Governor's plan moves on

INDIANAPOLIS -- Party leaders in the House struck a tentative deal Tuesday that could steer parts of Gov. Frank O'Bannon's economic-development package to passage and send them to the Republican-controlled Senate.\nHouse Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said Democratic leaders agreed to amend some GOP proposals into the bill in hopes of keeping it alive. Lawmakers faced a midnight deadline for passing bills from their House of origin.\nBosma said Democrats agreed to include tax breaks to manufacturers that use old equipment, an extension of tax credits for money spent on research and development and tax credits for businesses that provide internships.\nThey also agreed to formation of a commission that would do an in-depth study of state government to find waste and duplication among agencies, Bosma said.\nThe plan was to vote on the amendments later Tuesday and then pass the overall plan.\nDemocrats, who control the chamber 51-49, rejected GOP amendments to the plan Monday, putting their Democratic governor in an awkward position.\nThat is because Democrats did not have the 51 votes to pass the bill by themselves, since at least one Democrat -- Rep. Craig Fry of Mishawaka -- said he would not vote for it. Even though Democrats scaled back parts of the plan, Fry said it was still laden with pro-business provisions he could not support.\nDemocrats already had scaled back parts of O'Bannon's plan, but it would still borrow against some future payments of Indiana's tobacco settlement payments to fund research and development grants and other initiatives.\nFailure to pass the plan would emphasize O'Bannon's status as a lame-duck governor. He is in the third year of a second term, cannot seek a third in 2004, and the economic-development plan is his top legislative priority.