Gov. Holcomb Backs House Adoption Of Hate Crimes Language; Democrats Critical

The Republican-controlled Indiana House of Representatives on Monday amended an unrelated bill with hate crimes language, but it doesn't please Democrats.

Indiana House of Representatives

(Indianapolis, Ind.) - Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb is pushing lawmakers in Indianapolis to add some crimes to the state's proposed hate crime law. 

The governor on Monday came out in favor of Senate Bill 198, which was previously a bill dealing only with controlled substances in the state’s prisons. The House amended the legislation Monday to include hate crimes language.

According to the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, the amendment to SB 198 was accepted by voice vote, which means the individual votes of each legislator are not recorded.

The bill would allow judges to hand down harsher sentences for criminals who they deem were motivated by a bias. The new version of SB 198 states a "victim's or the group's real or perceived characteristic, trait, belief, practice, association, or other attribute...including but not limited to an attribute" in the state's existing bias crime reporting statute.

Although the existing statute mentions color, creed, disability, national origin, race, religion, or sexual orientation, it does not list gender identity, age, or sex as characteristics which a judge can consider in a criminal’s bias.

The Indiana House had been trying figure out a way to revive a hate crimes bill after the GOP-controlled Senate gutted Senate Bill 12 last month. Senators removed an enumerated list of human characteristics such as gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity from the proposal.

“I support and appreciate the action taken by the House today,” Holcomb said in a statement Monday supportive of the amended SB 198.

“This measure covers all forms of bias crimes and treats all people equally. Now, we need to make sure we get to the finish line and move Indiana off the list of states without a bias crimes law.”

But Democrats at the Statehouse are critical of Holcomb, who had vocally supported the original SB 12, for now supporting watered-down language in SB 198. Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane (D-Anderson) called the new version a meaningless bill that won’t get Indiana off the list of just five states without a hate crimes law.

“I had misplaced my trust in our governor in thinking that he would do the right thing by Hoosiers. This is yet another example of how our governor is leading from behind,” said Lanane.

"The process by which House Republicans added hate crimes language to Senate Bill 198 bypasses public input and once again shows how supermajorities breed complacency. Hoosiers deserve better, and the Senate Democrats will continue to fight to ensure that Indiana passes a meaningful bias crimes bill that doesn't leave any one out.”

Southeastern Indiana State Representative Randy Frye (R-Greensburg) told Eagle Country on March 4 that he would not support a hate crimes bill “if it does not address everyone equally.”

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