INDIANAPOLIS —
After a timeout to accommodate out-of-town Super Bowl visitors, the Indiana General Assembly is back in session to tackle legislation that had been bottlenecked by a contentious labor bill.
Both the House and Senate took off two days last week as many lawmakers cleared out of their hotel rooms. They did so to make way for thousands of Super Bowl ticketholders who headed to the game’s host city days in advance.
Before leaving, lawmakers passed the right-to-work legislation that triggered mass protests and stalled other bills when House Democrats boycotted several days of the session.
Gov. Mitch Daniels signed the right-to-work bill just before legislators left town, making Indiana the 23rd state to ban unions from collecting mandatory fees for representation.
After signing it, Daniels said he hoped the second half of the 2012 session “might be a time for some conciliation.”
Daniels wants legislators to concede to some more of his wish-list items as they head toward their mandatory March 14 deadline for the session’s end.
That includes a statewide smoking ban, local government reform, more state dollars to victims of last summer’s State Fair stage collapse, and a “credit creep” bill that would reduce college costs by capping the required credit hours needed to earn a degree.
But other bills are being pushed forward by lawmakers. They range from eliminating the state’s “death tax” to exempting chicken farmers from some federal food rules.
Here’s a sampling of some of the legislation still alive in the General Assembly:
- Poultry sales at farmers markets: The bill would allow Indiana farmers to sell their locally grown, frozen chickens at farmers markets without having to go through some of the federal food-safety inspection requirements. The bill also sets up a study committee to look at ways the state can boost the marketing and sales of locally grown foods.
- Eliminating the “death tax”: There are currently two versions of legislation that would change the state’s inheritance tax. The Senate is considering the House-approved bill that would phase out the tax over 10 years, eventually eliminating the tax on unlimited inheritance passed on to family members. The House, meanwhile, is considering the Senate version that would reduce the inheritance tax rate and increase the amount of exemption claimed by inheritors.
- Licensing of mopeds: The bill would move mopeds a little closer to the rules that cover motorcycles. It would require mopeds operated on Indiana highways to be titled and registered with the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. It would also require moped drivers to have a valid driver’s license or a state-issued identification card.
- More changes to K-12 schools: A rash of education-related bills that passed in the Senate may not make it through the House education committee. Among them is a bill that would allow public schools to teach creationism along with the theory of evolution. But the bill requires that creation theories of multiple religions be taught, which makes the legislation less appealing.
- Outdoor stage inspections: Prompted by last year’s State Fair stage collapse that killed seven people and injured dozens more, this legislation would put into place new state rules for the installation and inspection of outdoor stages and related structures.
- Drug testing for welfare recipients: This much debated legislation would put into place a pilot program in three counties that would require welfare recipients who get cash assistance to undergo drug-testing. It doesn’t apply to Medicaid or food-stamp recipients, but in its current form, it would require random drug-testing of state legislators.
Maureen Hayden covers the Statehouse for the CNHI newspapers in Indiana. She can be reached at maureen.hayden@indianamediagroup.com.
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