INDIANAPOLIS - What had been a relatively bipartisan tone in the 2008 short session was jarred this week when the Indiana House killed a proposed constitutional amendment contained in Gov. Mitch Daniels' property tax plan.
Meanwhile, lawmakers decided on proposals dealing with severe weather sirens, riverboat casinos and handgun rights.
The amendment would have rewritten the state constitution to cap property taxes at 1 percent of assessed value for homes, 2 percent for rentals and 3 percent for businesses.
House minority Republicans tried to add other proposals to the constitutional amendment, including a same-sex marriage ban, a cap on state spending and a repeal of property taxes on homesteads. House majority Democrats objected and withdrew the amendment, meaning it didn't get a final third-reading vote.
The property tax caps still are alive, however. A similar constitutional amendment that would make the caps permanent has passed in the Senate and awaits action in the House. Daniels said Wednesday he wants permanent property tax relief, but would leave questions of tactics to lawmakers.
Wednesday was the House's deadline to pass its bills and send them to the Senate. The Senate completed action on its bills late Tuesday.
Highlights included:
On the same night that a tornado caused two deaths in a mobile home in Posey County, the state Senate approved a bill to improve the coverage of severe weather warning sirens. Under Senate Bill 334, if a builder proposes a housing development in an area unserved by existing sirens, he would have to pay a fee to acquire and install sirens. The bill passed late Tuesday, 48-0.
Senate Bill 334 also requires counties and the state Department of Homeland Security to develop a map showing which areas are covered by severe weather sirens and which are out of siren range.
A bill inspired in part by the expected sale of Casino Aztar in Evansville passed the House on Thursday, 83-12. House Bill 1224, authored by state Rep. Trent Van Haaften, D-Mount Vernon, fills a gap in existing law.
It says that if a casino owner's license is revoked or it cannot maintain its operations, then the Indiana Gaming Commission would appoint a trustee to run the casino until a new operator can be found, investigated and approved by the commission.
Aztar's current owner, Columbia Sussex, last month saw its New Jersey gaming license revoked because of understaffing problems at Columbia's Tropicana casino resort in Atlantic City. Gaming regulators in that state recently appointed a receiver to manage the Tropicana temporarily.
Already facing a post-licensing suitability investigation by the Indiana Gaming Commission, Columbia Sussex announced last month it intends to sell Casino Aztar in Evansville.
Senators late Tuesday deadlocked on whether Hoosiers with handgun permits should be able to carry concealed weapons on state-owned property, such as government buildings. The vote was 25 in favor and 23 against, one vote short of the 26 needed to pass.
Bill author Johnny Nugent, a board member of the National Rifle Association, said Senate Bill 356 was needed to protect law-abiding citizens and state employees. Critics said as written, it could allow 18-year-old high school seniors to legally carry handguns onto school grounds. Nugent, R-Lawrenceburg, promised to work to change that wording in the House.
But Sen. Bob Deig, D-Mount Vernon, gave an emotional speech opposing the bill, recalling the slaying of a friend, Mount Vernon school bus driver Saundra "Sandy" Flack, in a murder-suicide on May 25, 1999. Flack, 52, was shot and killed by her estranged husband as she fled her empty school bus at the Mount Vernon Schools' bus and maintenance facility. The husband, Robert Flack, 54, then turned the gun on himself.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.