BY PATRICK GUINANE, Times of Northwest Indiana
guinane@nwitimes.com
INDIANAPOLIS | The Indiana General Assembly has hit the halfway mark of the short 2006 session, trudging through several late sessions last week.
No one complained when the House and Senate decided to take today off. After all, the brisk pace of the last month should have been enough to soothe even the most inveterate political junkies.
"I want to compliment the General Assembly on a very vigorous first half of its session," Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels said Friday, offering somewhat of an understatement.
House Republicans gave the governor something to smile about last week, approving a private lease of the Indiana Toll Road.
Cintra-Macquarie, a Spanish-Australian consortium, has offered $3.85 billion for the right to run the road and collect tolls for 75 years. The lease is the cornerstone of Major Moves, Daniels' 10-year, $10.6 billion plan to build and maintain roads and bridges, and depends on a private lease of the Indiana Toll Road.
The House voted 52-47 in favor of House Bill 1008, which authorizes the lease.
The legislation now rests with the Senate, where President Pro Tem Robert Garton, R-Columbus, predicted a warm reception.
Here's a look at where some other proposals stand at the halfway point:
* Local-option taxes -- A Daniels initiative, this would allow counties to approve local income, sales, food, and beverage and hotel taxes, provided they used most of the revenue to roll back property taxes. In an election year, House members were loath to touch what could be considered a tax hike. The Senate is none too eager, either, meaning this issue likely is dead.
* Eliminating township assessors -- The governor wants to shift this duty to the county level, but this idea went nowhere in the House, because it was in the same legislation as the local option taxes. This issue could come up again as an amendment to another bill.
* Cigarette tax hike -- Extinguished. Daniels made a splash calling for an increase of at least 25 cents per pack in his State of the State speech. A House committee killed the idea. It's not expected to re-emerge.
* Barring public assistance to undocumented immigrants -- House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, allowed this divisive measure to get a full vote late Thursday night. It failed miserably (74-19), and Bosma said the issue is dead for the year.
* Full-day kindergarten -- Everyone says it's a good idea, but no one knows how to pay for it, or at least they don't want to make such taxing suggestions in an election year. The Senate Democrats pushed to provide full-day kindergarten for all children, but Republican leadership wouldn't consider the costly proposal.
The House defeated a GOP measure that would have provided full-day kindergarten tax credits for low-income children. Democrats said it would have diverted state money to private schools.
* Abortion -- The House approved strict building standards that opponents argue are intended to shut down existing abortion clinics. Bosma said that was not the intent. The House also endorsed a measure requiring a doctor to inform women seeking abortions that life begins at conception. Opponents question why the state would force a doctor to make a statement that has no scientific backing.
* ISETP-Plus -- The annual school achievement test would move to the spring from the fall under legislation House Republicans muscled over to the Senate on a 52-47 party-line vote. Daniels wants to make the switch, but the elected state schools superintendent is fighting the idea, saying it would cost up to $45 million.