2009 General Assembly: Grandparent Visitation Comes Again to the General Assembly

I saw only one family law related legislation mentioned in The Indianapolis Business Journal's New legislation streaming in:

"• Grandparent visitation: Senate Bill 26, authored by Sen. John Waterman, R-Shelburn, provides that a child's grandparent can seek visitation rights when a parent or guardian unreasonably denies or restricts visitation. The proposal eliminates current conditions for which grandparents can seek visitation rights.

This looks like the same legislation talked about last session here.

I think the bills for creating the office of the child advocate, corporal punishment by parents and guardians (which looks like it may clarify that issue), grandparent and great-grandparent visitation (which appears to correct a problem created by changing demographics - we have more great-grandparents), parental rights for parents on active duty (and which appears sensible and useful), child and dependent care tax credit, joint legal custody (changes current law to create a rebuttal presumption favoring joint custody), and emancipation of a minor (allows the minor to petition a court for emancipation) also impact Indiana family law.

All pending legislation is online. I also suggest keeping an eye on Masson's Blog. He is archiving his posts on the 2009 General Assembly here.