Indiana News Update

General Assembly fails to pass budget
State lawmakers voted down a two-year budget as deadline neared late Wednesday night, raising the possibility of a special session.  As of about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Anderson Sen. Tim Lanane said issues regarding cuts requested by Gov. Mitch Daniels were keeping legislators from adopting a budget, but that one was written and ready to be discussed.
 

Gov. Mitch Daniels signs bill authored by Sen. Boots
With a few strokes of his pen, Gov. Mitch Daniels sent opportunity for higher education throughout Indiana classrooms thanks to State Sen. Phil Boots’ legislation increasing visibility of Indiana’s Twenty-First Century Scholars Program.  With House Bill 1389 signed into law, more students will become aware of a program helping Hoosiers attend college.  House Enrolled Act 1389, sponsored by Boots (R-Crawfordsville), requires each Indiana school corporation to provide students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades applying for free and reduced lunches with enrollment forms for this program. Help completing the forms will also be offered. Eligible students and their parents must complete and return an application by June 30 of each junior high year.

Unemployment fund bill OK’d
Lawmakers have approved legislation designed to fix Indiana’s bankrupt unemployment insurance fund. The Democrat-led House voted 52-47 along party lines in giving final legislative approval to the plan Wednesday night, the deadline for ending the session. The bill had earlier passed the Republican controlled Senate and now goes to Gov. Mitch Daniels for his consideration.  The insurance fund has been paying out hundreds of millions of dollars more in benefits than it has been collecting in employer taxes.

Lawmakers upset they’re going to special session
Many state lawmakers are grumbling over the fact that they will be called into their first special session since 2002, having failed to pass a new state budget by a deadline for ending the regular session.”I think it only gets gets worse,” said Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville. “It’s hard to see how it will get better but maybe it will work.”  A two-year spending plan passed the Republican-controlled Senate on a 37-13 vote minutes before the midnight Wednesday deadline, but the Democrat-led House voted 71-27 against the bill, with no Republicans voting for it. They said it spent too much and would leave the state with a shortfall after two years.  The bill’s defeat in the House means Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels will have to call lawmakers back for an overtime session, since the current budget expires at the end of the fiscal year on June 30. Each day of a special session would cost taxpayers a minimum of $12,420 in legislative per diem.

Samuel R. Turpin – Indiana Public Policy

Indiana News Update

Sheriff, state AG speak at GOP dinner
As local Republicans gathered in the year of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller spoke of what it means to him to be a Republican, and although his role is not as partisan as the role of a legislator, he said the values of the GOP still hold true for his position.   ”As attorney general, if I do my job well, you may not recognize if I’m a Republican or a Democrat,” he said to a crowded room at Eberly’s Hall on Friday evening.   He said although partisanship often gets a bad reputation in the House or Senate, it plays an important role in the formation of legislation.     Republican county chair Jim Banks, however, was more forceful during introductions of local and state GOP office holders, saying he was grateful for their service, especially at the state level as they are fighting through a minority year in the house.

Ind. lawmakers deadlocked on abortion doctor bill
Indiana lawmakers are deadlocked over an abortion bill, and chances seem slim that they’ll find common ground before the legislative session ends Wednesday.  A standoff over women’s health screenings could kill the legislation, which would require doctors who perform abortions in Indiana to have admitting privileges in a nearby hospital. The bill also would inform women seeking abortions that a fetus might feel pain.  A joint House-Senate conference committee met to discuss a possible agreement Monday, but members of the Democrat-led House and GOP-ruled Senate had conflicting ideas about the health screenings.

Down to the wire, with two issues left, two held over
Differences between Democrats and Republicans – which may be symbolized as the clash of the titans Mitch Daniels and Patrick Bauer – have guaranteed that at least two critical issues remain for the General Assembly to resolve before its scheduled adjournment time Wednesday. And at least two important issues have been punted, guaranteeing that the Mitch and Pat Show will give us an interesting legislative session next year, too.  This year’s biggies are the budget, which is the only thing legislators are required to do this year, and fixing the broken unemployment insurance system, which necessity has forced on them. The two waiting for next year’s session are whether to make property tax caps permanent by putting them in the state constitution and whether to enact all or any of the Kernan-Sheperd recommendations on local-government reform.

Renewable energy mandate unlikely to pass
Supporters of a proposal that would set Indiana’s first comprehensive renewable energy policy are watching closely as the legislative session enters its final days, although key lawmakers aren’t optimistic that the measure will pass.  Indiana is the only state in the Upper Midwest without a renewable energy standard – a policy that sets a specific amount of electricity that utilities should generate from the sun, wind and other renewable sources by a certain date.  But this month, the Indiana House passed a bill requiring Indiana to get 15 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2025. It was the first time such a proposal had cleared either of the state’s legislative chambers since supporters began pushing the idea four years ago.  However, the renewable standard was inserted by the Democrat-led House into a bill passed by the Republican-ruled Senate that originally dealt only with a narrow renewable energy provision.

Protesters decry unemployment benefits cuts
Thousands of union members jammed the Indiana Statehouse atrium today, with thousands more in lines that snaked outside three entrances, waiting to get in.  Each brought one message: Don’t cut unemployment benefits.  State legislators are facing a midnight deadline on Wednesday to come up with an agreement on how to fix Indiana’s drained unemployment trust fund. The state has been paying out more than it’s been taking in taxes from employers for a few years, with the bump in unemployment to 10 percent in March compounding the problem, The state is borrowing money from the federal government — about $1 billion this year — to continue to pay benefits to jobless Hoosiers.

Samuel R. Turpin – Indiana Public Policy

Indiana News Update

Fry seeks to revive $$$-boosting bills
State Rep. Craig Fry, D-Mishawaka, is trying to revive language from several bills that could help Elkhart County’s struggling economy.  Three provisions originally passed the Indiana House overwhelmingly but failed to get a hearing in the Senate. They would create a sales tax exemption for RVs purchased by out-of-state buyers; give $250,000 to economic development corporations in counties that have unemployment rates of more than 14 percent; and create tax incentives for any business of $10 million or more that relocates specifically to Elkhart County before July 1, 2010. A fourth provision would create a sales tax holiday for RV buyers.  Fry has asked key Democratic legislators, whom he called “prominent players in the budget side of the Democratic leadership,” to insert the language into the budget bill that must be passed yet this session.

Sen. Lubbers, Harvard graduate, voted to ed commissioner position
Republican state Sen. Teresa Lubbers of Indianapolis has been picked to become Indiana’s new higher education commissioner.  The Higher Education Commission’s eight-member search committee voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend Lubbers for the position. The full 14-member commission is expected to vote on the recommendation at its May 8 meeting.  Lubbers, who heads the Senate Education Committee and has worked on education legislation for years, said she’s looking forward to the new job.

Ind. smoking ban compromise would exempt casinos
Casinos would be the one public place in Indiana where smokers could light up if a legislator can win passage of a statewide smoking ban law.  Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, wants to amend another one of his bills to include the ban on smoking in most public indoor places. He said Wednesday that he’s willing to carve out the casino exception as a compromise since gambling industry lobbyists are arguing that it would cause a big drop in business.

Samuel R. Turpin – Indiana Public Policy

Indiana News Update

Bill would toughen Ind. penalties for fetus deaths
Anyone who murders or attempts to murder a pregnant woman and causes the death of her unborn child could face a longer prison term under a bill that won final legislative approval Tuesday.  The bill was inspired by the shooting of an Indianapolis bank teller in April 2008. Katherin Shuffield was five months pregnant when she was wounded in the abdomen during a robbery. She survived, but the twin girls she and her husband were expecting did not.

Governor, survivor talk on remembering the Holocaust
Gov. Mitch Daniels told a group of students gathered at the Indiana Statehouse that Holocaust Remembrance Day is more important now than ever before.  Daniels said Tuesday that memories of the World War II-era atrocities have faded. He says society must remember the Holocaust and actively defy and resist evil in the world.

Bill would give teachers new legal protection
Supporters of a bill that won final legislative approval on Tuesday hope it will give teachers more legal protection for trying to maintain classroom discipline.  The House voted unanimously for the bill, which now goes to Gov. Mitch Daniels for his consideration. Daniels pushed for the proposal during his re-election campaign, saying he had heard from many teachers about their fear of needless lawsuits. Some educators have told lawmakers that parents of disruptive students often threaten to sue when teachers try to keep them from acting up or leaving their seats without permission.

Democrats question governor’s plan for spending cuts
Democratic leaders at the Statehouse are questioning whether the governor should have the power to withhold state cash from certain programs even though lawmakers allocated money for them in the state budget.   Senate Minority Leader Vi Simpson, D-Bloomington, said Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels should be able to reduce spending for his own state agencies in economic hard times – but shouldn’t be allowed to slash funding to groups outside state government such as colleges and public broadcasting stations.

School tech fund is named for Sen. Ford
A state account used to buy computer equipment and pay technology costs for Indiana schools will be renamed after Republican Sen. David Ford of Hartford City.  Gov. Mitch Daniels was joined by a bipartisan group of legislators from both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly on Tuesday to sign the legislation. The General Assembly unanimously approved the bill naming the David C. Ford Educational Technology Fund, formerly the Indiana educational technology fund.

Senator says she’s in line for Ind. higher ed post
Republican state Sen. Teresa Lubbers of Indianapolis says she’s the leading candidate to become Indiana’s new higher education commissioner.  Lubbers says she’s ready to wake up every day and work on education as she believes that issue is the state’s most important. Lubbers is chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee and has pushed legislation supporting charter schools.  Current Higher Education Commissioner Stan Jones is resigning after 13 years at the end of the month, which is when the legislative session ends.

Samuel R. Turpin – Indiana Public Policy

Indiana News Update

Bill would allow alerts for missing seniors
Indiana residents could soon get public warnings similar to Amber Alerts when seniors with Alzheimer’s disease or other endangered adults go missing.  A bill that won final legislative approval Monday would create silver alerts, which would be issued by police and broadcast by media outlets.  Bill supporters say the proposal could protect thousands of Indiana residents with Alzheimer’s disease or other cognitive problems. But some were concerned that the system would result in so many alerts that the public would tune them out.

End-of-route school bus checks passes Assembly
School bus drivers would have to walk to the back of their buses to make sure no children are forgotten under a bill that has passed the Indiana General Assembly.  A bill that won final legislative approval Monday would require school bus drivers to inspect each seat at the end of each trip. Drivers who don’t do end-of-route inspections could face a $500 fine.

Difference of opinion on who should control purse strings
Democratic leaders at the Statehouse are questioning whether the governor should have the power to withhold state cash from programs even though lawmakers allocated money for them in the budget. Senate Minority Leader Vi Simpson, D-Ellettsville, said Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels should be able to reduce spending for his own state agencies in economic hard times — but shouldn’t be allowed to slash funding to groups outside state government, such as colleges and public broadcasting stations.

Bills doomed at session’s end?
Keep hope  alive. That’s the stance Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, is taking in hopes of reviving a bill that would impose a statewide smoking ban in enclosed public places. A version passed the House but went nowhere in the Senate. Now Brown hopes it finds new life in late-session conference committees, where lawmakers wheel and deal in hopes of finding new homes for legislation that passed only the House or Senate.  “I don’t think anything is dead until the speaker of the House and the president pro tem of the Senate gavel out the session,” said Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel.

Samuel R. Turpin – Indiana Public Policy

Indiana News Update

If state’s jobless fund isn’t fixed, feds may flex
The federal unemployment tax rate paid by Indiana employers might rise 38 percent next year if the state has not repaid all of the hundreds of millions of dollars in loans it needs to keep paying jobless benefits, a top official said Wednesday.  Chief Financial Officer Scott Sanders of the Department of Workforce Development told the Unemployment Insurance Board that if the state hasn’t repaid its loans in full by Nov. 10, 2010, Indiana employers could pay about $59 million in additional unemployment taxes to the federal government. They’re already expected to pay $214.5 million.

Midwest states want high-speed rail
Eight Midwestern states hope to secure federal stimulus money for a network of faster passenger trains with Chicago as its hub — joining forces to boost their chances of getting a cut of $8 billion set aside for high-speed rail.  The governors, including Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, said Wednesday they have sent a joint letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood asking him to support the initiative.  Longtime proponents of high-speed rail welcomed the show of unity, saying it should help in what’s sure to be stiff competition among states for the federal stimulus dollars. California and New York are among those vying for the funds.

Bill restricting teen drivers advances
Using their cell phones or texting would be prohibited for teen drivers under legislation adopted Wednesday in the Indiana House.  In addition, teenagers would have to wait five more months — until they’re 16 1/2 — and undergo additional training before they receive their probationary driver’s licenses.  Supporters said the proposal would save lives on Indiana roads by requiring more experience and maturity before teenagers could drive alone. In 2007, teen drivers caused 153 deaths on state roadways.
 

House fails to vote on property tax caps
Indiana House Republicans left the Statehouse late Wednesday night, fuming over what they said was a lost opportunity to vote on an amendment that would place the state’s property-tax caps into the state constitution.  Midnight was the deadline for the House to vote on the legislation this session, which already passed the Indiana Senate. House Republicans pushed for Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, to hold a vote on the legislation, but he refused.

Samuel R. Turpin – Indiana Public Policy

Indiana News Update

Senate budget would hike school funding, for now
The Indiana Senate has approved a budget that would rely on federal economic stimulus money to boost school spending, but a top senator says the funding increase might be short lived.  A new state revenue forecast expected Friday will give lawmakers a better idea of how much the state can spend over the next two years. Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, said the proposed increases for education could be out the door if the forecast is bad enough.  “Right now I’m pessimistic about the outlook,” Kenley said. “I don’t see evidence of a turnaround.”

Legislators get last chance at bills
Indiana lawmakers advanced a tentative state budget Tuesday, but they know a state revenue forecast due out Friday could send them back to the negotiating table.  The Republican-led Senate passed a two-year, $28.1 billion budget that slightly boosts education spending but is propped up by federal stimulus dollars on a 32-18 vote. All the Democrats opposed it.

Senate budget proposal may be short-lived
The Indiana Senate has approved a budget that would rely on federal economic stimulus money to boost school spending, but a top senator says the funding increase might be short lived. A new state revenue forecast expected Friday will give lawmakers a better idea of how much the state can spend over the next two years. Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley (R-Noblesville) said the proposed increases for education could be out the door if the forecast is bad enough.  “Right now I’m pessimistic about the outlook,” Kenley said. “I don’t see evidence of a turnaround.”  The GOP-led Senate voted 32-18 today for a two-year budget that would spend about $28 billion in state money plus nearly $2 billion in stimulus cash. The budget next heads to a conference committee where Senate Republicans and Democrats who control the House will try to reach a compromise before the legislative session ends April 29.

Samuel R. Turpin – Indiana Public Policy

Indiana News Update

Mayor’s CIB plan leaves food-beverage tax alone

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard’s plan to rescue the city’s Capital Improvement Board from an approaching $47 million budget deficit wouldn’t raise the local food-and-beverage tax, but it would increase several others already targeted in a bill moving through the state Legislature.
 

Child services overseer in budget
An ombudsman may give new oversight to the state Department of Child Services after all, as an amendment creating the position was added Monday to the proposed state budget in the Senate.  Chances of the ombudsman plan becoming law have moved from slim to strong, now that the idea is part of House Bill 1001, the budget bill.  The idea had earlier passed unanimously in the Democrat-controlled House and the judiciary committee of the Republican-controlled Senate. But the original measure creating the position, House Bill 1602, abruptly died in the Senate Appropriations Committee when Sen. Luke Kenley, the committee chairman, refused to give it a vote.

Ind. bill to create bridges panel dies
A bill that would have created a state commission to coordinate Indiana’s part of the Ohio River bridges project with Kentucky officials has died in a Senate committee, although the language could still be revived. House Bill 1226 didn’t receive a committee hearing by last week’s deadline after representatives of Gov. Mitch Daniels’ office said it was unnecessary.  “We believe we can work with Kentucky on this administratively,” Daniels spokesman Brad Rateike said today.

Cheatham bill would protect tool and die makers
As the auto industry began to decline, tool makers were not being paid for goods they had shipped and then later sent a bill for. The ripple effect was that tool makers could not pay their employees since they weren’t paid by their customers.  One tool maker that state Rep. Dave Cheatham said he knows of laid off 130 people recently because it did not have the money to meet payroll after customers didn’t pay their bills.  Cheatham is the sponsor of a bill in the General Assembly that would allow tool and die makers to file liens against their customers who do not pay their bills. Filing a lien and having the court order payment would take less time and cost less in legal fees than filing a lawsuit and having it go through the court system, Cheatham said.

Legislation needed to empower Hoosiers
A measure to ensure open government for all Hoosiers appears to have been dealt a severe blow last week in the Indiana House of Representatives.  The legislation, Senate Bill 232 that was passed on a 49-0 vote in the Senate, effectively was killed when Rep. John Bartlett, D-Indianapolis, decided not to have a final meeting of the Government and Regulatory Reform Committee.  The bill would have, for the first time in Indiana history, imposed fines on government officials who knowingly violated provisions of the Indiana Open Door Law or the Indiana Public Records Act. After getting watered down from the original version as introduced to the Senate, the bill would have allowed judges to impose civil fines of $100 for the first violation and $500 for subsequent violations of the two acts.

Samuel R. Turpin – Indiana Public Policy

Indiana News Update

Gov. Daniels to hire 2,000 youth this summer
Governor Mitch Daniels announced his plan last week to hire 2,000 young adults to help improve Indiana’s parks, trails and natural habitats. The program, Young Hoosiers Conservation Corps, will hire Hoosiers ages 16 to 24 from families whose income is at or below the poverty level. The program begins May 1, lasts for 16 weeks and pays $8.50 per hour.  Young Hoosier Conservation Corps will be funded by the $24 million Indiana received from the Workforce Investment Act, which provided funds for state and local stabilization for 2009. The $24 million will be distributed across Indiana counties based on population and will be renewed in 2010 pending on its success this summer.

Indiana Senate GOP offers budget plan
Indiana would use hundreds of millions in federal stimulus dollars to slightly boost education spending under a budget state Republican lawmakers unveiled this evening.  Sen. Luke Kenley, the powerful Noblesville Republican who chairs the Appropriations Committee, said the stimulus money gives Indiana two years of breathing room to see if the economy recovers before the state is forced to furtherslash funding.  “If we did not have the federal stimulus money, we would have significant cuts in every single area of state government,” Kenley said.

Samuel R. Turpin – Indiana Public Policy

Indiana News Update

Bill to impose access penalties in jeopardy
A bill that would allow fines against government workers who blatantly violate Indiana’s public access laws is in jeopardy.  The state Senate unanimously approved the bill, which supporters say would put much-needed teeth into Indiana’s open door and public records laws. But a House committee chairman said Tuesday that he doesn’t plan to give the bill a hearing before a key deadline this week.

Winners, losers for state budget
In three weeks, this year’s long and dreadful session of the Indiana General Assembly is scheduled to come to a merciful end (let’s pray the deadline for adjournment isn’t extended). Having accomplished little of note in the past three months, legislators must now quickly stitch together a state budget more likely to have the appearance of early thrift shop than high fashion.  The budget outlook has been bleak from the start, but the state’s income in March fell $87 million short of an already downgraded forecast, and the tumbling revenues have left lawmakers with a task that would strain even the most farsighted and prudent of statesmen (and such leaders are rare in the Statehouse).

Statehouse Report
More than 300,000 Hoosiers are currently out of work.  As of January, 51 of Indiana’s 92 counties have unemployment rates of 10 percent or more. Another 17 counties have unemployment rates of more than 9 percent.  These statistics show the cold, hard truth of the challenge facing lawmakers in the 2009 session of the Indiana General Assembly. Not only do we need to find more jobs for Hoosiers, but we must protect those men and women who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own and are trying to care for their families as they look for work.  The problem is that the trust fund used to provide unemployment benefits is bankrupt. For the past several years, the amount paid in benefits has been greater than the amount paid into the fund through employer contributions.

Samuel R. Turpin – Indiana Public Policy