BY PATRICK GUINANE, Times of Northwest Indiana
pguinane@nwitimes.com
INDIANAPOLIS | The cigarette tax hike Gov. Mitch Daniels wants to boost health care coverage went down in flames Tuesday as the Indiana House shut the door on the first half of the legislative session.
Property tax relief efforts also remained stagnant at the midway point, with negotiations falling flat ahead of Tuesday's deadline to move legislation to the Senate.
Lawmakers had warned that both the property tax and health care solutions would fizzle without bipartisan support.
"I don't think either one is finished for the session," said Rep. Bob Kuzman, D-Crown Point.
Kuzman was among 25 Democrats who voted against the health care proposal, which would've increased the cigarette tax by 25 cents -- to 80.5 cents per pack -- as a way of funding health insurance for low-income children and adults below the poverty line.
The sponsor of House Bill 1008, Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, repeatedly cautioned that the health plan needed at least 25 votes from each side of the aisle. Democrats provided their half, but only 19 Republicans joined in. The proposal failed 44-52.
"This is no longer my battle," Brown said after the vote. "It's the governor's battle."
Daniels, who began promoting his "Plan for a Healthier Indiana" in November, was scheduled to speak at a Republican fundraiser, the annual Wayne County Lincoln Day Dinner, around the time the House defeated the legislation Tuesday evening. A spokeswoman said the governor was "surprised and disappointed" by the outcome but hopeful that a health care initiative could be hashed out before the General Assembly adjourns in April.
House Democrats express similar dismay at the demise of their property tax plan, which would've shifted some local welfare costs the state and allowed counties to impose a new income tax of up to 1 percent. Democrats recently agreed to drop an accompanying corporate income tax hike and soften a so-called commuter tax revenue sharing plan. But Republicans wanted the commuter split eliminated and the new income tax dedicated solely to property tax relief.
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