By Eric Bradner, Evansville Courier & Press
INDIANAPOLIS - Now that a proposal to amend property tax caps into Indiana's constitution has won the endorsement of a key House committee, the stage is set for votes in both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly.
The House Ways and Means Committee advanced the amendment on a 21-3 vote Monday. Since a Senate committee did the same last week, it means all that's left for lawmakers to do when they return for the Jan. 5 start of the 2010 legislative session is debate and vote on the proposal.
If the caps, which were first approved in 2008, are passed again in the upcoming session, Indiana voters will have the final say through a statewide referendum on the November 2010 ballot.
As the Ways and Means Committee debated the caps, Rep. Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, said he plans to vote against the amendment.
"I've come to conclude that our constitution is too important to just use as a debate platform for the issues of the day," he said.
But Rep. Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale, said if the caps aren't written into the constitution, "those who want to spend will solicit and legislators will approve" lifting them in the future.
"If we do not protect what we've accomplished with constitutional caps, it is doomed to failure," he said.
Rep. Ed DeLaney, D-Indianapolis, said constitutionally capping property taxes is a power shift away from home rule and toward state government.
"Let's get that clear. When you cap the locals," he said, "you move power."
He predicted pressure from those who need the legislature's approval to find other revenue sources for years to come.
Passing the tax caps, he said, "ends very little other than the fear of a radical tax increase. ... Beyond that, we're starting out on a long road."
The property tax cap amendment is expected to easily win approval in the Senate, which Republicans lead with a 33-17 majority. Its fate is less clear in the House, which Democrats narrowly control by a 52-48 margin.
Gov. Mitch Daniels released a statement after the vote extending his "heartfelt thanks" to Crawford and the committee.
"Here's hoping the measure will be considered by the entire House and they will likewise give Hoosiers the opportunity to make this important choice," Daniels said.
As a bargaining chip, House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, could demand Senate consideration of a bill he favors, which would place similar limits on how much the assessed value of property can rise from year to year, in exchange for a House vote on the tax cap amendment
House Bill 1002, which is likely to see a host of amendments but broadly sets forth to cap assessment increases, passed the Ways and Means Committee on a 16-8 vote Monday just after the amendment won approval.
The panel also advanced two other bills to the full House.
House Bill 1003, by Rep. Gail Riecken, D-Evansville, restricts privatization in Indiana's human services agency. It won passage on a 14-10 party-line vote.
House Bill 1004, by Rep. Clyde Kersey, D-Terre Haute, requires that 80 percent of those employed on state-funded public works projects be Hoosiers. It passed, 20-4.
One opponent of that bill worried that the bill would cause trouble if it prompts other states to retaliate by passing similar legislation.
"I'm concerned about the message we're sending to our border states and those individuals who [live] along our border in the state of Indiana but work outside," said Rep. Eric Turner, R-Marion.