Sale of meth ingredients is the target of Elkhart County lawmaker's bills

State Rep. Wes Culver, R-Goshen, and State Sen. Carlin Yoder, R-Middlebury, have filed separate bills regarding the sale of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine.

Culver's bill -- House Bill 1030 -- would make the drugs available only by prescription, something that's already been done in Oregon.

Yoder's bill would allow consumers to continue to purchase the drugs over the counter, but track their sales on a statewide computer network.

Senate Bill 394 requires the state attorney general to enter into an agreement with a company to provide a tracking system. Retailers would electronically transmit information concerning the sale of the drugs to the statewide tracking system.

The deadline to file bills in the House was 2 p.m. Tuesday. It's 4 p.m. Thursday in the Senate. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 400 bills had been filed in the Senate, with almost 200 filed in the House.

Meanwhile, members of Elkhart County's legislative delegation have a number of other bills on their agendas for the long session. They include:

* Senate Bill 152, authored by State Sen. Joe Zakas, R-Granger, would make it illegal to sell synthetic marijuana. The bill passed unanimously out of committee Tuesday and is on its way to the full Senate.

* Zakas also has been a proponent of capping the growth of a home's assessed value. He filed Senate Bill 233, which would cap the annual increase in the AV of a homestead to 5 percent unless the home is sold or there are physical changes to it. He filed another bill that would provide a tax credit for homestead property that would limit property tax increases to 5 percent per year, excluding the part that increases due to improvement or expansion.

* State Rep. Craig Fry, D-Mishawaka, has once again filed Sheena's Law, in honor of Sheena Kiska, who was murdered March 18, 2008. She had tried unsuccessfully to break her apartment lease prior to her death. On Jan. 6, police arrested her former neighbor, who they believe is responsible for her killing.

House Bill 1126 would force landlords to let tenants out of their lease with a valid police report based on certain crimes. Opponents of Fry's version of the legislation want the issue to go to court first.

* Fry also filed a bill, House Bill 1125, that would require operators of motorized bikes to have insurance.

* State Rep. Tim Neese, R-Elkhart, filed House Bill 1195, which would keep school from beginning before Sept. 1 starting with the 2012-13 school year. That's his only bill so far.

* State Reps. Tim Wesco, R-Osceola, and David Wolkins, R-Winona Lake, and State Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Bremen, have yet to file bills.

* Yoder filed a bill that would restrict state political party expenditures to influence candidates of their own party only. The legislation does not apply to federal offices, which are guided by federal election rules. In another campaign-related bill, Yoder would require the county chairman to submit the names and addresses of precinct committeemen to the county election board by July 1 each year and that the information be made public.

* Yoder also authored legislation that would require annual driving tests for drivers with any type of Indiana license beginning at age 85.