Domestic Violence Funding Bill Advances in House

House lawmakers put addressing domestic violence near the top of this session's to-do list. Proposed legislation would provide five million dollars a year in the next two-year state budget for domestic violence prevention and treatment programs -- doubling current state funding.

After a change in committee, the bill would also provide one million a year to help sexual assault victims.  Whiteland Republican Representative Woody Burton provided emotional testimony in committee about his own experience with domestic violence – his father threatened and abused his mother when Burton was a small child.  He stressed the need for more money and more attention on the issue, in part, he said, to help people overcome the unfair stigma sometimes associated with domestic violence.

“I’m not ashamed of what happened to me.  I’m proud of the fact that I survived it," Burton said.  "I’m proud my brother and sister did.  I’m ashamed of him and what he stood for.”

A House committee unanimously approved the bill.  It now goes to the Ways and Means committee for approval because of its financial impact.  For Indiana Public Broadcasting, I’m Brandon Smith.