INDIANAPOLIS - In an unusual sequence of events Thursday that left some lawmakers scratching their heads, the Indiana House advanced a $1.5 billion state-level economic stimulus plan, although its author later said he intended it to be $1 billion.
The $500 million discrepancy, which was blamed on a "drafting error" by House legislative aides as the amendment was rushed into print Thursday morning, could be corrected as early as Monday.
Thursday afternoon's floor debate on the House Democrats' economic stimulus package, House Bill 1656, lurched from bipartisan harmony to back-and-forth bickering within a matter of minutes.
Whether at $1.5 billion or $1 billion, the revised bill would plow millions of dollars into road and highway projects that lawmakers of both parties said would put Hoosiers back to work. If the overall bill passes the Democratic-controlled House, then it would move to the Republican-controlled Senate.
Wording the House added Thursday also would dole out $40 million to universities to jump-start repair and rehabilitation projects on state campuses - including the University of Southern Indiana and Vincennes University - to create demand for building trade workers. The bill now includes $3,000 a year tuition grants for jobless Hoosier workers to put toward job training.
Significantly for Southwestern Indiana, the bill apparently leaves intact the $700 million in Major Moves funding for the Interstate 69 extension project.
Both majority House Democrats and minority House Republicans appeared eager to act on a state-level stimulus bill Thursday. The day before, revised revenue figures showed state government collected $142 million less in January than expected, a drop-off blamed on unemployment causing income tax revenue to plummet.
Originally, the House Democrats' stimulus bill would have redirected $800 million in Major Moves toll road lease proceeds to counties, cities and towns to start road and bridge projects.
House Republican minority leader Rep. Brian Bosma proposed a large rewrite to that bill Thursday, however. His amendment would create a special projects fund to send $500 million to counties, towns and cities. Half the money would come from an expected federal stimulus package and half from federal highway money the state already is receiving.
The plan would require local governments to obligate half their money for contracts by Sept. 1 and the remainder a year later.
Rep. Russ Stilwell, who is the House Democratic majority leader, urged both parties to approve Bosma's amendment.
"Certain things in the state of Indiana are too important not to work together," Stilwell, D-Boonville, said. In an unusual display of unity, Bosma's amendment passed unanimously.
The bipartisan moment didn't last, though, once an amendment by Rep. Terri Austin, D-Anderson, added another $500 million in funding. That money would come from an interest-generating Major Moves account created using $500 million from the toll road lease. Only the interest from that fund - not the principal - was supposed to be tapped every five years for future highway projects.
Republicans said the money in the fund - about $550 million at the last audit - should stay put.
But Austin said it made no sense to have the money sitting in the bank, since the fund's financial returns have been lower than expected. If local governments didn't spend the $500 million within two years, the money would go back to the trust fund. Austin's Democratic change passed with a voice vote with some Republicans saying no.
Further complicating matters, Bosma said his own amendment was supposed to spend $500 million over two years, not each year - a discrepancy that boosted the bill from $1 billion to $1.5 billion, which Bosma blamed on a bill-drafting error. Bosma, R-Indianapolis, and House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, huddled for several minutes in Bauer's office.
Bauer said later there would "possibly" be a so-called "third reading" amendment to the bill Monday, a rarity under House parliamentary rules, to fix the discrepancy. Neither side seemed enthusiastic about reducing their economic stimulus bill by $500 million.
Separately, the House approved a different amendment that specifically underscores that Major Moves funding is to be used both for the Interstate 69 project as well as the $1.1 billion Ohio River twin bridges project near Jeffersonville, Ind. Bosma said that amendment is the equivalent of wearing "belts and suspenders" since the funding is duplicated elsewhere in the bill.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.