Under the bill – which received unanimous support from the committee – if a public records request takes a government agency more than two hours to search for, the agency can charge up to $20 per hour.

Tuesday's order denied a request by consumer advocates for a rehearing following an April ruling that lawmakers can ignore public record requests for email correspondence with lobbying groups and businesses.

The groups filed a lawsuit last year to gain access to emails between a House Republican lawmaker and utility companies, but the Indiana Supreme Court ruled the emails were not covered by the state's open records law.