Though Indiana State Senator Vi Simpson had announced her intentions to
introduce a bill dealing with violent video games, the latest in a large number of U.S. State-specific video game bills put forward over the past few months, the unnumbered bill did not make it to be introduced on the senate floor, reports the Indianapolis Star.
The exact content of the bill was unknown pending a formal introduction, but the bill now has no chance of receiving a hearing in the current legislative year. The reason for the bill's failure to be presented was due to a short legislative session ending on March 14th, allowing for only some of the 834 bills introduced by either Indiana's House or Senate to receive hearings in their respective legislative bodies.
The criteria for choosing which bills made it to a vote are unclear, but the Indianapolis Star hints that political partisanship may have been a factor, as the majority of the selected bills to be heard on during the legislative session were Republican-sponsored.
Other bills are still pending in other states, including two in Maryland of varying severity. The Indiana bill could potentially still see life as an amendment to another, related bill that does receive a hearing; Senator Simpson expressed plans to attach another of her failed bills to related legislation that will receiving hearing, and it's theoretically possible that the game bill could receive similar treatment, though Simpson expressed no intention to do so.
