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(INDIANAPOLIS) – Legislators haven’t scheduled a public hearing yet on a hate crimes bill, but there’s plenty of discussion behind the scenes.

Senate President Pro Tem Rod Bray (R-Martinsville) has said Republicans will discuss the shape of the bill behind closed doors before starting committee hearings. And eight Tea Party and social-conservative groups have made public a letter they delivered to House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis) urging him to kill the bill. Bosma met last week with leaders of some of those groups. He says it was a civil discussion, but neither side has changed its mind. He says he still intends to pass a bill this session.

The letter incorrectly claims it would punish people for “disapproval alone” of homosexuality. None of the proposals which have been filed would create new crimes. If someone is convicted of a crime, racist or other prejudicial motivation could result in longer sentences. The versions which have received the most consideration would make clear a judge could consider those motivations in ordering a prison term at the high end of Indiana’s sentencing ranges.

But the letter also argues singling out particular groups is both unjust and unconstitutional, violating the principle of equal protection. Opponents argue the bills are “a solution chasing a problem that doesn’t exist” — the FBI tallied just 55 hate crimes in Indiana in 2017, although many police departments don’t keep track. And even Bosma acknowledges judges already have the authority to look at motivation as a factor in sentencing, though the speaker argues the law should say so specifically.

Bosma has been advocating a bill which doesn’t list any specific groups — that’s drawn constitutional objections from the other side, which notes a Georgia law along those lines was struck down as too vague.

Indiana is one of just five states without a hate crimes law. The attempt to pass one goes back more than a decade, but the discussion didn’t begin in earnest until three years ago, when the Senate debated and passed a hate crimes bill for the first time. The House didn’t consider it that year. Since then, Bosma has signaled his support, but proposals have stalled in the Senate. This year, Governor Holcomb has made passing the bill one of his legislative priorities.

House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis, left) and Senate President Pro Tem Rod Bray (R-Martinsville) (Photo: Eric Berman/WIBC)