Indiana road funding, pre-K remain puzzles as legislature reaches halfway point

Differences between Republican leaders in the GOP-dominated House and Senate will need to resolved before the session ends in late April if any of these issues are to result in key legislation this year.

Here's a look at some of the primary differences:

Transportation funding

Senate Republican leaders have indicated they have concerns about the House’s plan to fund roads.

GOP House leaders plan to rely on a number of methods to generate the estimated $1.2 billion needed to pay for road upkeep and new construction.

In addition to raising gasoline taxes by 10 cents a gallon, the House plan also would immediately direct all gas tax funding toward roads instead of allowing some of it to continue to go to the general fund.

This move leaves a hole in the general fund, which lawmakers say needs to be filled. House Republicans proposed a $1 cigarette tax increase to cover the loss.

It’s a move that Senate leader David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said may not find traction in the Senate, because it’s not a “user fee” and is a tax that is likely to generate diminishing revenue.

“(The cigarette tax) is not a popular concept in our caucus, I’ll tell you that, nor with myself,” Long said. “I’m not excited about that, because it’s not associated truly with the transportation discussion I don’t think.”

Powerful Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, echoed those sentiments.

Even without the cigarette tax provision, Long has reservations about immediately directing all gas tax revenue immediately to road funding, instead of gradually weaning the general fund off that revenue over the next few years.

Differences over road funding have been simmering since last year when the Senate shut down the House’s plan.

“This happens every two years. We have different ideas and different priorities, so it will not be surprising to me if there are substantial changes (to the bill),” said House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis). “Senator Kenley has never been a fan of the sales tax on gasoline going towards roads.”

Pre-kindergarten

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is aligned with the House when it comes to expanded funding for pre-kindergarten.

But in the Senate, lawmakers have slashed his initial $10 million expansion request. The Senate’s proposal calls for a $3 million expansion to the On My Way Pre-K program — a meager increase compared to the total $50 million pre-K advocates would like to see.

“It may not be as much as someone wants, but you can’t always get everything you want in session,” Long said.

The Senate plan also calls for $1 million for a new pilot program for parents to use computer software to teach their pre-K children at home. The plan is based off a similar program in Utah, a state Long compared to Indiana.

The program would still only apply to children within 127 percent of the poverty level.

“These are just kids that get the opportunity out in rural areas that they didn’t have before,” Long said. “We have a five-county pilot (program currently). This expansion is state-wide so the opportunity will be there for kids everywhere in the state.”

Bosma has some reservations about the new pilot program, and said low-income families may be less inclined to try an online program.

He also mentioned this wasn’t the first time the two sides have grappled over pre-K. When House Republicans first suggested the pre-K pilot program, the Senate and Pence shot the proposal down, before approving it the following year.

“I’m doing my best to eliminate any criticism to anybody I have to work with for the rest of the session so I’m not really going to draw any judgement on it,” Bosma said about the difference in funding plans.

Vaping

The House and Senate introduced legislation that would change Indiana's controversial e-liquid law, which has been deemed unconstitutional by a federal appeals court and is the subject of an FBI investigation.

While the House bill offered limited changes and never made it out of committee, the Senate made major reform a priority – designating it as Senate Bill 1 and passing it 49-1. Now, as the Senate bill moves to the House for consideration, one of its sponsors will be a House member who initially called for more limited changes.

Parts of the vaping law, enacted in 2015 and amended during the 2016 legislative session, were struck down by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in January because of the restrictions they place on out-of-state companies.

The initial vaping legislation required e-liquid manufacturers to obtain a certificate from a security firm, but only one Indiana security firm qualified to hand out those certificates: Mulhaupt's Inc. from Lafayette. Six companies were approved to make e-liquid by Mulhaupt’s. Many other companies were forced out of business.

The Senate plan strikes down many restrictions and would open the industry to more manufacturers.

Senate bill author Sen. Randall Head, R-Logansport, said he wanted to remove many of the restrictions because of the federal court ruling in January.

He said he also didn’t want to put Indiana companies at a disadvantage by placing greater restrictions on them, so he decided to mainly stick with the regulations the federal government is imposing..

Rep. Kevin Mahan (R-Hartford City), who will be a House sponsor of Head's proposal, said he would have to look over the court case more before determining what changes he personally would like to see in Senate Bill 1. Ultimately, many other lawmakers also will have a say.

While Mahan said he wanted to deal with the “perceived monopoly” the current law has been criticized for creating,  he noted that most of the federal regulations don't take effect for some time. One restriction he would like to add Head's proposal is banning people charged with a drug offense from being certified to produce vaping e-liquids in the state.

“When it comes to many of these basic safety requirements, I’m really not interested in really reversing them,” Mahan said.