Lieutenant governor approval expected

INDIANAPOLIS -- The question heading into today's special session of the General Assembly is not whether Kathy Davis will be ratified as Indiana's lieutenant governor, but by how big a vote margin.\nMore precisely, will it be unanimous?\n"I think that is a distinct possibility," said House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend.\nRegardless, overwhelming approval of Gov. Joe Kernan's nominee is expected today in the Democrat-led House and Republican-dominated Senate. Davis is to be sworn in immediately afterward.\nKernan won bipartisan praise Oct. 9 by naming the seasoned government manager as his nominee for lieutenant governor -- the post he held for nearly seven years before Gov. Frank O'Bannon's death Sept. 13.\nDavis, 47, was state budget director under then-Gov. Evan Bayh, held the top position in the state's Family and Social Services Administration for two years under O'Bannon, and has been city controller in Indianapolis under Mayor Bart Peterson since January 2000.\nShe has earned a reputation as a pragmatic, roll-up-your-sleeves administrator with a firm grasp on her job and a diplomatic way of downplaying the politics involved. She is well-liked and respected by members of both parties.\nDavis will be the first woman to serve either as Indiana's governor or lieutenant governor.\nBauer wanted to extend today's special session into a week or more of work to pass property tax legislation, including stricter controls on local levy increases and more tax breaks for homeowners. He says lawmakers must do something about a reassessment "gone wildly down the track."\nKernan and Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Garton, R-Columbus, felt this week was too soon to tackle such a complex issue.\nBesides, they said, today should be reserved for one official act only.\n"The session was called for a specific purpose, of dealing with the nomination of Kathy Davis as lieutenant governor under Article 5 of the Constitution," Kernan said.