Partisan tensions threaten House bills as deadline draws near

INDIANAPOLIS -- Partisan tensions ran high in the Indiana House Tuesday with representatives facing a midnight deadline to keep several bills alive, including ones to mandate statewide observance of daylight-saving time and give the governor's inspector general prosecutorial powers.\nThe Republican-controlled House convened shortly after 9 a.m., but Democrats soon left the floor to meet privately, and it was uncertain when they would return so action on at least some of 130 pending bills could resume. Although Democrats are outnumbered 52-48, at least 67 members must be present in the chamber to conduct business.\nHouse Democrats are upset about several bills they consider power grabs by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels and his fellow House Republicans. Among other things, they say the inspector general bill would give the governor unprecedented power to conduct political witch hunts if local prosecutors fail to file charges. Republicans say the bill would help root out government corruption.\nHouse Democrats also fault a bill that would require voters to show a state or federally supplied photo ID before casting ballots on election days. Republicans say it will help prevent voter fraud, but Democrats claim it will disenfranchise some voters to the GOP's benefit.\nDemocrats, out of power in the House for the first time in eight years, stalled action on bills for more than six hours Monday by meeting privately in protest over GOP-backed legislation. They took the floor around 5 p.m. after Republicans agreed to postpone a vote on daylight-saving time and drop a proposed amendment concerning oversight over funding for a new stadium for the NFL's Colts.\nHouse Minority Leader Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, told Republicans Tuesday that Democratic legislators needed time to study all the remaining bills "diligently and get back to you all."\n"But if you have any ideas yourself to make these bills better for the people, let us know. Thanks you all for your attention," Bauer said.\nAlthough the daylight-saving time issue has been highly contentious for more than three decades, and bills to mandate its statewide observance have failed at least 24 times in the past three years, it traditionally has not been a partisan debate in the Legislature.\nLike the inspector general bill, Daniels considers the daylight bill a top priority, saying it would eliminate confusion and boost commerce. But House Republicans have said they need at least some Democrat support to get the 51 votes needed to pass the bill and send it to the Senate.\nHouse Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said Tuesday that House Democrats have turned the bill into a bargaining chip in hopes of winning concessions on other bills.\nBosma said he considered between 40 and 50 bills still pending before the midnight deadline to be significant policy measures the House should pass, and he would try to move on 15 or 20 quickly if Democrats took the floor. He said he believed Democrats would demand more concessions, but Republicans would resist efforts to strip proposed prosecutorial powers for the governor's inspector general.\n"I find it very difficult to compromise on rooting out corruption in state government," Bosma said.