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Hate crimes bill again dominates Legislative Update discussion
State Sen. John Crane (R-Avon) would have lost a bet had he wagered on the proposed Indiana hate crimes bill that passed the Senate Public Policy Committee Monday afternoon.
Addressing an audience of 30 Saturday morning at the second of three Putnam County Farm Bureau-sponsored Legislative Update programs, Crane predicted there would be no committee vote conducted Monday on the proposed legislation.
“If I were a gambling man,” Crane said, “I’d say they’re probably not going to get a vote right after the committee meeting. It’s going to be a contentious situation.”
The committee room was indeed packed from all reports but the committee nonetheless voted 9-1 to send the hate crimes bill, Senate Bill 12, to the full Indiana Senate for consideration (see separate story, Page 12A).
Audience member Ann Newton asked Crane what those opposed to the bill were specifically against.
Part of the issue, Crane said, is that “in reality we already have the authority in the code now, it’s called an ‘aggravator,’” which can be used by a judge during sentencing to enhance punishment against an offender. “So we already have, in substance, what people are saying they want.”
Meanwhile, the Constitution, he reminded, provides for equal protection under the law, “not special protection.”
Crane also noted the difficulty in creating a list of people who are to be protected by the proposed law.
“If you’re going to have a list, everybody had better be on that list,” he said. “If you leave one person off, then you’re creating the very discrimination you’re legislating against.”
Arguing against the hate crimes law being viewed as an economic development tool, Crane noted that Gov. Eric Holcomb is “hustling every day in bringing business to Indiana.” Holcomb, however, is adamant about getting Indiana off the list of five states without a hate crimes law.
“Why would business come to ‘bigoted Indiana’ if it is so bad?” Crane asked before answering his own question with “because Indiana is a great place to do business with or without a hate crimes bill.”
“Hoosier hospitality,” Crane assured, “is a very real thing.”
Closing the hate crimes bill discussion, he added that one of the beautiful things about Indiana is, “We can have a great discussion like this over great cinnamon rolls and can walk away and be friends.”
The hate crimes bill is just one of 1,349 bills filed in the two houses this session, Crane noted.
“It shows you how many issues people think need to be addressed,” the second-term state senator said, adding that “many well-intended bills have unintended consequences.”
“To me, efficiency and better government is the thing,” he added.
As always, education got a lot of attention Saturday even though Crane was the only legislator attending the two-hour program. He was joined briefly by 4th District U.S. Congressman Jim Baird (see separate story). Sen. Rod Bray (R-Martinsville) and State Rep. Beau Baird (R-Greencastle) attended similar sessions elsewhere in the district on Saturday.
“There’s always big conversations going on in education,” Crane said, reminding the audience that 51 percent of the state budget goes to fund K-12 education, while another 13 percent goes to higher education for a total of 64 percent of the budget targeting learning.
“From that indication,” he reasoned, “I’d say we put a high priority on education in Indiana.”
School safety and school violence make up much of the education conversation these days, he noted, as there are “very different unsettling realities that have to be addressed.”
Thanks to “some enormous societal variables,” Crane said, “we have gotten way beyond a teacher just stepping in and teaching reading, writing and arithmetic.”
South Putnam Supt. Bruce Bernhardt told Crane the “mid-year voucher program is very disconcerting to us,” adding that any time dollars for education are “being drained off for private education is disconcerting.”
Bernhardt also pointed out that the legislative effort to address school safety “would be better if it weren’t a 50-50 match,” which makes it difficult for smaller, rural schools to participate.
The third and final Legislative Update program of the 2019 session is scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday, March 16 at the Farm Bureau Insurance Building in Greencastle.