The latest update in Indiana House Bill 1169’s journey through the legislature is starting to make neurosurgery look easy.
Tory Flynn, an Indiana Republican caucus spokeswoman, said the House dissented Thursday to a recent Senate amendment. The bill will go to a conference committee made up of both Senators and House members to hash out the kinks.
House Bill 1169 began as a bill to give school administrators authority to punish students for off-campus speech — whether lawful or unlawful. After receiving heavy criticism, an amendment passed through the Senate last week that threw out the bill and created instead a “study commission” to look into best practices in student discipline.
Flynn was not sure what the driving force was in rejecting the amendment. She said it could have been something very major, or it could have been minor problems with the amendment’s wording.
Rep. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, introduced the bill in January. Koch did not return calls to comment.
Flynn said this is not uncommon for Indiana bills — OK, so maybe it’s not as tough as neurosurgery.