Indiana lawmakers look to repeal a school diabetes law that they believe is redundant. Advocates say reversing law would be a “dangerous step backward.”
INDIANAPOLIS — Some Indiana lawmakers are trying to repeal a law that provides protections for kids with diabetes. Those lawmakers believe the law is redundant due to some federal laws, but advocates, including the American Diabetes Association, say it allows children to manage their disease in class and protects educators who help them.
State Rep. Bob Behning (R-District 91), chair of the Indiana House Education Committee, is one of the three authors of HB 1004. The committee amended and advanced the 181-page bill to the House last week. The bill’s fiscal impact statement created by the Legislative Services Agency shows it removes or repeals dozens of education and higher education provisions, including the Care of Students with Diabetes Act, which is also known as Hunter’s Law.
A spokesman for Behning and Rep. Julie McGuire (R-District 93), another author of the bill, told 13News Hunter’s Law is “duplicative,” and that the protections are already provided under federal law, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
The American Diabetes Association says the federal law is not enough, and Indiana’s state law is needed as a complement. The national organization sent a letter to lawmakers stating, in part:
“Repealing ‘Hunter’s Law’ is a dangerous step backward and one from which it will be difficult for families of children with diabetes to recover. We cannot afford to return to the days, prior to the enactment of the Care of Students with Diabetes Act in 2007, when students didn’t have access to the insulin that is their lifeblood or the glucagon they need in emergencies, when students missed out on field trips, and when some parents lost their jobs because they had to go to school daily to provide diabetes care for their child.”
The law was named after Hunter Sego. In 2007, he was in fourth grade and 9 years old when he testified before lawmakers. He told them how he would miss crucial class time as he waited for a nurse to help him manage his diabetes. At one point, the boy was even asked to leave his school because of his disease. Advocates say Hunter wasn’t alone, and hundreds of other kids in Indiana were facing the same obstacles.
Advocates say Hunter’s Law changed that by allowing children to manage their diabetes in class. It also encourages teachers and other educators to get training to help children manage their disease and protects those educators from liability when helping.
Hunter is now a 29-year-old medical student.
“This … law has enabled me to be who I am and get to where I am today,” Hunter said. “And has allowed a lot of other Hoosiers to get the education that they deserve. And so, it’s vital that we don’t take a step backward.”
Rep. Becky Cash (R-District 25) plans to present an amendment to save Hunter’s Law. She also voted to advance HB 1004 out of the House Education Committee but says at the time, she didn’t realize Hunter’s Law was at risk.
“It’s actually super frustrating,” Cash said. “It was actually Wednesday after the Education Committee passed the bill that I started getting messages from my legislative assistant that we had messages about this. And the ironic part is that is that I have both a staff member with Type-1 diabetes and a daughter who was diagnosed as a baby. And so people actually started to directly reach out to me … because I think word started to get out.”
Cash says she will put forth the amendment Tuesday, Jan. 27 ahead of HB 1004 going before the House for review. The bill is up for second reading, which means lawmakers will have an opportunity to debate and amend the bill before representatives vote to send the bill to the Senate for consideration.