20 MARCH / APRIL 2021 ARTICLE SPOTLIGHT Dax Denton Senior Vice President - Government Relations Indiana Bankers Association ddenton@indiana.bank @ibagovrelations Eric J. Augustus Vice President - Government Relations Indiana Bankers Association eaugustus@indiana.bank Midway Recap Of the 2021 legislative session In this column’s January/February edition, we shared with you that the 2021 legislative session would look much different from years past. A primary change is that House members are now splitting their time between the Government Center South, where ample space allows for socially distanced House meetings and some committee work, and the House Chamber, where some bills are being heard in committee. The usual committee rooms have been abandoned for the time being. While the advocacy process is best suited for inperson meetings and communications, your Indiana Bankers Association Government Relations Team has transitioned to connecting with policymakers mostly by phone and web calls. Despite House and Senate leadership having placed restrictions on the number of bills that legislators may file, there is an abundance of policy ideas being considered this year. The IBA GR Team is navigating this new legislative landscape to ensure that your needs remain well represented, regardless of the venue. By the time this article lands in your hands or inbox, the legislative session will be past the halfway point – a significant marker, because the first half of session sets the tone for the remainder. Issues of most importance for the 2021 Indiana Legislature are: passing a state budget; redrawing legislative maps; and addressing numerous COVID-19 relief-related bills. The legislature moved quickly to pass two bills critical to the state and that have already been signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb. Notably, both bills were drafted as emergency declarations, with the result that both became Indiana law upon receipt of the governor’s signature on Feb. 18, rather than on the standard enactment date of July 1: • SEA 1: Civil Immunity Related to COVID-19. This broadly applied immunity bill for COVID-19 liability was supported by the IBA as part of a coalition of business trades and other individual entities. The legislation provides protection against COVID-19-related lawsuits, especially relevant to banks as essential businesses. SEA 1 was authored by Sen. Mark Messmer (R-Jasper), and similar house legislation was authored by Rep. Jerry Torr (R-Carmel). • HEA 1056: Recording Requirements. This bill was a key IBA priority, as it “fixes” or undoes the secondwitness requirement to record instruments that arose from the interpretation of the language change from “or” to “and” in SEA 340 from the 2020 session. SEA 340 had created disruption in the real estate marketplace because of issues with interpretation. HEA 1056 also retroactively applies the language to all instruments recorded after July 1, 2020. The bill was authored by Rep. Jerry Torr (R-Carmel). Following are additional bills that the IBA GR Team has been working on during the first half of session: • SB 370 – Limitation on Actions Concerning Deposit Accounts, authored by Sen. Andy Zay (R-Huntington). This bill makes minor technical amendments to Indiana law with respect to the statute of limitations for actions upon promissory
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