Senate Bill 404, “canned hunting” failed to pass by one vote to move to the House of Representatives for consideration. However that does not mean the subject is “dead” for this session. The language, that was Senate Bill 404, may indeed pass on, similar to the “button” in the children’s game. It can arise again as an amendment to another bill that has passed one chamber of the Legislature and is under consideration by the other chamber, either in the House or Senate.
A possibility exists that the “canned hunting button” may appear as an amendment in Senate Bill 52, Criminal Penalties & DNR. (As long as the topic of the amendment is sort of close to the original subject, it passes parliamentary muster.) Last year a similar “canned hunting” bill, SB 487 Shooting and Hunting Preserves, was passed by the Senate and the House, but didn’t make it out of Conference Committee. If “canned hunting” is amended into Senate Bill 52, you can get an idea of your Representatives position on it from his/her vote last year (click here).
Senate Bill 52 is assigned to the Corrections and Criminal Law committee in the House.
On the other hand, the “canned hunting button” may be amended into HB 1307 Various Natural Resource Matters, which passed in the House of Representatives and is being considered by the Senate now. It is assigned to the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee who passed the original SB 404 out of committee only to have it fall one vote short of passage in the full Senate – two Senators were absent for the vote. (The amended bill would have to go to Conference Committee and if approved by that committee then be voted on by each chamber for final passage.)
In addition to the obvious ethical issues involved in “canned hunting” there is great risk of introducing Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) into Indiana’s natural deer population. Once introduced CWD cannot be contained or eliminated. Unlike the Emerald Ash Borer and Asian Carp the principle vector for CWD disease is the Interstate Highway system and the farms that raise captive deer.
Indiana Conservation Alliance 