INDIANAPOLIS — Township government will be targeted again as a legislative committee rewrites a bundle of bills to put new limits on local elected officials.
The House of Representatives’ government reform committee met for hours Tuesday listening to members’ proposals to reduce nepotism, limit elected officials’ conflicts of interest, restructure or eliminate townships and cap their board members’ salaries.
They also heard testimony. North Township Trustee Frank Mrvan passionately defended his office, which he said requires poor relief clients to sign assistance contracts, put its budget online and helped flooded-out residents.
“We took the lead when there was a disaster,” Mrvan said.
The committee, led by Republican Rep. Phil Hinkle of Indianapolis, considered 12 bills, some of which proposed similar changes to local government. Hinkle said they’d probably be condensed into three or four bills, and those will be put to a committee vote next week.
Each bill will deal with a particular category including government reform, nepotism and conflict of interest. Another bill will address issues in Marion County.
The government reform bill would resolve conflicting proposals for dealing with townships. One would let Hoosiers vote to eliminate their township trustee and assessor in 2012 and automatically do away with township boards in 2013. Another would eliminate township boards in 2015 and create a county-wide trustee board.
A third would eliminate township government in municipalities.
“We’re all invested in the status quo, and that’s the biggest problem,” Rep. Ralph Foley, R-Martinsville, said. “We need a push.”
Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, offered a bill that would put county commissioners in charge of budget-writing and require all county employees but judges to follow one policy manual written by the commissioners.
“As happens in every other form of government,” Soliday said.
Soliday said he’d withdraw another bill he wrote that would cap township board members’ salaries at $7,000. He said he’d do so because another bill considered by the committee creates such a cap.
Finally, Republican Rep. Tom Saunders of Lewisville offered legislation that would force employees of county, city, town or township governments to resign from their jobs if they win an elected office in that government.
It would also make it a Class A misdemeanor for a government employee to work within direct line of authority of an elected official who is a family member.
Democrats on the committee suggested nepotism laws be tightened at the state level, too.
“We’ve got embarrassing situations on the state level right now,” Rep. Scott Reske, D-Pendleton, said.
Hinkle said he wants to first address local government, which has no nepotism restriction. He said policy is already in place at the state level.
“I’m not inclined to go there right now,” Hinkle said.
Hinkle’s committee wasn’t the only body looking at government reform Tuesday. A select committee on government reduction led by Democratic Rep. Chet Dobis of Merrillville heard testimony from the governor’s staff about eliminating some state boards or commissions.
“I think you’re on target with exactly the reason why this committee was created,” Dobis said.