INDIANAPOLIS Clearing its first hurdle Thursday, Gov. Mitch Daniels' property tax restructuring plan was passed unanimously by the Indiana House Ways and Means Committee and goes straight to the full House next week.
Although lawmakers had introduced some 50 amendments to change the wording of House Bill 1001, the committee departed from tradition and heard none of them Thursday - passing the bill as-is.
Instead, the amendments are scheduled to be heard when the full House convenes Tuesday, a process that could take hours. Asked why the amendments weren't voted on in committee, Democratic House Speaker Patrick Bauer described it as a practical move on a complicated bill during a short session that must adjourn by the Legislature's March 14 deadline.
"(Thursday's) action brings it down to the center ring, and all 100 (House) members will get to decide whether this thing gets blown out of proportion so that it dies under its own weight, or if we can do those necessary amendments to improve it from the testimony we heard," Bauer said.
Out in the open
Bauer suggested the process would be more open and public if the bill is amended on the House floor instead of in the cramped committee room.
The Ways and Means committee has heard at least 60 hours of testimony on the bill since November, including field hearings in Evansville, Fort Wayne and South Bend.
The bill contains the proposal Daniels reiterated in his State of the State address Tuesday night: It would reduce homestead property taxes by about one-third by increasing the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent, and by having the state absorb 100 percent of school-operating and child-welfare costs, instead of the current 85 percent.
The bill also calls for referendums on large public construction projects and would abolish township-level assessors and transfer their duties to county assessors.
"Through what we've heard, I believe there is a general consensus that the assessment process is broken and needs to be fixed. And there's also a consensus that whatever evolves out of that, that there be an elected person responsible, not an appointed person," Ways and Means Chairman William Crawford said.
"But there was a complete recognition that a lot of the problems that we faced that caused the tax crisis were caused by a poor assessment," said Crawford, D-Indianapolis.
House Republican leader Brian Bosma said he was "thrilled" the bill passed out of committee. He said the procedure was "highly unusual" on a bill with so many amendments pending.
"This definitely expedited the process," said Bosma, R-Indianapolis.
On Wednesday, Daniels took the unusual step for a sitting governor of testifying before the Ways and Means Committee about his proposal and fielding lawmakers' questions.
A committee member, state Rep. Kreg Battles, D-Vincennes, said he was impressed that the governor "would extend the olive branch of cooperation" by testifying.
"I think we all have a common goal. I'm sure there will be some disagreements - and even some strong ones - as to the path that we are going to take to reach that goal," Battles said. "But the fact that we do have a common goal, a common direction, gives me great hope, and I am still very optimistic that we will have this done by March 14."
The state Senate, meanwhile, is progressing through various elements of Daniels' plan. There, his proposal was split into 11 bills and three constitutional amendments, whereas the House heard it all as one massive bill.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.