By Dan Carden, Times of Northwest Indiana
INDIANAPOLIS | The first week of the 2010 legislative session is likely to be remembered for what did happen -- a tax caps constitutional amendment nearing final approval -- than for what did not.
But for a few hours in the Indiana House of Representatives last week, Republicans and Democrats essentially held a loaded gun to each others' heads and dared the other party to shoot first, before slowly reholstering their weapons.
The bullets in the gun were the 29 proposed amendments to House Bill 1001, ethics legislation that mandates greater disclosure of lobbyist gifts to lawmakers and requires legislators to wait one year after leaving office before becoming lobbyists.
The amendments would have made the proposed ethics rules even tougher.
State Rep. Ryan Dvorak, D-South Bend, filed an amendment requiring disclosure of any lobbyist gift worth more than $5, rather than the $50 reporting requirement in the original legislation. His change would also have bumped up the fine for not reporting to $5,000, from $100.
On the Republican side, Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, filed an amendment prohibiting labor unions from raising money for or donating money to political candidates.
Other proposed amendments included mandatory term limits for members of the General Assembly, restrictions on outside employment for state lawmakers and a ban on business group contributions to candidates.
In a different context, some of the proposed amendments would likely win widespread support among House members.
But with all 100 representatives up for election in November and with Democrats controlling the House by only two votes, a "wrong" vote on any one of the proposed amendments could have come back to haunt a representative and his or her party in the upcoming campaign and next session of the General Assembly.
On Thursday morning, each party was ready to go, their guns loaded with amendment bullets they knew could blast holes in members of the opposition party.
The House convened briefly.
Lawmakers sized one another up.
And both sides decided to retreat into caucus to decide if Thursday was a good day to die. Each party's members met among themselves for four hours.
Then, the moment of truth.
After returning to the chamber in the afternoon, House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, called House Bill 1001.
"Are there any amendments?" Bauer asked.
Silence.
"The chair sees none. The bill is ordered engrossed."
Deep breaths all around. Everyone had lived to fight another day.
Asked afterward, Bauer said it wasn't too hard to reach an agreement with Bosma, the Republican leader, that both parties stand down and withdraw their amendments.
"Wisdom prevailed," Bauer said.