INDIANAPOLIS – Ten weeks.
That's how long Indiana's General Assembly has to tackle a bevy of big issues this year.
Just 10 weeks to try and pass comprehensive legislation dealing with issues such as road funding and civil rights that will impact the Hoosier state for years to come
In between those two huge agenda items, lawmakers will try to solve Indiana's ISTEP mess, tackle meth problems and pass all the other bills that come with every session.
This year's slate of issues is so daunting, House Speaker Brian Bosma said, that this could be the toughest session of his tenure in the Statehouse.
Road funding
It's likely that some type of road-funding plan will pass during the 2016 session that starts on Jan. 5. After Interstate 65 was shut down near Lafayette in August after a bridge was declared unsafe, infrastructure has been a key point for lawmakers. All four caucuses have offered a plan and Gov. Mike Pence has asked for approval to spend $1 billion over the next four years for maintaining Indiana's highway systems.
Senate Bill 67, authored by Sen. Brandt Hershman, R-Buck Creek, is one of the few items Pence has said he will support during the upcoming session.
Hershman wants to free up $418 million in local income tax reserves held by the state for local road funding projects. At least 75 percent of the money would be earmarked for transportation-specific projects. Evansville would receive about $3.2 million under the plan, with Vanderburgh County receiving $2.9 million.
Sen. Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, the Senate minority leader, said he didn't mind the Republicans' plan, but also wanted the state to give some money to local communities that enact a gas tax as a means to pay for roads.
House Minority Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, has endorsed a plan to funnel directly into road funding all sales tax the state collects on gasoline purchases. His plan would generate about $500 million a year for roads, but would take a huge $250 million chunk out of the state's budget surplus in the first year, which Republicans decry as bad government.
The House Republicans' road plan takes more of a longview at the state's infrastructure problem. Bosma has said from the outset that he wants to focus on long-term solutions rather than the quick fixes proposed by Pence and others. His plan is similar to Pelath's, but instead takes money from the gas tax slowly.
He also wants to raise the gas tax, which hasn't been touched since 2002. That would mean Hoosiers would pay a few extra cents per gallon at the pump.
"This is about tomorrow's solutions," Bosma said.
ISTEP fix
After months of delays, leaked scores and allegations of computer glitches, final ISTEP scores should officially be released in January. With those scores, which are expected to drop significantly, will come A-F grades for schools. Lawmakers have all said something will be done to protect teachers from a drop in pay due to poor scores. Ideas to help shield schools from the repercussions of bad grades are also being talked about.
One bill carried by Rep. Robert Behning, R-Indianapolis, will simply remove ISTEP scores from teacher evaluations this year, so bad scores won't affect salaries.
Local Senators Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, and Jim Tomes, R-Wadesville, have both said something needs to be done to help teachers. Becker said the teachers shouldn't be punished this year for bad scores.
"It's not the teachers' fault that the ISTEP test was a mess," Becker said. "I don't have a problem doing something retroactive."
Unless scores are delayed again, ISTEP results will come out before lawmakers have time to pass anything.
There are several options on the table for how to help shield schools from bad grades as well. Lawmakers could average school scores from the past few years, or simply take a school's best score from the last two years.
Before acting, Bosma said lawmakers will need to get clearance from the federal government because of funding the state receives.
There's also the idea of scrapping ISTEP altogether. Bosma said during a legislative preview earlier this month that he was open to looking at other tests for Indiana. Pelath said at the same preview that constant testing has "sucked all the joy out of school."
Lanane said the General Assembly needed to do something to avoid putting a permanent black mark on Indiana schools.
Civil rights
The issue that dominated the 2015 session headlines will play a key role in 2016 as well.
After the RFRA disaster and subsequent fix, LGBT supporters are clamoring for civil rights in Indiana. Senate Democrats have proposed a bill known as the "four words and a comma" fix, which would simply add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected classes under Indiana's civil rights law.
On the other side of the aisle, Senate Republicans countered the simple bill with a 20-page behemoth authored by Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle. That bill prohibits discrimination against anyone based on gender identity but also grants carve-outs to religious organizations.
Holdman said while it is important to give the LGBT community rights, he also feels strongly about maintaining religious freedom in Indiana. Bosma said the balancing act between the two ideals — religious conviction and LGBT civil rights — will be a difficult task. He called for a civil discussion on the matter, but hasn't guaranteed a hearing on any civil rights bill in the House.
After a year of studying the civil rights issue after RFRA, Pence has not said where he stands on LGBT rights.
Other issues
Outside of those three large items, lawmakers will also address Indiana's drug problem. Local prosecutors have joined others statewide to call for psueodophedrine medications to be prescription-only. That bill has the support of Bosma, who said something needs to be done to stop a drug that is killing Hoosiers.
Lawmakers will also be asked to approve an additional $42 million for Indiana's Regional Cities Initiative program. Instead of awarding two regions as previously approved, the IEDC awarded $42 million to three regions, including Southwest Indiana and will need legislative approval to get the extra money.