3 bills authored by State Senator Mark Messmer (R-Jasper) passed the senate Monday.
The first bill was Senate Bill 332 that would update zoning language for areas around the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division, Lake Glendora Test Facility, and Grissom Air Reserve Base.
The bill is similar to legislation passed in 30 other states and is based on practices that the United States Department of Defense would like to see enacted.
The second bill was senate bill 331 that looks to build on existing law. In 2020, Messmer authored legislation requiring the presence of a prosecuting attorney during the deposition of a child sex abuse victim.
Since its implementation, defense attorneys have been sidestepping the law by saying they are not deposing the child victim, but merely interviewing them.
SB 331 would close that loophole and give child victims the protections legally intended in Senate Enrolled Act 206.
The third bill is senate bill 472 and is a follow-up to House Enrolled Act 1226, passed in 2022, which established a waste diversion pilot project in central Indiana.
SB 472 would deal with a specific disposal method known as advanced recycling, defined as a manufacturing process to convert post-use polymers and recovered feedstock into basic raw materials, feedstocks, chemicals and other products.
The process is currently being done by Brightmark Energy in northeast Indiana and is based on legislation passed in 21 other states.
All three bills will now move to the Indiana House of Representatives for further consideration.
