INDIANAPOLIS — Four amendments were added to the mass transit bill in the House Thursday, including the addition of light rail as an option.
The new House version of Senate Bill 176 is now different from the version the Senate passed earlier this month, and the differences will have to be ironed out in a conference committee, if the entire bill receives final approval from the House.
The most notable difference between the two is the House approved an amendment which removed the prohibition of light rail. In the version the Senate passed, the bill forbade counties from setting up light rail programs for transit.
Rep. Ed Delany, D-Indianapolis, authored the amendment. He said the General Assembly had no business telling communities what they can and can't do.
"If they choose light rail with their own referendum and their own vote, and they decide to pay the taxes on it, they should be allowed to do it," Delany said.
Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, is the House sponsor of SB 176. He agreed with the amendment and said some senators support the light rail option and some don't. But he said he thought light rail was the best way to connect counties the way mass transit was designed to do.
Both of the lawmakers acknowledged a light rail system is still several years away but wanted to make sure the option was there.
Sen. Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, is one of the co-authors of the bill. He signed on because of the potential it holds for Madison County. He said when the bill passed the Senate he was disappointed by the removal of the light rail.
Other amendments included removing Hendricks County from the list of eligible counties and adding an incentive for businesses to contribute to the cost of a transit system.
It remains to be seen if the conference committee will keep the light rail language in or decide it is too expensive for communities.
If the bill passes the House, it would be up to a select number of central Indiana counties, including Madison and Delaware counties, to decide if mass transit is a realistic option.
In Madison County, a referendum would have to be approved by the Madison County council of governments. The referendum would then go on the ballot in November for voters to decide to approve a mass transit system or not.
Voters would also choose how much of a tax increase they would be willing to pay for. The bill as written does not create any new taxes; it simply changes the amount people will be taxed. Voters can choose the increase amount from a 0.1 percent increase to a 0.25 percent increase on income tax.
Until a vote is taken, it is impossible to say how much a system could cost in Madison County. Updated buses would be far less expensive than a light rail system.
Counties would also have to enter into agreements in order for the transit system to stretch from county to county. Lawmakers said county agreements are the best way for the transit system to work optimally.
There will be no House session Friday, so the earliest lawmakers could vote on the bill would be Monday, March 3.