INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Eric Holcomb seems open to a special session of the Indiana General Assembly after two of his agenda items failed to receive legislative approval during a frenzied end to the session.
“The General Assembly adjourned Wednesday with many accomplishments that will matter to people: Hoosiers will get training for high-demand jobs. People struggling with addiction will have more treatment options. Moms will deliver babies in hospitals equipped to meet their needs," Holcomb said in a statement.
"But, there’s still work to be done. After meeting with Speaker (Brian) Bosma and Senator (David) Long, I’ll look at all that can be done to complete unfinished business — whether that’s by administrative or legislative authority, if needed," Holcomb said.
Among other issues, Holcomb had pushed for workforce development improvements, better management of the state's resources and expanding opioid recovery treatment options, all receiving approval in a year when the legislature isn't to open up the budget.
But also on his agenda were funding for an additional $5 million for school safety grants and creating an environment for testing autonomous vehicles. Both were in the hands of legislators who ran out of time before the session ended.
House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said he was disappointed that the school safety funding measure didn't get to the governor's desk. There may other avenues for funding, Bosma said.
"I'm not positive it can but we believe there will be a way for funds to be made available," Bosma said.
Bosma was pleased the legislature found revenue to cover a $9.3 million shortfall in K-12 school funding and workforce development.
However, he also noted failure of a bill to pass allowing schools to obtain low-interest loans from the state's Common School Fund if they don't receive a safety grant or want to spend more than their award.
"We're going to work with the administration to accomplish a number of these items," Bosma said. "The augmentation of funding can't happen. The one that I'm confident cannot happen is the loans from the common school fund. That would require statutory authority."
The Senate, Long said, passed all but one bill; 47 of them passed Wednesday. Long, who is retiring from the Legislature, will remain Speaker Pro Tempore through Nov. 5.
He said he would talk to the governor and Bosma about a special session.
"I don't know what's going to happen with some of these bills," Long said. "It's possible, depending on when people calm down a little bit and think about it, we might come back and get some work done."
The common school fund loan was a new issue that required debate, Long said.
"We finally got to 'yes' but it wasn't something we had vetted in the legislative process and it took a lot of research and discussion and concerns to be addressed, so that slowed down the school grant program," he said.
Democrats, who are in the minority in both chambers, were disappointed that the General Assembly couldn't agree on hate crimes legislation which may have been derailed by an inclusive list of more than 10 identifying factors including race and gender.
Democrats also wanted to see redistricting reform and legislative action to address perceived problems in the Indiana Department of Child Services; Holcomb has asked for a review.
"Instead of fixing DCS, we passed a bill saying you could buy alcohol from Walmart on Sunday," said House Minority Leader Terry Goodin, D-Austin.
Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, called the session a "disappointing dud."
He added, "Indiana will remain again for another year one of five states without any bias crime legislation on the books. We just can't seem to get it done."