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(08/26/05 3:38am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- More convicted sex offenders would be prohibited from living within 1,000 feet of schools or day cares under legislation a state senator plans to introduce next session.\nRepublican state Sen. Jeff Drozda of Westfield and police also announced support Thursday for a new Web site they say is easier to navigate and will allow people to be notified if a sex offender moves within five miles of an address. It includes detailed maps of where sex offenders live, aerial photographs of areas and schools locations.\nHamilton County resident Steve Roddel developed the Web site through a Westfield-based organization called Family Watchdog. A link to it could be included on a state sex offender registry run by the Indiana Sheriffs Association, said Marion County Sheriff Frank Anderson.\nAnderson said the proposed legislation and Web site would help the public and police better track convicted sex offenders and protect children from predators.\n"These children are flowers, and there's a lot of weeds out there trying to snuff them out," he said.\nUnder current law, convicted sex offenders on parole or probation are prohibited from living within a mile of their victim and within 1,000 feet of schools or day cares. Drozda's bill would prohibit that regardless of probation or parole status.\n"In talking with a lot of these people on the front lines, it makes no sense whether you are on probation or on parole, the bottom line is you committed a heinous crime," Drozda said.\nOfficials said of 8,000 registered sex offenders in Indiana, 1,200 live close to schools or day cares. Drozda said it was unlikely his legislation would force those people to move.\nThe bill also will require state agencies such as the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the Family and Social Services Administration, Department of Correction and Department of Revenue to work more closely with the Indiana Sheriffs Association in updating the state's registry.\nFamily Watchdog has created a Web site --http://www.familywatchdog.us -- that police and child advocates at Thursday's news conference said was more useful and easier to navigate.\nThe Sheriffs Association registry Web site allows people to type in the name of counties, cities and streets, but then it simply provides a list of names of people registered in those areas. It sometimes includes numerous names, and to find out their address and other information, one must click on each name.\nThe new Web site allows someone to type in a city and street address and view a map that pinpoints the location of all registered offenders within a five-mile radius. By clicking a blip indicating sex offenders, it can provide their photos, addresses and the nature of their offense.\nIt also can provide aerial photographs of the area so the public and police can easily identify where parks, wooded areas and lakes are located. Viewing the information is free.\nA person will be able to pay an annual fee of $18, choose three addresses, and the service will notify that person by e-mail if a registered offender moves into or out of a five-mile radius. The organization is working on a phone notification system for those who do not have e-mail.\nRoddel said the Web site is in 11 states, and the goal is to have it operating in 42 by October. It relies on public agencies and other means for information and hopes to partner with and receive funding from several sources, including nonprofit groups and state and federal agencies.
(08/24/05 5:29am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana owes more money than it has in more than a decade, with a tab topping $4 billion for such projects as prisons, government office complexes, university buildings and the Indiana State Museum.\nIt will take taxpayers years to pay it all off, even if lawmakers don't add another dime.\nAs a percentage of personal income, the state's debt is the highest since at least 1992, according to Moody's Investors Service. And while Indiana's debt load is less than that of many other states, some say the state's growing reliance on borrowing is disturbing.\n"It's a glorified credit card -- a super one," said former state Sen. Morris Mills, who spent many of his 32 years in the Legislature helping to write state budgets.\nIndiana's debt has climbed even as the economy weakened, the government's revenue stream slowed and lawmakers were spending more than the state was taking in. The borrowing includes money for university projects and more than $80 million in bonds to help pay for the Indiana State Museum, which opened in 2002 and is scheduled to be paid off in 2020.\nRepublican Rep. Jeff Espich of Uniondale, chairman of the tax and budget-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said it often makes sense to borrow for capital projects because waiting until there is enough cash to pay upfront will mean substantially higher construction costs.\n"I would argue that there is proof that borrowing for major construction is valid," said Espich, who contends the state would not have some of the prisons, health centers and highways it has now if not for borrowing.\nBut Mills and former state Sen. Steve Johnson say those decisions can be shortsighted.\nMills noted that the state paid for prisons upfront during his first 20 years as a lawmaker, but bonds have been floated for the more recent ones.\nJohnson, president of the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute, agreed.\nHe said lawmakers try to "satisfy the appetite for need" by issuing bonds, assuming the money will be available later to repay the debt. But that's not always the case, he said.\nThe $4 billion Indiana owes would pay for a $1,500, 32-inch, flat-panel wide-screen television for every household in Indiana. Or it would cover the cost of operating prisons at current levels for eight years.\nThe borrowing adds to the load shouldered by property owners, whose taxes already are paying a large chunk of school debt. As of December, schools had an overall debt of about $9 billion, according to the Indiana Department of Education. The money is owed for school buildings, pension and early retirement payments and loans for school buses.\nEven so, Indiana is considered a low-debt state. The state ranked 38th in tax-supported debt per capita and debt as a percentage of personal income, according to a 2005 state report by Moody's.\n"I think it is under control at this point," Espich said.\nNationally, state government debt has increased faster in the past two years than it has in over a decade, according to Moody's. The increase is due in large part to low interest rates, growing capital project needs and state budget woes.\nBut Moody's also found that, overall, debt service accounts for a small percentage of state spending.\nIndiana lawmakers appropriated $488 million in the current two-year budget for debt payments, according to Republican House Ways and Means staff. Of that, $244 million was earmarked for debt service on university projects. Another $18 million in tobacco settlement money was used to make bond payments on regional health centers.\nThe money targeted to debt service accounts for about 2 percent of the $24 billion budget.\nLawmakers also authorized about $230 million in new bonding for university projects, even as they froze property tax relief payments and other funding in hopes of balancing the budget.\nAccording to the Commission for Higher Education, the state's annual appropriation for debt service for colleges and universities rose from $11.7 million in 1976 to $113.4 million in 2003 -- an 864 percent increase. The debt payments now make up about 10 percent of the state's overall spending for higher education -- about twice that in 1976.\nHigher Education Commissioner Stan Jones said that means less money is available for operating costs.\n"The General Assembly says, `Sure, it's more painless to bond,' but ultimately those figures continue to build on themselves," Jones said. "It's a slippery slope."\nRyan Kitchell, the state's public finance director, said Gov. Mitch Daniels opposes "mortgaging the future." But he said the governor and some top credit agencies were not concerned about Indiana's current debt load.\nJohnson, with the Fiscal Policy Institute, said some borrowing for capital projects with long-term value makes sense. He likened it to mortgages people take to purchase homes.\n"But you can't do it all that way," he said. "There's going to have to come a point in saying you're not going to do this ... or raise resources sufficient to pay for it with cash up front, or forgo the opportunity. All of those are very tough choices"
(06/23/05 1:01am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- An attorney told the Indiana Supreme Court on Tuesday that abortion clinics should be allowed to pursue a challenge of Indiana's abortion waiting-period law because privacy is a core right under the state constitution that extends to women seeking to end their pregnancies.\nBut the state argued that privacy was not a specific right enforceable by Indiana courts and said the General Assembly has broad discretion in passing laws it deems are needed to protect the safety and welfare of citizens.\nHaving heard oral arguments, the state's high court is to decide whether the clinics can present evidence that the 1995 law imposes a burden on women's privacy rights.\nThe law requires women seeking an abortion to receive in-person counseling about medical risks and alternatives and then wait at least 18 hours before having the procedure.\nA Marion County judge dismissed a lawsuit by Clinic for Women and other abortion providers, but the Court of Appeals ruled that they could continue their challenge. The appeals court said privacy was a core value under the state constitution that extended to all residents, including women seeking an abortion.\nIt did not decide whether the 1995 law infringes on that right, but strongly suggested it might.\nKen Falk, an Indiana Civil Liberties Union attorney representing the clinics, said Tuesday that the state's constitution of 1851 guarantees "certain inalienable rights" to citizens. Privacy is not listed as being among them, but Falk said the constitution implies that one's ability to manage his or her own affairs is a core value to be protected.\nHe said the state's high court had struck down several laws or rules over the years because they violated privacy rights, and the clinics should be allowed to present evidence showing that the 1995 law was a burden on women.\nThe clinics say the law effectively requires women to make two trips to an abortion provider at least 18 hours apart, and that could prevent many from obtaining abortions because of the distance they must travel. Supporters of Indiana's law say it allows women, some in a panic over an unwanted pregnancy, to make an informed decision about abortion.\nJustice Robert Rucker told Falk that the law did not require women to make two trips. He noted that information about the risks and alternatives to abortion can be provided by a referring physician, physician's assistant, midwife or advance practice nurse.\nBut Falk said the law was still a burden.\n"It's unrealistic to believe that there are local doctors who will provide this information," he said.\nThomas Fisher, an attorney for the state, said privacy rights were not spelled out in the constitution and Indiana courts should not enforce provisions that did not exist. He said abortion was illegal at the time the constitution was rewritten in 1851 and remained so long after that, so it was not protected under rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.\nFisher said the General Assembly was given broad discretion to write laws designed to protect the public's safety and well-being, and the 1995 abortion law was one of those.\n"An uninformed decision could result in harm to the fetus and the mother," he said.\nAlthough the law was enacted in 1995, it did not go into effect until 2003 because of challenges in federal courts, Falk said. Those courts ultimately upheld the law based on federal constitutional grounds.\nIt could be weeks, months or even longer before the Indiana Supreme Court rules on the case.
(05/06/05 3:53am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- While schools and some special interests are grumbling over the 2005 legislative session, many in the business community are smiling over a long list of incentives and policies lawmakers passed in hopes of boosting commerce in Indiana.\nFrom statewide daylight--saving time to tax credits and exemptions to a new public--private board that is overhauling oversight of the state's job--creation efforts, business groups consider the session a success that will pay off in the coming months and years.\n"Overall for business it was outstanding," Kevin Brinegar, president of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, said Thursday.\nThe Indiana chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, which represents 16,000 small businesses, called it a positive session that included legislation to specifically help them. It included automatic abatements that phase in property taxes over three years for small--business investments and requiring state agencies to assess the impact their rules have on small businesses.\n"It sends a good message because we have felt left out of the economic development game," said Jason Shelley, the group's director.\nOther legislation would allow businesses that move headquarters to Indiana to have 50 percent of their moving costs reimbursed through tax credits, allow smaller businesses to receive economic development tax credits, increase the research and development tax credit from 10 percent to 15 percent in 2008, and exempt sales taxes on certain equipment used by motor sports ventures.\nThat business fared well was little surprise, since Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels made it a top legislative priority and had a GOP-controlled General Assembly to work with.\nDaniels said the jobs bills led his list of accomplishments.\n"It's the reason we sought public office in the first place, to bring more economic hope to the state," Daniels said.\nNot everyone was as impressed.\nThe two-year budget passed by Republicans is expected to erase the state's budget deficit, but many school districts will receive funding increases they say are far too little to cover costs, and some districts will see cuts. Some school groups and Democrats say there will be thousands of teacher layoffs across the state.\n"We all know that we need to do our best to bring jobs to this state," said Sen. Billie Breaux, D-Indianapolis. "However, we think education is the centerpiece to any economic development agenda, and I fail to understand how cutting school funding and eliminating as many as 5,700 teaching jobs across the state will help."\nEconomist Gary Baxter told lawmakers in mid-April that Indiana had regained about 79,000 of the 129,000 jobs it lost in recent years during the recession and prolonged economic downturn. He also said the state's economy was now growing at about the same pace as the nation's.\nBut House Ways and Means Chairman Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale, said many of the new jobs do not pay as much as those that were lost, and the state's economy is still suffering from too little innovation and entrepreneurship and too few high-tech jobs.\nHe said the pro-business legislation was significant and would help, but, "I still think we have a long-term problem and it will be a while before we do (see results)."\nBusiness groups did not get everything they wanted.\nBrinegar said changes in telecommunications laws the chamber sought failed. Many businesses also supported unsuccessful legislation that would have allowed insurers to offer basic health plans exempt from some costly mandated coverage to low-income residents and businesses with fewer than 75 employees.\nSome of the tax breaks will cost the state in lost revenue, at least initially. The credits and exemptions could cost between $14 million to nearly $31 million in the fiscal year that begins July 1, and as much as $33 million the next year, according to the Legislative Services Agency.\nProponents say the exemptions and credits should eventually pay for themselves by creating jobs and investments that will add to the state's tax base.
(05/02/05 5:56am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- The daylight-saving bill, which dominated the legislative session, marks the end of Indiana's holdout on changing its clocks, and a freshman state representative who just a few weeks ago vowed to oppose the time switch is sure to get plenty of statewide fame -- and blame -- for making it so.\nIn an April 11 column to constituents in his southwestern Indiana district, freshman Republican Rep. Troy Woodruff of Vincennes said he had received overwhelming feedback from them to fight against legislation mandating statewide observance of daylight-saving time.\n"I have and will continue to always vote against this controversial piece of legislation," he wrote.\nBut shortly after 11:30 p.m. EST Thursday, during a second House vote on the bill, Woodruff switched his no vote and provided a 51st "yea" to give it final legislative approval and send the proposal to Gov. Mitch Daniels.\nDaniels is sure to sign the bill into law after he lobbied extensively for the proposal, saying it would eliminate confusion and boost commerce.\nHouse Speaker Brian Bosma called the 51-46 tally one of the most "heroic" votes he had seen in his 20 years in the General Assembly.\n"I can tell you that the rest of the nation, the rest of the world, knows that Indiana doesn't get it," Bosma said during debate. "Now is the day to tell the rest of the world that we are willing to step into the 21st century."\nProponents of the clock change, who failed to win passage of the bill earlier in the day, cheered wildly after it passed. The law would take effect next April, when all states except most of Arizona and all of Hawaii would again observe the time change.\nWoodruff said he changed his vote Thursday because the issue had become too partisan and he wanted to move on to bigger matters such as the two-year state budget. He said he was prepared to return home and explain his switch to constituents.\n"Some things are more important than re-election," he said.\nEfforts to make the time switch have failed more than two dozen times since most of the state's 92 counties opted out of the time change under state and federal legislation passed in the early 1970s.
(04/29/05 4:00pm)
INDIANAPOLIS - When 47 states spring forward an hour next April to mark the beginning of daylight-saving time once again, all of Indiana is expected to join them for the first time in decades.\nIt will mark the end of Indiana's holdout on changing its clocks, and a freshman state representative who just a few weeks ago vowed to oppose the time switch is sure to get plenty of statewide fame - and blame - for making it so.\nIn an April 11 column to constituents in his southwestern Indiana district, freshman Republican Rep. Troy Woodruff of Vincennes said he had received overwhelming feedback from them to fight against legislation mandating statewide observance of daylight-saving time.\n"I have and will continue to always vote against this controversial piece of legislation," he wrote.\nBut shortly after 11:30 p.m. EST Thursday, during a second House vote on the bill, Woodruff switched his no vote and provided a 51st "yea" to give it final legislative approval and send the proposal to Gov. Mitch Daniels.\nDaniels is sure to sign the bill into law after he lobbied extensively for the proposal, saying it would eliminate confusion and boost commerce.\nHouse Speaker Brian Bosma called the 51-46 tally one of the most "heroic" votes he had seen in his 20 years in the General Assembly.\n"I can tell you that the rest of the nation, the rest of the world, knows that Indiana doesn't get it," Bosma said during debate. "Now is the day to tell the rest of the world that we are willing to step into the 21st century."\nProponents of the clock change, who failed to win passage of the bill earlier in the day, cheered wildly after it passed. The law would take effect next April, when all states except most of Arizona and all of Hawaii would again observe the time change.\nWoodruff said he changed his vote Thursday because the issue had become too partisan and he wanted to move on to bigger matters such as the two-year state budget. He said he was prepared to return home and explain his switch to constituents.\n"Some things are more important than re-election," he said.\nEfforts to make the time switch have failed more than two dozen times since most of the state's 92 counties opted out of the time change under state and federal legislation passed in the early 1970s.\nIts path to passage was rough and rocky all session long, but Daniels lobbied hard for the bill. Dozens of businesses and their lobbying groups backed the bill, saying the current system causes mix-ups over airline flights, delivery times and conference calls.\nThe House voted 49-48 against the bill earlier Thursday. That vote, however, did not kill the legislation because it takes a constitutional majority of 51 votes to pass a bill or defeat one outright.\nSeventy-seven counties in the Eastern time zone portion of Indiana remain on standard time year round, while five in southeastern Indiana ignore state and federal law and change their clocks. Five counties each in the northwest and southwest pockets of the state are in the Central zone and observe daylight time.\nThe legislation would require that Daniels and the General Assembly petition the U.S. Department of Transportation, which regulates times zones, to hold hearings to determine if more Indiana counties should be moved to the Central zone.\nThe request would have to be made within days of Daniels' signing the bill, and he has said the hearing process could begin within months.\nOpponents of the bill cited several reasons for voting against it. Among other things, some said most of their constituents were against it and some doubted it would do much if anything to boost the economy.\n"This is not the second coming that is going to take Indiana into a brighter future," said Rep. William Crawford, D-Indianapolis.
(04/27/05 5:03am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Fiscal leaders for House and Senate Republicans were close to compromising on a two-year state budget proposal and were expected to reach a deal later Tuesday, a top lawmaker said.\n"I think we'll be totally done by the end of the day," said Republican Rep. Jeff Espich of Uniondale, chairman of the budget-writing House Ways and Means Committee. "We're going to continue to talk, but I would call them minor details at this point."\nThe regular session must end by midnight Friday, but House Republicans have said they wanted a budget deal finalized at least 24 hours before it is voted on.\nAlthough Espich had said earlier that he hoped a final budget could win bipartisan support, he said Republicans likely would have to pass a plan on their own. Republicans control the House 52-48 and the Senate 33-17.\n"Unfortunately I don't think (Democrats) have been of a mind since day one to support a budget, and I don't think they're going to no matter what it does (without them writing it)," Espich said.\nDemocrats say budget plans passed by House and Senate Republicans rely too heavily on property taxes and do not adequately fund public schools. They also say major changes Republicans are seeking in the way money is distributed to schools will mean cuts to more than 100 districts, especially those in poor areas of the state.\nAlthough it is possible that Republicans could pass a budget on their own, Democrats in either chamber could prevent votes by staying off the floor and denying quorums needed to conduct business. House Democrats staged such a protest about other matters earlier this session.\nThe House and Senate budget plans would both spend about $24 billion through two years, although the Senate version relied on a cigarette tax increase and taking about $75 million a year from casino tax revenue from communities with riverboats to spend more money on schools and Medicaid.\nBut Espich said the riverboat redistribution plan was off the table, and tax increases as an option were on "life support at best." That would include cigarette tax increases and proposals that have been floated to raise casino taxes.\nThat means there might be no new state revenue in the plan and leave less in cash reserves than Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels wants, Espich acknowledged, but he said, "If we can achieve a budget that we believe adequately funds our responsibilities, that is our goal."\nHe said the compromise plan would erase the state's projected $645 million budget deficit by the end of the two-year budget cycle, which begins in July and ends in June 2007.\nDaniels has said he wants to eliminate the deficit by the end of the first fiscal year in June 2006.\nDetails were still being worked out regarding how much of an overall spending increase schools would get, but Espich said it would be higher than the 0.7 percent the House GOP plan included for each of the next two years. The Senate version would have provided increases of 1.2 percent in the first year and 1.3 percent in the second.\nThe tentative compromise also would fund Medicaid growth at 5 percent per year, still less than the increased costs projected by state officials in the health care program for the poor and disabled. But it is still 2 percent more than the House included in its original budget and meets a funding goal set by Daniels.\nRep. William Crawford, D--Indianapolis, the top Democrat on Ways and Means, said Monday that Republicans had not included Democrats in any serious budget negotiations. Democrats also have complained that they wanted to have input but did not know which plan to respond to -- the House GOP plan or the Senate Republican version.\nEspich said he had yet to run the plan past Daniels, but he said the governor should be pleased in many respects.\nStill, he said, "They're going to be concerned that they would like to have higher reserves, and I understand that."\nAnother major bill pending would help finance a new stadium for the NFL's Colts and expand the convention center in downtown Indianapolis. It is possible a plan that could pump more than $25 million per year into northwest Indiana for such things as airport and regional rail expansions, and improvements to the Lake Michigan shoreline could become part of that legislation.\nBut the most contentious bill of the session -- one to mandate statewide observance of daylight-saving time -- also was pending. It is expected to be voted on by the Senate Wednesday, and if it passes there, it must clear the House a second time to reach Daniels' desk. He is a strong proponent of the bill.
(04/26/05 4:42am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Speed limits would increase on many sections of Indiana's interstates and four-lane state highways under a bill approved Monday by the legislature.\nUnder a separate measure that won final passage, delinquent taxpayers would have a grace period to pay state back taxes under a bill that passed the House Monday. The House and Senate also approved pay raises for judges and court officers.\nThe speed limit bill, approved by both chambers and sent to Gov. Mitch Daniels, would increase limits on rural sections of interstates from 65 mph to 70 mph for cars and from 60 mph to 65 mph for trucks. Limits on freeways built to interstate standards, including the U.S. bypass near South Bend, would go from 55 mph to 65 mph.\nLimits on some sections of four-lane highways divided by barriers or medians would increase from 55 mph to 60 mph.\nStudies and surveys conflict about whether higher highway speed limits lead to more traffic fatalities, but many opponents, including the Insurance Institute of Indiana, maintain that more deaths will occur.\nProponents of higher limits have said most people already drive faster than posted speeds, and the highways in question are designed for faster traffic.\n"Our roads and vehicles are much safer than they were 10 years ago," said Sen. Larry Lutz, D-Evansville. "This allows Hoosiers to safely travel at increased speeds."\nThe bill requires state police keep separate statistics on fatalities that occur on interstates and divided highways and how many involve motorists aged 16 to 19. It also would allow the Indiana Department of Transportation to keep speed limits at current levels on some highways or parts of them.\nThe House passed the tax amnesty bill 60-30 and sent it to Daniels, who made it part of his legislative agenda in hopes of capturing tens of millions of dollars in unpaid taxes. The Legislative Services Agency estimates an eight-week amnesty period could bring in as much as $103 million, based on average \ncollection rates.\nThose eligible for the program could pay delinquent taxes without interest, penalties or fees. But the bill would double penalties for those who did not take advantage of the amnesty period.\nFrom 2001 to 2004, 27 states offered 30 tax amnesty programs, according to LSA. A sample of those states showed grace periods ranging from six to 16 weeks. New York has collected nearly $583 million through such programs, and Illinois has reaped $532 million. Kentucky took in $100 million over eight weeks, whereas North Dakota got $6.9 million over 16 weeks.\nLSA said effective programs have used marketing campaigns to reach delinquent taxpayers. For example, Kentucky appropriated $1 million to advertise its program and sent applications to those with tax liabilities.\nUnder the bill, the state Department of Revenue would adopt emergency rules to set up the program for taxes due and payable for a period ending before July 1, 2004. The amnesty period could last no more than eight weeks and would end before July 1, 2006.\nHouse Minority Leader Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, has called the legislation a "cheaters bill of rights," but it passed Monday without \ndebate.\nThe pay bill would give significant salary increases -- more than 20 percent for some judicial officials -- and provide incremental increases in the future.\nIndiana Supreme Court justices would make $133,600 instead of $115,000 -- an increase of 16 percent. The state's 301 trial court judges would make $110,500 instead of $90,000 -- a 23 percent increase. Salaries for prosecuting attorneys, deputy prosecuting attorneys and certain magistrates also would increase.\nThe legislation also would give judges a salary adjustment each fiscal year in which the General Assembly does not specifically provide a pay raise. The increase would be the same as the cost-of-living increase that state executive branch employees in similar pay \nbrackets receive.\nThe proposed salary increases will be paid for by new and increased court fees. Those fee changes were included in a bill that already passed the General Assembly.\nJudges and prosecutors have not had a raise since 1997, and a state pay commission last year recommended raising the salaries of trial court judges to $121,122.
(04/22/05 5:59am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- A revised daylight-saving time bill nudged forward Thursday after an opponent was removed from a panel of lawmakers seeking compromise on the issue and was replaced with someone who advanced the plan.\nThree of four members of a House-Senate conference committee signed off on the plan to mandate statewide observance of the time change, but Rep. Dave Crooks, D-Washington, refused to supply a fourth signature needed to move the bill to the Senate Rules Committee for further consideration.\nCrooks said 81 percent of constituents in his southwestern Indiana district oppose Eastern daylight time, and the state should seek federal hearings on possible time zone changes before considering statewide daylight time.\n"The reason we don't have a consensus on this issue is because Hoosiers don't have a consensus on this issue," Crooks said.\nRepublican House Speaker Brian Bosma removed Crooks from the conference committee and appointed Rep. Randy Borror, R-Fort Wayne, who signed the compromise proposal and advanced it to the Rules Committee.\n It would have to pass that panel, the full Senate and win House passage again to land on the desk of Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels.\nDaniels has lobbied extensively for statewide daylight time, saying it would eliminate confusion and make it easier for businesses to operate in Indiana.\nThe issue has been contentious for decades in Indiana, and this year has been no different. It took two votes to pass the bill in the House this month, and it cleared a second tally only because three Republicans switched their votes.\nSenate President Pro Tem Robert Garton, R-Columbus, said he expected the Rules Committee, of which he is chairman, to consider and vote on the legislation Monday and hopefully advance it to the full Senate.\nBorror said the adoption of daylight-saving time was an economic development move that would help Indiana boost commerce. Forty-seven states and at least 70 nations observe the time change.\n"It's part of announcing to the world that we are willing to change and bring jobs to Indiana," Borror said.\nThe new proposal removed provisions included in the House-passed bill that would allow some counties, on their own, to opt out of daylight-saving time. The U.S. Department of Transportation, which regulates time zones, deemed those provisions illegal.\nIt would still mandate that 77 counties in the Eastern time zone join 15 other counties that change their clocks twice a year beginning in April 2006. Five counties in the Eastern zone already make the time switch, and a pocket of counties in northwestern and southwestern Indiana are in the Central time zone and observe daylight time.\nThe previous bill would have "urged" Daniels to petition the federal government to hold hearings on whether more of Indiana should be moved to Central time.\nThe new proposal would require the General Assembly and Daniels to seek those hearings within 10 days if the bill became law. It also says the state would support any county that seeks a change to the Central zone.\nDaniels said often during the campaign that he preferred that most of Indiana be on Central time, but having all of the state observe daylight-saving time should be the first priority. He largely has tried to keep the issues separate this session.\nDaniels said Thursday that he spoke with federal officials to see whether they could act quickly if he petitioned them for hearings, as the proposed bill requires.\n"It'd be a matter of a few months at most," Daniels said. "It's not a yearlong process."\nCrooks predicted that it would be an emotionally charged process.\n"I sincerely believe the governor and the legislative leaders are opening the biggest can of worms we've seen in Indiana history in quite some time," Crooks said. "This is going to be a time war before it's over with"
(04/20/05 4:58am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Republicans who rule the House and Senate must resolve their own differences on a new two-year state budget plan before seeking support from Democrats, House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer said Tuesday.\n"First there has to be partisan support," the South Bend Democrat said, suggesting that current GOP budget plans would have difficulty winning any support from House Democrats.\nBauer also said that even though Republicans control the House 52-48, they might be unable to muster 51 votes on their own to pass a budget if it includes or relies on state tax increases.\nThe Senate version of the budget relies in part on a separate bill that would raise cigarettes by 19 cents per pack to prop up new spending, including new dollars for public schools. Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Meeks, R-LaGrange, acknowledged that any state tax increase could face trouble among some House Republicans.\n"When I created this piece of legislation out of the Senate, I tried to make sure I could get 26 votes (for Senate passage) and 51 votes (in the House), and if some of these House Republicans stay on their commitment of no tax increase, obviously it's going to be very difficult to do that," Meeks said.\nBut Meeks said if they reject that and other revenue-raising measures in the tax bill, there would be even less new money for schools and funding for Medicaid, the health care program for the poor and disabled.\nRepublicans have a wide 33-17 majority in the Senate, and were able to pass the tax bill and their version of a budget plan without any Democratic support. But the slim party margin in the House could make it difficult to pass any final budget bill and send it to Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels.\nThe bills are now before House-Senate conference committees that include Democrat appointees, but if they refuse to sign off on compromises, Republican leaders can simply replace them with GOP members who would. But those proposals would still have to win approval in both chambers.\nDemocrats say both GOP budget plans would make drastic changes in the way schools are funded, and would lead to spending cuts for more than 100 of the state's 294 districts. They also would rely largely on local property tax increases to fund schools, and cap property tax relief payments the state makes to local governments.\nBauer also noted that the Senate GOP budget relies on cigarette tax increases and taking about $75 million a year from casino tax revenue that now flows to communities with riverboats. House Ways and Means Chairman Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale, said it was unlikely the riverboat redistribution could pass the House, but Meeks said Tuesday he still considered it an alternative.\nThere are other differences in the plans. The Senate version would cover more of the expected cost increases in Medicaid than the House plan. And unlike the House GOP proposal, it would cut back payments to schools, universities and local governments by nearly half.\nMeeks said it would be difficult to draft a budget that could win much, if any, Democratic support.\n"Because they want more money for schools, and I think schools just have to be like the rest of us," he said. "They are going to have to slow down and catch their breath like we have asked everybody else to do," Meeks said.\nBauer said if Republicans did want Democrat support, they had to present a unified plan first. And time is running out, since the regular session must end by April 29.\n"If they want our participation, they need to come together first and tell us where they are at," Bauer said.
(04/19/05 4:38am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- The legislative fight over daylight-saving time moved Monday to a new stage, where lawmakers charged with trying to draft a compromise heard public pros and cons on a bill that would mandate statewide observance of the clock change.\nSeveral businesses and their lobbying groups said adopting the time switch statewide would eliminate confusion and enhance commerce while some theater owners and residents said all of Indiana should observe Central daylight time or leave the current system alone.\n"We are not the butt of a joke, we're the bedrock of a nation," said Marty Voegele of Batesville, who works for a motor sports company in Greensburg. "We are one of three high-quality states in the nation that has the guts to stand up for what we believe in."\nSeventy-seven counties in the Eastern time zone portion of Indiana remain on standard time year round, just as most of Arizona and all of Hawaii do. Forty-seven states and at least 70 countries observe daylight-saving time in the spring and summer.\nThe bill, which narrowly passed the House after intense lobbying by Gov. Mitch Daniels, must now clear the conference committee in revised form, pass the Senate Rules Committee, the full Senate and the House once again before it would be eligible for Daniels' signature.\nA compromise plan presented by proponents Monday would remove language allowing some counties, at their choosing, to opt out of the time change. The U.S. Department of Transportation has deemed those provisions illegal, and Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton, R-Columbus, has insisted they be removed before the bill could advance in the Senate.\nThe revised proposal would still allow counties adjacent to Illinois and pockets of northwestern and southwestern Indiana that are in the Central time zone and observe daylight time to petition the federal government for hearings and a potential time zone shift.\nAnother provision, which daylight time foe Rep. Dave Crooks, D-Washington, was able to amend into the bill in the House, urges Daniels to ask the federal government to begin proceedings that could result in more of the state being moved to the Central time zone.\nRepublican Sen. Marvin Riegsecker of Goshen, chairman of the conference committee, asked members to discuss the revised proposal privately with their caucuses and the group would meet again Tuesday. Four conferees must sign a plan for it to advance, but GOP legislative leaders can simply remove any opponents and replace them with willing signers to keep the legislation moving.\nRegardless, Crooks said he would propose a provision requiring the General Assembly to seek time zone changes from the U.S. Department of Transportation.\nAlthough Daniels said often during his gubernatorial campaign that he preferred moving most of Indiana to Central time, he has said in recent weeks that daylight time and questions about time zones are separate issues.\nMany residents, and Crooks, sported orange buttons during Monday's public hearing that promoted Central daylight time. Crooks said his previous provision urging the governor to seek that change "doesn't do anything unless the governor takes action."\nJennifer Thuma, the governor's legislative director, repeated Daniels' recent stance that Indiana should move to daylight time first before exploring possible time zone shifts.\nRiegsecker, a longtime proponent of statewide daylight-saving time, said he hoped a revised plan could advance to the full Senate soon, since the regular session must end by April 29.\n"I feel it's important to move this issue along and not let it get tangled up in the last week of the session," he said.
(04/18/05 5:58am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Longtime state Rep. Woody Burton rarely makes passionate pleas at the podium, and in years past he hasn't been a fan of daylight-saving time.\nBut he's had enough. He supports the time change now, and he urged -- practically begged -- his House colleagues to join him last week in hopes of settling the issue.\n"I don't want to mess with this again next year," the Greenwood Republican said. "It's like a bad dream -- it just keeps coming back."\nLegislation to move all of Indiana to daylight-saving time has failed more than two dozen times over the past three decades. But one of the nation's last holdouts for observing the time switch is now teetering on the brink of change.\nFor the first time in 22 years, the Indiana House has passed a bill that would require the entire state to move its clocks forward an hour in April and back an hour in October -- just as 47 other states do.\nBut even with fresh legs, all bets are off on how this latest tug-of-war over Indiana's time will turn out.\nA House-Senate conference committee will take up the bill Monday, but lawmakers still have to fix a provision that lets counties opt out, which federal transportation officials say is illegal. Many residents oppose the switch, making votes uncertain in both parties.\nAnd even if the bill passes, proponents are divided over when to make the change -- later this year or next April -- and whether to align clocks with Chicago or New York.\nThe issue has generated so much media attention that Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, who has made daylight time a priority, and some top lawmakers say it has overshadowed efforts to balance the state budget and revive Indiana's economy.\n"The general impression out there is that this is the only issue," said Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton, R-Columbus.\nTime has long been a source of contention and confusion in many of Indiana's 92 counties.\nUnder state and federal laws passed in the early 1970s, five northwestern Indiana counties and five southwestern counties are in the Central time zone and observe daylight time. Eighty-two counties in the Eastern time zone are supposed to follow standard time year-round, but only 77 do. Two near Cincinnati and three near Louisville, Ky., change their clocks to be consistent with their big-city neighbors.\nIndianapolis, the state's capital, aligns its clocks with New York during the winter months and Chicago in the summer. Residents in some communities along the state's northern and southern borders often work in a time zone that's different from the one in which they live.\nMany residents say they don't mind the time differences and adamantly oppose efforts to change the system.\nBill Blomquist, a political science professor at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, said that resistance is rooted in states' rights sentiments, religious beliefs that humans should not mess with time and nature and a sense of pride in doing things differently.\n"There is sort of this Hoosier exceptionalism that shows up in daylight-saving time," he said.\nBut others say the state's clutch to year-round standard time makes Indiana a backward joke.\nDaniels, whose lobbying is largely responsible for the legislation's progress this year, says the confusion costs the state money and jobs. Many businesses support his cause, saying the time warp causes mix-ups over airline flights, delivery times and conference calls.
(04/07/05 4:50am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Legislation that would have allowed some communities to install cameras at intersections and use the photographs to nab drivers running red lights is likely dead this session.\nThe House, on a 76-18 vote, rejected a pilot program proposal Wednesday that would have allowed 10 communities to use the cameras and send tickets to owners of vehicles that were photographed driving past stop lights.\nThe bill narrowly passed the Senate, and because it cleared one chamber, it would be eligible for conference-committee negotiations that could keep the proposal alive. But the House sponsor, Republican Rep. David Wolkins of Winona Lake, said there was no way he would pursue that avenue due to the overwhelming opposition in the House.\nOpponents said the bill went too far as a government intrusion into people's privacy.\n"I think this is just a classic case of Big Brother," said Rep. Woody Burton, R-Greenwood.\nProponents say it would make motorists more wary of driving through red lights, which would reduced accidents and save lives.\nUnder the bill, Wolkins said 10 communities could seek state approval to use the cameras, could only install them at 10 intersections and would have to post street signs saying they were being used. Tickets could not exceed $100, and violators caught because of the cameras would not receive penalty points on their driving records.\nThe cameras would take pictures of license plates as cars passed through a red light. Although tickets would be sent to the owner of the vehicle, he or she could file affidavits saying someone else was driving, and the ticket would be redirected to that person.\nWolkins said the bill had passed the Senate several times but had never received a hearing in the House, and he used to oppose it. But he cited a fatal accident in his district that involved someone running a red light and said a majority of constituents surveyed in his district favored use of such cameras.\nBut his talking points fell flat with most House members.\n"I think this bill didn't get a hearing (in the House) for the last five or six years for good reason," said Rep. Craig Fry, D-Mishawaka.
(04/07/05 4:49am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- The sponsor of legislation that seeks to put all of Indiana on daylight-saving said Wednesday that he will likely ask the full House to pass the bill even though it includes provisions the federal government have deemed illegal.\nSenate President Pro Tem Robert Garton (R-Columbus) said his chamber could not accept the bill in its current form, however, and it would have to be fixed in a House-Senate conference committee first before proceeding any further in the Senate.\nA faster route requiring no changes would be out of the question, Garton said, "Because you should not knowingly violate federal law or regulations."\nThe provisions deemed illegal would have allowed counties next to areas in the Central time zone to opt out of observing the time change if the bill became law. Those include counties bordering Illinois and the 10 northwestern and southwestern Indiana counties now lying in the Central time zone.\nUnder that change, counties next to those that opt out could then do the same. But the U.S. Department of Transportation, which regulates time zones, said those provisions would violate federal law. \nThe House amended the changes into the bill Monday at the request of Rep. Dale Grubb, D-Covington, who opposes the bill.\nGarton said if the House passes the bill in its current form, the Senate sponsor would file a dissent and send the bill to a conference committee where changes could be made.\n"Could differences be reconciled? I don't know," Garton said.\nIf they were, any revised bill would then be sent to the Senate Rules Committee, where Garton has promised a full public hearing before the panel would vote on it.\nIf that bill clears the Rules Committee, it would be voted on by the full Senate. If it passes there, it would require another successful vote in the House before it could be sent to Gov. Mitch Daniels. He has made a strong push this session for moving the entire state to daylight time.\nThe U.S. Department of Transportation, which regulates time zones, cited a federal law Tuesday that says any state with more than one time zone can only exempt either the entire state from daylight time or all of its area within any single time zone.\nBut Republican Rep. Jerry Torr of Carmel, the bill's primary sponsor, said he would likely seek a House vote on the amended bill anyway because he probably lacked the votes needed to fix it first. If it passes, he and other proponents would count on a conference committee and the Senate to remove the illegal provisions.\nSince the bill is up for final passage in the House, amending it again to remove the illegal language would require a two-thirds majority vote. It also would take a two-thirds majority to send the bill back to the amendment stage so it could be fixed. Torr said there was probably not enough support in the House to make either move.\nThere also is no guarantee the bill in any form would pass the House, since daylight-saving time has been a divisive issue among Indiana lawmakers and their constituents for decades. Attempts to mandate statewide observance of the time change have failed numerous times since the General Assembly voted in 1971 to keep counties in the Eastern time zone on standard time year round.\nSeventy-seven counties in the Eastern zone do not change their clocks twice a year like 47 other states do. Five southeastern counties in the Eastern zone observe daylight time, but have never been sanctioned by the state or federal governments for doing so.
(04/06/05 4:11am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Provisions of a bill that would allow some counties to opt out of statewide observance of daylight-saving time are illegal, the federal government said Tuesday.\nGov. Mitch Daniels sought a legal opinion Tuesday from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which regulates time zones.\n"They say it's illegal," he said after his office received a letter from the federal agency. "The question is, should the General Assembly pass something they know is illegal or patch it up when there's time left in the session?"\nRepublican Rep. Jerry Torr of Carmel, the bill's primary sponsor, said he was unsure how to proceed, but he did not seek a vote on the bill Tuesday.\nThe transportation agency cited a federal law that says any state with more than one time zone can exempt either the entire state from daylight time or all of its area within any single time zone.\n"It is our view that this provision means that all of the counties that are located in a specified time zone either observe, or do not observe, daylight-saving time," the agency said in a letter sent to Steve Schultz, the governor's general counsel.\nThe letter did not address why five counties in southeastern Indiana are allowed to observe daylight time, though 77 other counties in the Eastern time zone do not under state law. Neither the state nor the county governments in those southeastern counties ever took official action to approve those exemptions.
(04/05/05 4:23am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Smokers would pay 15 cents more in taxes for a pack of cigarettes, and state taxes on alcohol would be increased for the first time in 24 years under a proposal endorsed Monday by a Senate committee.\nThe bill would impose local income taxes to cover future growth in operating expenses for schools and local governments, unless a council representing counties, cities, towns and schools voted instead to raise property taxes.\nIf the councils opted for property taxes, they would no longer get property tax relief payments from the state to cover 20 percent of their costs.\nThe plan also would raise about $70 million a year in new state money by taking it away from counties and communities that get tax revenue from Indiana's 10 casinos. It would still leave them with about $205 million a year in casino tax money.\nThe increases in cigarette and alcohol taxes and the new gambling revenue would be used to prop up new spending included in a separate, two-year budget bill drafted by Senate Republicans. That plan is eligible for action in the GOP-controlled Senate this week.\nAlthough that budget bill and one passed by House Republicans would both raise property taxes, the House version would not raise state taxes.\nBut the Senate Republican spending plan would include higher spending increases for schools and Medicaid, and Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Meeks, R-LaGrange, said the GOP tax proposals and redistribution of casino tax money would help make that possible.\nMeeks said those proposals should stand on their own in a separate bill but has acknowledged that much of the new spending in the budget bill assumes the tax bill will pass the Senate first. Any final budget bill will be negotiated by House and Senate Republicans and Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels.\nDaniels had proposed a one-year income tax increase on those making $100,000 or more, but that fell flat with legislative leaders. House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, has frowned on any state tax increases, saying they would be a last resort for his caucus.\nSome lawmakers and local officials from casino counties strongly objected to having a portion of their tax revenue taken away. They argued the percentage they get is included in current law and is needed to provide such things as additional law enforcement and infrastructure needs that result from having a casino.
(04/01/05 4:07am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- If a resurrected bill to mandate statewide daylight-saving time in Indiana becomes law this session, most Hoosiers would still spend more time lagging behind most of the nation in changing clocks.\nDaylight-saving time takes effect at 2 a.m. this Sunday, meaning people in 47 states that observe it will move their clocks ahead by one hour.\nBut even though a daylight-time bill in Indiana has been revived, and top lawmakers say its prospects for passage seem better than ever after decades of failure, it would not become law by this Sunday. The new bill would set the clock change for 2 a.m. on Sunday, June 5.\nA daylight-time bill died nearly four weeks ago when it failed to receive a vote in the full House before a key procedural deadline. It was among about 130 bills that were killed when Democrats boycotted the floor that day over a partisan dispute with Republicans who rule the chamber.\nThat led daylight proponents, including Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, to seek ways to revive the bill.\nThe House Public Policy Committee found a way Wednesday by stripping a localized, speed-limit-increase bill of its provisions and replacing them with the daylight-time proposal.\nThe panel endorsed the new bill on an 8-4 vote and sent it to the full House. It could be eligible for a vote next week, and the bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Jerry Torr of Carmel, said he believes it will pass.\nThe leader of the Republican-led Senate said Wednesday that its prospects looked good in that chamber, too.\nTorr said the June 5 date should give most people and businesses ample time to learn of the time change and make any needed adjustments. The bill calls for the state to start daylight time in April with the rest of the country in future years, but some committee members said they believed Torr's timetable was too quick.\n"I think the speed we are moving on is irresponsible," said Rep. Robert Kuzman, D-Crown Point.\nDaylight-saving time has been a polarizing issue in the General Assembly, in large part because many lawmakers say their constituents are evenly split and very emotional about it. Efforts to pass the clock change have failed at numerous times in the past three decades, and this session marked the first time in 10 years a daylight bill even got to the floor of either chamber.\nBut Daniels has made it a top priority, saying it would eliminate confusion and boost commerce by making Indiana's observance of the time change consistent with the rest of the country and much of the world. Numerous business groups are behind it, and it does not hurt Daniels' cause that both chambers are controlled by fellow Republicans.\nIf the bill is approved by the House, it would be sent to the Senate Rules Committee. Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton, R-Columbus, said it would receive a full public hearing and likely clear that panel and be sent to the full Senate.\nThe Senate has not voted on daylight-saving time since 1983, when it failed, 46-4. Garton thinks the outcome this time would be different.\n"I think if it passes the House, I think it will pass the Senate," Garton said Wednesday.\nAlthough 77 of the state's 92 counties do not observe daylight time, five counties in the Eastern time zone near Cincinnati and Louisville, Ky., do change their clocks. Five counties in northwestern Indiana and five in the southwestern part of the state that are on Central time also change each October and April.\nSome lawmakers say they could support daylight time if the rest of the state were moved into the Central time zone. But that would require approval of the U.S. Department of Transportation.\nRep. Dave Crooks, D-Washington, won approval of an amendment that would urge Daniels to ask the federal government to hold hearings to determine whether Indiana's time zone boundaries should be redrawn.\nCrooks noted that during the campaign, Daniels said he supported daylight-saving time and suggested it would be best if most of the state were moved to Central time. But Crooks said Daniels has since backed away from the time zone issue, and many of his constituents are upset.\n"I have never seen so many people angry at one individual, and that individual is Gov. Mitch Daniels," Crooks said.\nTorr said Daniels and business groups were consulted about an effective date. He said they wanted to make the switch fairly quickly to start reaping the economic benefits of daylight time, but did not want to do it before Memorial Day because it could complicate ticket and scheduling times set for the Indianapolis 500.
(03/29/05 4:35am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- As long as there is time left in any legislative session, proposals to expand gambling in Indiana still have a shot of becoming reality.\nMany proponents of new gambling came into this session with high hopes, since the state could really use new tax revenue the wagering would generate. Many lawmakers want to erase the state's $645 million deficit and still steer new money to schools, universities and Medicaid, the program that helps pay health care costs for many of the state's neediest citizens.\nBut as of now, chances of new legalized gambling winning approval seem like a long shot at best.\nIndianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson wanted lawmakers to authorize slot-like machines at the state's two parimutuel horse tracks and an off-track betting parlor in Indianapolis. He wanted $46 million a year from the machines to help finance a new stadium for the NFL's Colts. His mantra has been "build it, or they will leave."\nThat proposal fell flat with some top lawmakers, including House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis. He said that creating a "downtown casino" in one of the most family-friendly cities in the Midwest was out of the question, and there was no chance it would pass.\nA House committee did consider plans that would authorize slot machines at the state's horse tracks in Anderson and Shelbyville. The proposal that received a vote did not specify that any of the revenue go directly to a Colts stadium, and it failed to pass the committee.\nHorse racing officials say slot machines or similar devices at their venues are needed to save the struggling industry, and they have tried to keep the idea alive.\nBut they took a major hit earlier this month when Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton, a Columbus Republican who has long opposed expanded gambling, declared that any legislation to put slots at horse racing venues was dead this session.\nHis declaration followed news that state Sen. Jeff Drozda, R-Westfield, had been hired by a casino company to do marketing work for one of its projects in Colorado. Garton said the perception about such business ties threatened the integrity of the Senate, and killing the slot issue was necessary to protect that integrity. Drozda has dropped his ties to the casino company project.\nSenate Republicans have since discussed at least two gambling proposals that could reap hundreds of millions of dollars for the state. One would not expand legalized gambling, it would simply bring the state an additional $75 million a year in casino tax revenue by taking it away from six of the state's seven counties with riverboat casinos.\nBut another floated idea would legalize and tax video gambling machines now operating illegally in hundreds of bars, social clubs and truck stops. Industry officials and lawmakers have estimated that there are 10,000 to 15,000 of the machines in Indiana.\nSenate Appropriations Chairman Robert Meeks, R-LaGrange, has long favored such a plan, saying the machines already are operating illegally with little enforcement and the state isn't getting a penny.\nLegalizing the machines could bring the state hundreds of millions of dollars, and besides, Meeks said, "It's not an expansion (of gambling), it's already there."\nBut Bosma all but shot that idea down last week, saying bars, restaurants and other venues that don't have the machines now would be pressured to get them to stay in business.\n"To try to sell the fact that 8,000 new regulated locations and 40,000 new state-operated video lottery machines is not some sort of expanded gambling is absurd," Bosma said. "And I've indicated to the governor and the Senate that from my perspective and our caucus perspective, that idea doesn't have legs"
(03/25/05 5:45am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- A move to mandate statewide observance of daylight-saving time is "definitely not dead" this session, a top lawmaker said Thursday, but he has abandoned one plan he had considered for reviving the legislation.\nRepublican Rep. Robert Alderman, chairman of the House Public Policy Committee, had said Wednesday that he hoped to amend the proposal into a bill dealing with sales of tobacco products during a meeting of his panel on Thursday.\nThe Senate bill would prohibit the shipments of tobacco products other than cigars to an Indiana resident who is not a tobacco distributor. He said since daylight-saving time and the tobacco provisions both dealt with state administration, so he believed they could be commingled.\nBut Alderman said Thursday that it was unclear whether the Senate author of that bill, Republican Thomas Weatherwax of Logansport, would go along with such a change. And Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton, R-Columbus, told The Indianapolis Star that the issues of tobacco sales and daylight-time were not related enough to meet procedural rules on amending bills.\nA House committee endorsed a daylight-saving time bill earlier this session, but it was never voted on by the full House. It was eligible for a vote on a deadline day for bills to pass their house of origin, but Democrats boycotted the floor over partisan disputes with Republicans that day and prevented action on any legislation.\nAlderman said he would make another effort to revive the legislation in his committee next week, probably by removing a Senate bill of its entire contents and replacing it with the daylight-time provisions. Such maneuvers are often-used tactics to keep legislation alive.
(03/24/05 4:13am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Gay men and lesbians have lost the first round against a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, but many plan to intensify their fight against the proposal's becoming an amendment to the document.\n"This marks the beginning of an enormous struggle that unfortunately is going to be very divisive and is going to turn attention away from issues that are more pressing in the state of Indiana, and that is economic development," said Jeff Miner, pastor of an Indianapolis church founded by gay men and lesbians.\nThe Indiana House finalized a first step toward a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, approving the proposal with bipartisan support Tuesday.\nProponents hailed the 76-23 vote as a move toward shielding the sanctity of traditional marriage from activist judges, while opponents denounced it as targeting gay men and lesbians for discrimination.\n"The basic unit of our society is the family, and the cornerstone of the family is marriage, and marriage is the union of one man and one woman," said Rep. Eric Turner, R-Gas City. "A strong consensus has emerged in our country and our state that marriage must be strengthened."\nAll 52 Republicans joined 24 Democrats in voting for the proposal, whereas all 23 who voted against it, including Rep. Craig Fry of Mishawaka, were Democrats.\n"I'm offended we would pick on a certain group in our society who are not bothering me, who are not bothering you, who are not bothering anybody," Fry said. "I believe it is a tragedy, and I am embarrassed for this chamber."\nThe same proposal passed the Republican-controlled Senate 42-8 earlier this session.\nHowever, amending the constitution requires a resolution to pass consecutive, separately elected General Assemblies and then approved in a statewide vote. That means if the proposal passes again in 2007 or 2008, it could be on the November ballot in 2008.\nIndiana, like at least 42 other states, already has a law defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Seventeen states have constitutional language defining marriage.\nA similar resolution passed the Republican-controlled Senate with bipartisan support last year, but Democrats who controlled the House then refused GOP attempts to advance or even debate it. Democrats controlled the chamber 51-49 then, and all 49 Republicans had pledged to support the amendment.\nRepublicans now have a 52-48 majority in the House, and House Speaker Brian Bosma had pledged efforts to pass it this session. Bosma commended Tuesday's debate as open and calm.\nThe proposed amendment would define marriage as "the union of one man and one woman." It also says state law "may not be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents of marriage be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups."\nAbout a dozen states approved amendments to their state constitutions last year banning same-sex marriage, and more are considering them.\nThe movement stems in part from a national debate that has been ongoing since 2003, when the highest court in Massachusetts decided that denying gay couples the right to wed was unconstitutional.\nMiner said opponents of the amendment plan an "economic boycott" to discourage Indiana college graduates from accepting jobs here, those from elsewhere from doing the same and warning companies against intolerance.