While the Indiana legislature’s congressional redistricting efforts generate massive national attention, a weaker immigration enforcement bill is quietly moving faster than a stronger, “gold-standard” bill supported by Gov. Mike Braun and border czar Tom Homan.
The two immigration bills, Senate Bill 76 and House Bill 1039, include a lot of identical language. But SB 76 weakens and drops a number of HB 1039’s provisions.
SB 76 is sponsored by Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, who faces primary challenger Darren Vogt after she single-handedly blocked an immigration enforcement bill similar to HB 1039 earlier this year. SB 76 passed the judiciary committee Brown chairs Tuesday afternoon 6-2. In response to a Federalist query about whether she’d give HB 1039’s Senate companion sponsored by ranking member Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, an equal hearing, Brown’s spokeswoman told The Federalist, “Sen. Brown is focused first on getting her bill through Committee and then she’ll see what the House does.”