INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Eric Holcomb on Monday opted to issue his first — and last — veto of the session on House Bill 1002, a priority proposal to further define antisemitism, particularly in academic settings, citing concerns with a compromise reached in the final hours of the session.
He also signed a bill that would make it easier to fire the Public Access Counselor and limit what the office can use in interpreting the law.
It is his eighth and final veto of his tenure as governor.
“While I applaud the General Assembly’s effort to address and define antisemitism, I cannot agree with the outcome,” Holcomb said in a statement. “The language that emerged in the final days of the legislative session fails to incorporate the entire International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition and its important contemporary examples. Additionally, the confusing language included in the bill could be read to exclude those examples therefore I must veto (it).”
Senators expressed concerns over using an outside entity’s definition of antisemitism in state law and critics targeted the included “contemporary examples” of antisemitism, saying they were overly broad and limited free speech. Following the compromise, which included a dated IHRA definition but no examples, all but one member of the General Assembly voted in favor of it.
The examples include several references to Israel that the bill did not have. Opponents were concerned that criticizing the government of Israel would amount to antisemitism under the definition.
Holcomb instead issued a signed proclamation condemning “all forms of antisemitism” that includes the full IHRA definition and examples, something the Indiana Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) thanked him for doing.
“We appreciate that his proclamation clarifies these concerns and affirms that Indiana endorses the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism including the reference to the specifically identified examples of contemporary antisemitism,” the organization said in a statement. “
The JRCR pulled its support for the bill after senators stripped out the contemporary examples but reinstated it for the compromise, one of the last bills of the 2024 session.
Read the complete Whitney Downard story for the Indiana Capital Chronicle, here.