ANDERSON — Indiana legislators may differ on what created the recent session’s chaotic end, but they seem to agree the May special session, called for by Gov. Eric Holcomb, should focus on specific unresolved issues.
“We need to ... make sure that whatever significant issues the governor has designated for us remain clean issues. It’s not a free-for-all where whoever can get their special interests in there,” state Rep. Terri Austin, D-Anderson said.
“And for heaven’s sake, let’s not lose the transparency that we worked so hard over the years to build up where you can watch proceedings on the internet and let people know what’s actually in a bill before they vote on it,” Austin added.
“Hopefully, we can get it done in one day,” state Rep. Robert Cherry, R-Greenfield, said. One Senate leader questioned whether the bills could be resolved that quickly.
“I know there’s embarrassment over the fact we have to have a special session, and they’re saying let’s do it in one day,” Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, said. “What are we going to do in one day? Are we going to pass these monumental pieces of legislation in one day without debate, without committee hearings, without the ability to offer second-reading amendments? It’s a real problem.”
Austin, Cherry and Lanane were among five north central Indiana legislators speaking Monday at a Third House session at the Anderson Public Library.
The special session in May was called for by the governor after a chaotic last day, March 14, of the regular session of the General Assembly ended without final votes on several key bills.
Those bills were to address tax reforms to match federal changes, financial help for the troubled Muncie schools and statewide school safety measures, among others.
Holcomb has asked leaders in the Republican supermajority Senate and House to focus solely on those issues during the special session, which is likely to be held the week of May 14.
One of the leftover pieces of legislation, House Bill 1230, focused on school safety specialists and required charter and nonpublic schools to develop a safety plan, as is required now for public schools. When the session ended March 14, legislators were still discussing the possible addition to the bill of lifetime firearms permits and allowing firearms at church schools.
One of the bill’s co-authors, state Rep. Tony Cook, R-Cicero, said Monday the bill should not become mired in side issues during the special session.
“I sure hope so. I don’t think that’s the time to do that,” he said. Both Republicans and Democrats at Monday’s Third House acknowledged
a “mismanagement” of time during the final hours of the regular session.
The House committee on rules was still meeting at 11:50 p.m. on the last day. One of the bills presented didn’t have a final version for legislators. Democrats on the committee began asking questions with less than 30 minutes before the session’s scheduled end.
Cherry said the House should have considered calling for adjournment when it appeared bills weren’t going to meet the midnight deadline.
“About 11:30 we should not have gone to rules. If I was a member of the minority party I would have done exactly what they did. They slowed the process down, and they asked questions and they talked. We ran out of time,” Cherry said.
“Let me tell you there was no effort to slow it down,” Austin said of demands made by Democrats. “If asking legitimate questions on a bill you’ve never seen before in your life that was over 200 pages long that has special carve-outs for people that was never vetted through the process is slowing the process down, then call me guilty.”