State Rep. Terri Austin (D-Anderson) announced today that members of the Indiana House and Senate have come to a final consensus on House Bill 1119—legislation that will help fill critical shortages in the state's police and fire departments.

The legislation seeks to put more police and firefighters back on the street by shortening the time that retired public safety personnel must be separated from their jobs before they can be rehired by the same department.

Austin said that many police and fire departments want to rehire retired employees in a limited or part-time capacity since they have special skills that can be beneficial to the department's operations. Under current state statute, public safety employees must be retired for at least 90 days or risk losing their pension.

"House Bill 1119 shortens the 90 day requirement to 30 days," Austin said. "With the shortage of trained public safety employees, this legislation will give fire and police departments a much-needed helping hand."

Lawmakers worked out their differences on this bill in a joint House-Senate conference committee. Since a final agreement has been made, the bill will proceed Gov. Mitch Daniels for final action.

"I'd like to thank all of my colleagues for their support on this important measure that will enhance public safety in Indiana," Austin said. "I remain optimistic that the governor will take swift and decisive action in passing this bill into law."

In another success, Daniels signed into law House Enrolled Act 1234, a measure Austin co-authored that will grant law enforcement officers assigned to a school district access to student attendance records.

The aim of this measure is to allow school police officers to join with administrators in combating school truancy.

"The first step to improving our public education system to ensure that students attend class," Austin said. "This new law will give school administrators an extra tool to track down habitually truant youth."

Austin continued to say that states that have passed similar legislation have found it to be a useful intervention tool in cases of domestic abuse.

"Frequent and extended absences from school are often a red flag that there are problems at home," she said. "By involving police officers in the attendance process, they can spot a potentially dangerous situation and investigate appropriately."

The new law will take effect July 1.

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