The 2010 session of the Indiana General Assembly reached its halfway point this week, with last Wednesday being the deadline for passage of bills from their chamber of origin. By statute, the legislative "short" session lasts only until March 14 - about half as long as the budget writing "long" session. Things move so quickly during the short session that it's often difficult to keep up. Because committees have less time to debate bills, fewer bills are given a hearing and fewer still move on for final action. Most of legislator's attention has been immersed in several important public policy issues including the constitutional amendment to cap property taxes, a measure to add further taxpayer protection by looking at the assessment system; legislation that defends Hoosiers 2nd amendment rights; in addition to a host of other locally important measures. Permanent Property Tax Caps: House Joint Resolution 1 (HJR1) Legislation on permanent property tax caps will now be in the hands of Hoosier voters. In January, HJR1 passed the House by a 75-23 vote and the Senate by a 35-15 vote. Hoosiers will have the final decision on whether or not the property tax caps should be amended into the constitution during the November general election. HJR1 upholds the statutory property tax caps of 1 percent for homeowners of assessed value, 2 percent for rental property and agriculture of assessed value and 3 percent for business property of assessed value. Assessed Value for Property Taxes: House Bill (HB) 1004 This bill is an excellent compliment to HJR1, and gives taxpayers additional protection on their property tax assessments. HB 1004 would prevent property tax bills from rising above the Consumer Price Index, which calculates inflation. The other part of the bill would allow changes to the agricultural land base rate calculation from the current six year "rolling" average to a four year "Olympic" average. The "Olympic" average drops the high and low values and essentially smoothes out the calculation by disregarding the extremes. The end impact is lower assessed values for farmland leading to lower farmland property tax bills. Hiring Preferences: House Bill 1002 HB 1002 requires contractors of state construction projects to have at least 80 percent of their work force be comprised of Hoosier workers. The bill also requires the 80 percent minimum for subcontractors. HB 1002 passed the House by a 61-38 vote and now heads to the Senate for further consideration. Statewide Smoking Ban: House Bill 1131 HB 1131 establishes a state-wide smoking ban in public places. The bill gives exceptions by prohibiting casinos, horse tracks, bars, smoke shops, family businesses not open to the public and VFW/American Legion Halls. HB 1131 passed the House by a 73-26 vote. Ethics Reform: House Bill 1001 HB 1001 will toughen legislative ethics and features two main provisions. The first is a mandatory "Cooling off Period," whereby legislators must wait at least one year after leaving office until they can become a registered lobbyist. The second provision would require all lobbyists to report all gifts to legislators of at least $50. Previously, only gifts of $100 or more needed to be reported. Firefighters and Police Officers 1977 Pension and Disability Fund: House Bill 1050 I authored HB 1050 to allow firefighters and police officers to designate one or more beneficiaries to receive the 1977 fund contributions plus interest. There are two stipulations: first, the bill provides that the fund member dies without receiving retirement and disability benefits. Second, it mandates that no spouse, child or parent is already entitled to receive survivor benefits. HB 1050 passed out of the House by a vote of 97-0. Long Term Health Care: House Bill 1325 I also authored HB 1325 and it passed out of the House by a vote of 69-22. The bill gives Medicaid funding flexibility to the Area Agency on Aging (AAA) and would allow elderly and disabled Hoosiers to stay in their homes. Currently, many elderly and disabled Hoosiers awaiting Medicaid eligibility are forced to stay in nursing homes rather than their personal residence. Under HB 1325, the AAA would be allowed to make a quick determination whether or not the patient can be allowed to stay in their home under the supervision of a spouse or parent(s) caregiver. Stay Connected During Second Half As the second half kicks off, bills will switch chambers. Therefore, bills that have passed out of the House will go to the Senate and vice versa. I look forward to begin hearing bills that have passed out of the Senate such as the school start date, immigration, redistricting and the delay of unemployment insurance tax on businesses. To follow the proceedings of the Indiana General Assembly visit www.in.gov/legislative and click on "Watch Indiana General Assembly Live." To track legislation visit www.in.gov/legislative and under Session Information you will be able to follow bills by bill number or subject matter. |
