stamp or signature.
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Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.