INDIANAPOLIS --- Property tax relief continues to dominate lawmakers' time and attention at the Indiana General Assembly. But one of the most controversial issues from last year's session - defining marriage in the state constitution - could confront lawmakers in the week ahead.
In his State of the State address televised Tuesday night, Gov. Mitch Daniels again asked the Legislature to pass his property tax restructuring plan. Daniels followed up on that speech by testifying Wednesday in front of the Indiana House Ways and Means Committee about his proposal, House Bill 1001. It would cut property taxes by about one-third by capping them at 1 percent of homes' assessed value, and replacing the revenue with an increase in sales tax.
Departing from tradition, the Ways and Means committee Thursday didn't hear any of the 50 amendments to the plan that legislators introduced. Instead, they voted 24-0 to push the plan out of committee and onto the House floor. Amendments to House Bill 1001 will be heard this Tuesday before the entire 100-member House.
The parliamentary maneuver comes as the Daniels administration's Office of Management and Budget released updated figures Friday showing how residential homesteads would fare if the plan were passed as proposed. In 2009, property taxes on owner-occupied homes would decrease, on average, by 36.3 percent statewide. For Vanderburgh County, the average tax decrease would be 31.2 percent.
While Daniels' proposal was introduced as one massive bill in the Indiana House, it was split into 11 bills and three constitutional amendments in the Senate. Also before senators is a separate plan by two Senate Republicans to amend the state constitution to repeal property taxes on homesteads only - but leave them on businesses. That concept, SJR 8, is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday by the Senate Rules Committee. Although SJR 8 has the support of a vocal group of anti-tax demonstrators, both Daniels and the leaders of the Senate Republicans and House Democrats have contended that repealing property taxes is impractical and economically unworkable in the Legislature's short session.
In other developments:
An issue that dominated the 2007 long session could be back: amending the state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. Constitutional amendments must be passed twice by the Legislature before it can go to voters in a referendum. SJR 7 passed in the 2006 Legislature, but was defeated in a House committee in 2007. If SJR 7 doesn't pass this session, then the process would have to start over.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.