INDIANAPOLIS – So with only seven business days left to pass a budget, solve an unemployment crisis and bail out the Indianapolis Capital Improvement Board, what did the Indiana Senate do Tuesday?

Pass resolutions honoring friends, sports teams and schools.

For more than two hours, senators voted on resolution after resolution while their calendar of business waited.

They honored an Evansville charter school, local firefighters, the minor-league Indianapolis Tornadoes football team and even an old colleague – Robert Meeks.

Meeks retired after the session ended in 2008, so his friends wanted a chance to swap stories on the admirable public-service record Meeks achieved during his life as a senator and state police trooper.

The anecdotes were funny, but the time spent on outside distractions was noticeable, especially when the members could have been in conference committees working on compromises on dozens of other bills.

Our humble suggestions?

•Limit the number of resolutions each senator can offer each year to two. This would make them prioritize the chamber’s time in favor of the most important resolutions – as opposed to naming the state pie, for example.

•Get your work done first. It would be a strong statement about what is more important if legislators finished the work on their calendar before parading resolutions before the body.

Likable Lugar

Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., is one of “66 guys to emulate,” Esquire magazine says.

Why? Because he’s “nobody’s bitch.”

Lugar told a Washington newspaper that covers Capitol Hill: “I asked my staff to interpret that, and they said it meant that you’re an independent-minded individual. Given that interpretation, I was pleased.”

Lugar’s picture in the list of 66 men to imitate is next to Martha Stewart’s, who the magazine said is also “nobody’s bitch.”

She has two X chromosomes, but Esquire still included her in its “guys to emulate list,” saying: “Expertise. Authority. Salesmanship. A rap sheet. And a high net worth. What man wouldn’t want to be her?”

Still not sharing

City and county elected officials spent considerable time Wednesday talking about the need to replace the sheriff and police headquarters during a meeting to discuss improving local government.

Yet no one suggested the city and county reconsider sharing a building.

City Councilwoman Karen Goldner, D-2nd, said it will cost more to replace a crummy building with a new, nice building.

Fellow Councilman Tom Didier, R-3rd, questioned why the city spends millions to build Taj Mahal-inspired fire stations.

And County Commissioner Bill Brown noted the $2.5 million to build a new sheriff’s headquarters on county-owned land isn’t a lot of money.

City Councilwoman Liz Brown, R-at large, came the closest.

“It seems silly. We’re not even talking about merging functions,” she said of city police and sheriff’s officers sharing a building. “I’d like to see us move forward or not.”

But Mayor Tom Henry, who also attended the joint meeting, was not too interested. Officials couldn’t find a suitable building last year, making a new effort unlikely, he said.

A ‘lame’ joke

When Mayor Tom Henry addressed a local government efficiency panel and city and county elected officials Wednesday, he began by poking fun at his recent injury.

He told a group of high school students, who were curious about his bum leg, that he’d jumped in front of a bus to save a fellow politician.

“They didn’t buy it,” he said.

And his joke barely got a groan from the crowd of government officials.

He said his fall while doing chores was “nothing sexy.” Henry had surgery this month to correct a hairline fracture in his upper femur.

$1 at a time

Rep. Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale, is so sure the revenue forecast that legislators received recently on tax collections will be wrong, he is running a pool in his office.

For just $1, anyone interested can guess how far off target the state forecast will be, Espich said during a budget hearing. And you can enter as many times as you like.

Maybe the victor could contribute the winnings to the state treasury to help out.

City dialogue

Fort Wayne City Councilwoman Karen Goldner, D-2nd, will hold a public meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at the Riverlodge in Shoaff Park.

Mayor Tom Henry plans to attend the meeting to address residents.

Amanda Iacone of The Journal Gazette and Washington Editor Sylvia Smith contributed to this column.