By Dan Carden, Times of Northwest Indiana
dan.carden@nwi.com
INDIANAPOLIS | The second half of the 2010 Indiana General Assembly kicks off this week.
While it might not be as exciting (for some people) as last night's Super Bowl, the proposals lawmakers are set to consider over the next five weeks are likely to affect Hoosiers far longer than the Indianapolis Colts' loss to the New Orleans Saints.
The fate of the Illiana Expressway, a proposed tollway linking Interstate 65 in Lake County to Interstate 55 near Joliet, Ill., is now in the hands of the Democratic-controlled Indiana House.
The Republican-controlled Senate already has voted 48-0 to add the Illiana to a state list of projects that can be built using public-private partnerships. However, state Rep. Terri Austin, D-Anderson, is trying to add conditions to those partnerships that Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels and state Rep. Chet Dobis, D-Merrillville, both say will kill the Illiana.
Dobis lost his position as the No. 2 Democrat in the House after defying Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, and joining with Republicans to vote down Austin's conditions, which included requiring every community along the route to give its approval. Whether other Northwest Indiana Democrats will similarly defy the speaker if Austin's proposal comes up again remains to be seen.
The House also will take up a gambling proposal approved by the Senate that makes only minor changes to state gaming law, such as eliminating the requirement that permanently moored boats maintain functional marine engines and navigation equipment. A provision allowing riverboat casinos to move onto land was stripped from the gaming legislation by the Senate.
State Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, and state Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, both said they will try to get the House to restore the inland casino option. Gary officials and Majestic Star Casino President Don Barden have proposed moving one of the two Gary casinos from its Lake Michigan location to a new facility adjacent to the Borman Expressway near Interstate 65. The second Gary casino license would go dormant or be auctioned to another area of the state.
However, Bauer and House Republican leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, both said Thursday there likely aren't enough votes in the House to restore land-based gaming.
Meanwhile, the Senate is set to consider legislation that mandates counties send provisional property tax bills even if the total taxes due haven't been determined yet. The House approved the proposal 97-0.
Its sponsor, state Rep. Shelli VanDenburgh, D-Crown Point, said if it becomes law, schools and local governments no longer would have to pay millions of dollars a year in interest on loans needed because tax bills were sent out late. State Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, the powerful chairman of the State Budget Committee, will shepherd the proposal through the Senate, along with state Sens. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago, and Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso.
On the other hand, the prospects for Brown's indoor smoking ban, even with its exemptions for bars, restaurants, casinos, horse tracks, tobacco shops and family-owned businesses, do not burn as bright. Senate President David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said Thursday he doesn't see the Senate approving a smoking ban this session.
Other legislation already approved by one chamber with good prospects in the other includes: a ban on texting while driving, allowing alcohol sales on Election Day, new punishments for sexting teenagers and new ethics rules for lawmakers requiring disclosure of lobbyist gifts worth more than $50. Lawmakers also are set to finalize ballot language for a November referendum asking voters if they want to place property tax caps in the Indiana Constitution.
Legislation this session has been mainly focused on incremental changes to state law that won't cost Indiana any new money. The leaders of each chamber's party caucuses agreed before the session began to reject any proposal that would add to Indiana's budget woes.