Dear Friend,
What an exciting day to kick off the 2016 short session of the Indiana General Assembly in earnest! It's hard to believe that this is the sixth session that I've had the privilege of representing my friends and neighbors in House District 21. I love serving the good people of Elkhart and St. Joseph counties in the Indiana House!
Each year, we begin the first day of session with a prayer service in the Statehouse atrium. This is a wonderful, bi-partisan, voluntary opportunity to acknowledge almighty God and to seek his wisdom and blessing in the affairs of our state. Just as our forefathers gratefully acknowledged him in the Preamble of our 1851 state constitution, so too, do we.
Things typically start out slowly the first week of session. Bills have to be handed down on first reading and assigned to committees by the Speaker before they can be acted upon. I expect we'll see committees begin to hear bills Monday of next week and the process will be in full swing by late next week. This session promises to be a whirlwind, wrapping up no later than March 14, a mere ten weeks! In order to pass the best legislation, we fully vet and debate each bill. Not every piece of legislation will be passed into law.
2016 is a landmark year for our state as we celebrate Indiana's Bicentennial! There will be many celebrations across our state and I hope you participate in some of these events.
If you're interested in a particular issue or following the legislature closely, visit iga.in.gov. There, you can watch all of our sessions and committee meetings and, closely follow action on any piece of legislation.
In God We Trust,
State Rep. Tim Wesco
