Despite bipartisan sponsorship from Senators Vi Simpson and Beverly Gard, SB-397 died in the Indiana Senate without a hearing—a victim of a hectic schedule in a short session. It was an outstanding bill!

SB-397 adopted the Environmental Quality Service Council recommendations regarding public health and the environment. The bill would have:

• Implemented county pilot projects to assemble and analyze existing public health information for possible linkages to environmental threats;
• Provided $1,000,000 in annual funding from the tobacco settlement to rebuild and maintain the cancer registry;
• Expand birth defect registry from only those defects identified at birth to all identified in children up to four years; and
• Establish institutional linkages between IDEM, ISDH and local health departments.

Attend the 4/27 IKE Advisory Council meeting if you want to discuss the merits of the bill and how to overcome barriers to its success.