Deery Looks Back on 2024 Legislative Session

With the 2024  Legislative session concluded, Republican State Sen. Spencer Deery looks back.

The story of any legislative session includes successes, disappointments and everything in between. I will remember the 2023-24 legislative session for a little of all three. 

I was proud to co-author and pass Senate Enrolled Act 2, which, if signed into law by the governor, will make child care more accessible and affordable for Hoosier families. I also was proud to co-author and pass Senate Enrolled Act 17, which will require websites that publish pornographic content to use reasonable age verification methods in order to protect children online.

I also was proud to sponsor and pass House Enrolled Act 1133 to create the expectation that if political campaigns try to influence an election using realistic fake images, audio or video created by artificial intelligence (AI), creators must label the content so voters know what’s real and what’s fabricated.

I also was proud to author and pass Senate Enrolled Act 202, to support academic freedom and intellectual diversity on our college campuses.

The biggest disappointment of the session was that my legislation to establish guardrails to protect Indiana communities from the potential harms of large water transfers did not move forward this year. However, even that was a partial success in that we won commitments from state officials that they would take no action to advance a pipeline for the LEAP District in Lebanon until after the Indiana Finance Authority (IFA) completes its study, the findings are independently reviewed, and the legislature has a chance to weigh in. 

While the fight to protect our local water resources will need to wait until the next session, the work to pass legislation will begin immediately. When it comes to protecting Hoosiers’ water rights or pushing the Indiana Economic Development Corporation to be more transparent and accountability, I will never give up.

State Sen. Spencer Deery (R-West Lafayette) represents Senate District 23, which includes Fountain, Parke, Vermillion and Warren counties, and portions of Montgomery and Tippecanoe counties.