INDIANAPOLIS - More than two weeks after the Kernan-Shepard commission announced its recommendations to overhaul Indiana local government, two state lawmakers want to get the ball rolling to turn the proposals into reality.
A Southwestern Indiana lawmaker, Rep. Dave Crooks, is introducing a bill that would assign all 27 Kernan-Shepard recommendations to a summer study committee of the Legislature. There isn't time during the Legislature's 2008 short session to consider the Kernan-Shepard plan, Crooks said. But a summer study committee would be able to thoroughly explore the ideas in preparation for the 2009 session.
A central Indiana lawmaker doesn't want to wait until 2009. Sen. Mike Delph plans to introduce a bill containing portions of the Kernan-Shepard plan in the 2008 session.
"Whether we get all components of the bill done, that will be for the will of the Legislature. But we at least ought to introduce a vehicle to move forward a discussion of the costs of government," Delph said.
The Kernan-Shepard Commission on Local Government Reform, appointed by Gov. Mitch Daniels and led by Indiana Chief Justice Randall Shepard and former Gov. Joe Kernan, studied the inner workings of Indiana's local offices for five months and issued 27 recommendations Dec. 11. The commission concluded Indiana's system, arising from the 1851 state constitution, is cumbersome, too expensive and has too many layers. Among others, members recommended:
Replacing the three-member County Commissioners with a single elected county executive.
Replacing some other elected county offices created by the state constitution - sheriff, auditor, surveyor, assessor, coroner - with qualified professionals, appointed by the elected county executive.
Eliminating the township level of government and transferring those duties to the county assessor or county executive.
Requiring small school districts with enrollments of less than 2,000 to consolidate.
Prohibiting employees of local governments, such as police officers, from simultaneously holding elected offices within the governments they serve.
But the recommendations are nonbinding and will not take effect unless passed into law.
Delph, R-Carmel, said he plans to introduce several Kernan-Shepard proposals not already included in other senators' bills. Specifically, Delph's bill would convert the three-member county commissioners to a single county executive and eliminating township-level government, he said.
Expanded role
Delph also envisions an expanded role for county sheriffs - whether elected or appointed - in being in charge of homeland security, not just law enforcement.
"My overall focus on all of this is to further the discussion of limited government, the cost of government and how we can collectively reduce that cost on people so we can rein in their property tax bills, or rein in the overall outlay they spend on government," Delph said.
For the Legislature to pass such sweeping legislation before the March 14 adjournment deadline while simultaneously considering several complex property tax relief proposals might be a tall order during an election year.
Crooks, D-Washington, is introducing a bill that, if passed, would assign all 27 Kernan-Shepard recommendations to one of the Legislature's interim study committees that could hold hearings on them next summer, hammering out legislation that could be heard in 2009.
Crooks is adding a 28th recommendation of his own - making the Legislature a full-time instead of a part-time parliamentary body.
State lawmakers normally are in session from January to mid-March in even-numbered years and from January to the end of April in odd-numbered years.
Time commitments
Crooks has said the intense time commitments, compressed time frame and complexity of the issues make it impossible for the average person to serve in the Legislature for part-time pay when the workload is the equivalent of a second full-time job.
"When people wonder why we can't get many initiatives resolved, it has to do with the way we operate. There are so many complex issues that keep raising their head. We meet for a few days, rush stuff through and hope it works out," he said.
"I'm convinced you can't do it on a part-time basis. You can't do it unless you are retired or have no other job that conflicts with your time," said Crooks, a radio-station owner who decided not to seek re-election in 2008.
Crooks has not yet filed his study-committee bill, and Delph has not yet filed his government-reorganization bill. Once they are introduced, it will be up to committee chairmen in the House and Senate whether to give either bill a hearing or not.
Delph noted that the bill proposals must be crafted into precise legal language, including all the legal code citations, by the bill drafters at the state Legislative Services Agency - a meticulous and painstaking process.
"As a matter of fact, when I put the request in, they said, 'Senator, do you have any idea how many (code) citations we have for township government alone?' They are working day and night to come up with the proposals that we are requesting," Delph said.