February 17, 2017  
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 Inside the Legislative & Regulatory Report
  It's Builders Day at the Statehouse: February 27  
  The 2017 IBA Builders Day at the Statehouse will be on Monday, February 27. Take part in the legislative briefing at the Hyatt Regency Indianapolis followed by lunch at the Statehouse. This is a great opportunity to meet with your state legislators and discuss housing issues. The afternoon will include leadership training, social media training and board orientation. Reserve your hotel room by February 6 by visiting aws.passkey.com/go/BIAS. For a detailed schedule, visit http://bit.ly/IBAHousingLeg. To RSVP, contact Kim at kimh@buildindiana.org or 800-377-6334 ext. 203.
 

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  Nationally Acclaimed Economist to Keynote IBA Board Meeting: February 28  
  Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D. will be the keynote speaker at the IBA Board of Directors meeting on Tuesday, February 28 at 12 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Indianapolis. Elliot is a nationally acclaimed economist and public speaker specializing in making economics fun, relevant and educational. To RSVP, contact Kim at kimh@buildindiana.org or 800-377-6334 ext. 203.  

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  Tracking Legislation that Could Impact Housing  
  Attached is our bill track. Please feel free to contact IBA's Governmental Affairs Team if you have any questions, comments or concerns about any legislation.
 

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  Legislation to Prohibit Inclusionary Zoning Narrowly Passes Senate  
  Senate Bill 558 prohibits local governments from imposing inclusionary zoning mandates on developers. An inclusionary zoning ordinance could require a private developer not receiving any government incentives to set aside a percentage of new units or homes for affordable housing resulting in other residents of an apartment community or homeowners in the neighborhood paying more for their housing.
 
IBA issued a Call to Action earlier this week asking members to contact their State Senators and ask for their support on SB 558 to ensure local units of government cannot mandate a specific number of affordable housing units be included on every new development, whether constructed as single-family or multifamily property, and cannot place a cap on the sale or rental price.
 
The bill narrowly passed the Senate yesterday 29-19 with Sen. Taylor, Sen. Stoops, and Sen. Becker speaking in opposition. Click here to see how your senator voted, and please thank those who voted "yes".
 
SB 558 moves to the House for further consideration. 
 

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  Indiana General Assembly Overrides Veto of HB 1082 from 2016 Session  
  The Indiana House of Representatives and the Indiana Senate have voted to override the veto of HB 1082 on Environmental Rules and Policies. HB 1082 was a compromise proposal that passed the 2016 legislature with bi-partisan majorities. IBA CEO Rick Wajda said "This law will help protect Indiana businesses from overreaching environmental regulations. "

HB 1082-2016 requires a report of all pending rules and non-rule policy documents to be sent by Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) to the legislative council by July 1 of every year. Under current law, IDEM must identify more-stringent-than federal requirements and separately publish in the Indiana Register: 1) all pending rules or elements of rules that would be more-stringent-than the federal rules; and 2) the reasoning behind the rule and why the federal standard is not sufficient. This information will now be sent to the legislative council as well. Importantly, rules with more-stringent elements would not be effective until after the conclusion of the next legislative session. This delay allows the Indiana General Assembly to take action to preempt the rule if necessary.   

Thank you to those members who reached out to their elected officials and requested the veto vote. 
 

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  Bill To Expand Impact Fee Statute Held (Again)  
  Senate Bill 467 , authored by Sen. Buck (R-Kokomo), allows the imposition of an impact fee for capital improvements for public safety purposes.
 
Status: SB 467 is scheduled for amend and vote in the Senate Local Government Committee on Tuesday, February 21 upon adjournment.
 
Position: IBA opposes SB 467 as it is an expansion of the impact fee statute. 
 

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  Bill to Expand Home Improvement Contracts Statute Scheduled for Hearing  
  Senate Bill 353, authored by Sen. Head (R-Logansport), amends the statute concerning home improvement contracts to cover improvements made to commercial real property in addition to residential real property and includes interior improvements made to a basement.  
 
Status: SB 353 is scheduled for hearing in the Senate Civil Law Committee on Monday, February 20 at 10:00 a.m. 
 

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  Bill to Extend Nursing Home Construction Moratorium to be Heard Monday  
  House Bill 1493, authored by Rep. Brown (R-Crawfordsville), pertains to long-term care matters and would, among other things, extend the moratorium on construction of new nursing homes. The bill modifies the replacement facility exemption for purposes of the prohibition on the approval of licensure of comprehensive care health facilities and comprehensive care beds and extends the prohibition through June 30, 2023. 
 
Status: The bill is scheduled for amend and vote in the House Ways and Means Committee on Monday, February 20 at 10:00 a.m.
Position: IBA has long opposed the nursing home moratorium.
 
Action: Please ask your State Representative to oppose HB 1493. 
 

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  Bill Aimed at Reducing Duplicative Reporting Requirements for Small Businesses Clears House  
  House Bill 1157, authored by Rep. Miller (R-Elkhart), addresses small business duplicative reporting. The bill requires the Indiana economic development corporation to: (1) develop a means for small business reporting of duplicative state reporting requirements through the office of technology computer gateway; and (2) annually report the received information to the house of representatives' standing committee responsible for government reduction.
 
Status: HB 1157 passed the House 94-0 and heads to the Senate for further consideration.
 
Position: IBA supports HB 1157. 
 

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  House Passes Bill to Shorten Permit Application Approval for Commercial On-Site Sewage Systems  
  House Bill 1408, authored by Rep. Wesco (R-Osceola), requires the state department of health to grant or deny an application for a permit to construct a nonresidential on-site sewage system within 45 days after the permit application is submitted to the state department.
 
Status: The bill passed the House 89-0 and moves to the Senate for further consideration.  
 
Position: IBA supports HB 1408 as it would shorten the time to begin septic system installations for commercial projects. 
 

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  Bill on Property Tax Exemption for Affordable Rental Housing to be Heard Tuesday  
  Senate Bill 559, authored by Sen. Eckerty (R-Yorktown), provides a property tax exemption for affordable rental housing property when the property does not otherwise qualify for a property tax exemption. 
 
SB 559 is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Tax and Fiscal Committee on Tuesday, February 21 at 9:00 a.m.
 
IBA is closely monitoring this bill. 
 

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  Land Bills Die in Committee  
  Three land bills failed to receive committee approval this week, and therefore are dead. Senate Bill 381, authored by Sen. Buck (R-Kokomo), pertains to annexation. The bill was amended in the Senate Civil Law Committee to address voluntary annexation, but failed to advance after a vote 4-5.  
 
House Bill 1390, authored by Rep. Ellington (R-Bloomington), provides that if certain requirements are met, a property owner is allowed to subdivide an original parcel by deed without subdivision approval or processing by the local government.  HB 1390 was heard in the House Local Government Committee and was voted down.
 
House Bill 1132, authored by Rep. Ellington (R-Bloomington), changes the definition of "urban area" for purposes of a land use provision regarding the use and alienation of mineral resources or forests to include any lands or lots used for residential purposes where there are at least 50 residences (instead of eight residences) within any quarter mile square area. HB 1132 was heard this week in the House Local Government Committee and was voted down. 
 

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  Recording Fees Bill on 3rd Reading  
  Senate Bill 505, authored by Sen. Bray (R-Martinsville), changes the amounts and distribution of recording fees. The bill also adds the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act that provides, effective January 1, 2018, that for purposes of recording: (1) an electronic document satisfies any legal requirement for an original paper document or other medium; and (2) an electronic signature satisfies a legal requirement that a document must be signed, notarized, acknowledged, or verified.
 
SB 505 is on 3rd Reading in the Senate on Monday. IBA is closely monitoring SB 505 as it would result in a sizable increase in recording fees. 
 

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  Asbestos Bills Scheduled for Committee Hearings on Monday  
  Two IBA supported bills related to asbestos will be heard in committees on Monday. SB 236, authored by Sen. Glick (R-Lagrange), requires disclosure in an asbestos lawsuit if the plaintiff has made a claim against the asbestos trust funds to avoid recovering twice (aka double-dipping). HB 1276, authored by Rep. Torr (R-Carmel) will reinstate the statute of limitations for asbestos claims which was ruled unconstitutional in an Indiana Supreme Court case.
 
SB 236 will be heard in the Senate Civil Law Committee on Monday, February 20 at 10:00 a.m.
HB 1276 will be heard in the House Committee on Judiciary on Monday, February 20 at 10:30 a.m.
 

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  Bike Trails Bill Clears House  
  House Bill 1174, authored Rep. Culver (R-Goshen), establishes the Indiana bicycle trails task force (task force) to: (1) develop actionable concepts to connect existing bicycle trails throughout Indiana; (2) estimate the cost of each concept; (3) present at least six innovative ways to fund the connections to existing bicycle trails; and (4) prepare a timeline that shows the phases of completion to connect existing bicycle trails throughout Indiana for each funding method. 
 
HB 1174 passed the House 93-0 and moves to the Senate for further consideration.
 

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  Southern Indiana Local HBA Receives Grant for Litigation  
  The Building & Development Association of Southern Indiana (BDASI) was one of six associations to receive monetary grants from the NAHB Legal Action Fund to support lawsuits on issues that matter to builders and developers.
 
According to BDASI Executive Officer Charlie Smith, "The grant supports a member up against a utility making unreasonable demands concerning a decades-old easement."
 
The Legal Action Fund is a member service which allows HBAs and members to apply for grants of money, "friend of the court" or amicus briefs, and other assistance from NAHB, and is administered by NAHB's Legal Action Committee.
 
The NAHB Executive Board also approved the committee's recommendation to issue grants to support the following:
  • The New Jersey Builders Association in its ongoing, multi-fronted battle to secure consistent, common-sense, affordable housing regulation in that state.
  • BIA of Southern California in its fight against a disproportionately onerous net zero water program.
  • BIA of Whatcom County, Washington, which is struggling with a housing shortage directly related to a disastrous lack of planning for growth.
  • HBA of Tennessee, dealing with attempts to insert federally promoted post-construction stormwater controls into that state's permitting program for municipalities.
  • Southwestern Montana BIA's challenge to an impact fee which the BIA has proven to be in violation of state law.
Do you have a case in need of assistance? The Legal Action Committee will next consider applications at the NAHB Midyear Meeting in June. Applications are due Thursday, May 11, and application forms are here. For more information on the IBS grants, please contact Amy Chai. For questions about the application process, please contact Lavon Roxbury.
 

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  Save Today - and Tomorrow, Too  
  The numbers are in, and they're awesome: NAHB members saved $20 million in 2016 when they bought products and services through the NAHB Member Advantage program.
From discounts on vehicles, rental cars and building supplies to shipping, warranty services and insurance, NAHB Member Advantage has something to offer every member.
 
For the most up-to-date information about which companies are offering discounts as well as detailed information on how to get started, bookmark nahb.org/ma - and start pocketing those savings. For more information, contact Christy Ronaldson at 800-368-5242 x8273.
 

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  Articles of Interest from NAHB  
   

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