Evansville Courier & Press
Not to oversimplify, but our elected Indiana lawmakers had a full four months to complete but one task, the writing of a new state budget, and they failed.
They can put all sorts of spin on it. The budget bill passed the Indiana Senate 31-17, but failed the Indiana House 71-27. House Speaker Pat Bauer, D-South Bend, blamed House Republicans and Gov. Mitch Daniels, but it was a bipartisan vote.
In the end, they did not get the job done during what seemed to be a generous amount of time.
True, legislators faced some difficult issues, mainly caused by a faltering economy and its drain on the state's shrinking revenues, but challenges greet most every session of the legislature.
This has happened before, and whenever it does, we ask ourselves the same question: What is the difference between the four months of the regular and the special session? Why can they not get a budget during regular time only to come back in overtime and agree on one?
One reason may be that both sides play a game of political chicken, hoping that as the deadline nears, one side or the other will give in. This time, late Wednesday night, it didn't work. No one gave in.
Now, given that the special session will cost taxpayers more money, we expect that lawmakers will move swiftly to reach an agreement. One of the issues holding up the show was $100 million for education. Senate Republicans wanted to cut it, and they had the support of Daniels, who wanted to keep the state surplus at $1.4 billion. Including the $100 million in the budget would have had the surplus at $1.3 billion. Perhaps common sense will encourage lawmakers to just split the difference on that $100 million.
Other than the cost, there is something else bothersome about lawmakers failing to finish on time. Remember the early public interest in the proposed Kernan-Shepard local government reforms, which included the elimination of township government in Indiana?
That necessary reform appeared to have momentum going into the session, but ran into a wall when Bauer said the House had more important bills to work on. What bills? Obviously, it wasn't the budget, because it didn't get done.
And remember the bill that would have allowed penalties against public officials and employees who failed to provide public access to government records and meetings?
That bill faltered after Rep. John Bartlett, D-Indianapolis, chairman of the House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee, said his committee ran out of time for it because it had to spend time on other legislation. Again, that wasn't the budget.
A special session can be expensive. Each day will cost taxpayers a minimum of $12,420 in per diem pay, but there are also travel expenses and the costs of paying staff. That's why that daily cost of a special session could run in excess of $20,000. Perhaps it would make sense - and save some money - to bring back only the budget negotiators for the special session. Let that group reach an agreement before calling back the full body to consider the compromise and vote. Hoosiers should learn shortly when Gov. Mitch Daniels will call them back. The most serious deadline they face is July 1, after which state government would have a difficult time operating without budgeted funds.
Look, most lawmakers feel the frustration in not getting their job done on time. That's why we expect they will convey to their leaders the need to wrap up this costly exercise as quickly as possible.