Senate leaders oppose local government reform mandates
State Senate leaders say Gov. Mitch Daniels’ proposals on streamlining local government might have to be voluntary options for counties – not mandates – to clear Statehouse hurdles. “It’s a realistic approach to getting things passed,” said Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne. “It’s better for people to decide for themselves how they want to the structure of their government to look.” Senate Minority Leader Vi Simpson, D-Bloomington, predicted the measures proposed by Daniels would not pass unless they were voluntary.
Property tax caps
The property tax relief bill passed in 2008 by the Indiana Legislature included a provision that caps be placed on property taxes. Starting this year, the law will limit property taxes to no more than 1.5 percent of the assessed value of residential property, to no more than 2.5 percent of assessed value for rental property and farmland, and to no more than 3 percent for businesses. The big issue in the 2009 legislative session is whether to put the 1 percent, 2 percent and 3 percent caps into the state constitution. It would require adoption by the Legislature this year or next, and then approval by a statewide referendum.
Lawmakers renew push to amend constitution
Several Indiana lawmakers once again will push to amend Indiana’s constitution to ban gay marriage, although their effort likely will fail in the House. Reps. Eric Turner, R-Marion, and Dave Cheatham, D-North Vernon, announced Monday they are co-sponsoring a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between a man and a woman. They face a major roadblock in the Democratic-controlled House, where Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, has not allowed a floor vote on similar bills in previous years. His spokesman, John Schorg, said Monday that Bauer’s position hasn’t changed. Indiana law already prohibits same-sex marriage, so Bauer has said he considers a constitutional amendment unnecessary.
Recession ‘a brief chill’
Gov. Mitch Daniels delivered a short but flowery inauguration speech Monday, likening the economic recession to a harsh winter and encouraging Hoosiers to move forward into spring. “We must believe, and resolve to see, that these present troubles are but a frost in April, a brief chill before the full flowering of the greener Indiana to come,” he said.
Schools Prepare for New State Administration
Clinton Central Schools Superintendent Philip Boley says he’s eager to work with Indiana’s new head of schools, but that doesn’t mean he fully agrees with the leader’s plans. Dr. Tony Bennett was inaugurated as Indiana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction at the Indiana Statehouse Monday. There, he also outlined his goals for the state’s Department of Education. “Never in the history of our state have the stakes been higher for Indiana’s educational system. We must develop and execute a plan that puts our state in its rightful place at the top of the nation and on par with the rest of the world,” Bennett said in his inauguration address.
Commerce chief aims to ‘hit on all cylinders’
Gov. Mitch Daniels last month named Mitch Roob, formerly secretary of Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration, as his new secretary of commerce. As the successor to Nathan Feltman, now an attorney at Baker and Daniels-Roob will oversee the Indiana Economic Development Corp., which attempts to attract company headquarters and spur business growth with the help of economic incentives. Roob recently sat down with IBJ to discuss his goals. The following is an edited transcript of his remarks.
Two thorny issues face the leaders of the Indiana House and Senate labor committees — making the unemployment insurance compensation fund solvent again and figuring out the right classifications for independent contractors. In years past, this would be a showdown just beneath the budget in terms of contentiousness. That was when steel baron Sen. Joe Harrison, R-Attica, lorded over the Senate Pensions and Labor Committee and autoworker Rolland Webber, D-Anderson, was chief of the House Labor and Employment Committee.
