Lawmakers stripped an education bill of major proposed changes to Indiana's open records laws on Thursday after concerns were raised about how the measure would impact all government agencies and not just schools.
The legislation aims to simplify school management by eliminating duplicate and obsolete reporting requirements that school administrators say are taking resources away from the classroom. But the legislation also included a provision that would allow government agencies to charge a fee for information that takes longer than two hours to gather.
Bill co-sponsor Rep. Tony Cook, R-Cicero, said his colleagues have expressed concerns that the provision would impact all types of state agencies and therefore should be considered as a separate measure, not as part of an education bill. The bill was amended to remove that language during a hearing Thursday in the House Education Committee, which then unanimously approved the bill and sent it to the full House. Continue>>>
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