The House Veterans Affairs and Public Safety Committee heard HB 1402 authored by Rep Baird on veterans matters. This bill requires the Indiana Department of Veterans’ Affairs to perform an electronic query of the records maintained in Odyssey on a weekly basis to obtain arrestee information and cross reference the names obtained with the names of individuals in the U.S. Department of Defense data base of individuals whose military service qualifies the individual for veterans benefits and national guard registries. The bill additionally allows the information to be shared with county prosecutors and veterans courts to benefit veterans in the court system.
The bill was amended to urge a study committee to study whether Indiana should implement a property tax deduction for rental property to encourage rental property owners to partner with nonprofit organization to reduce veteran homelessness. The amended bill passed 9-0.
Read the bill at: http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2018/bills/house/1402