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INDIANAPOLIS – Just because Indiana legislators have made notable progress on several significant issues so far this session doesn’t mean they don’t still have work to do.
At the midpoint of the calendar – the time at which bills switch chambers – the once-contentious constitutional amendment on property tax caps has sailed through. And a legislative ethics reform package has passed both chambers with minor details still to be worked out.
Several attempts to streamline local government efficiency are also moving.
But a few troublesome topics still loom:
•Republicans want to delay a scheduled increase in unemployment insurance taxes for Indiana businesses. The legislation – Senate Bill 23 – already passed the Senate, but its prognosis in the Democratic-controlled House is unclear.
•A relatively tame gambling bill – Senate Bill 405 – also passed the Senate and now heads to the House. But any number of provisions could be added to the legislation making for interesting final weeks.
“If there is going to be one bill that keeps us here it will be the unemployment insurance bill,” said Rep. Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne. “It was pretty contentious last year, and the subject matter would usually be too complicated for a short session.”
The session is scheduled to end March 14, but there is some hope lawmakers will finish early, if by only a week.
Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, called the unemployment tax delay critical.
Last year, lawmakers agreed to the tax increase to try to bring Indiana’s bankrupt fund back to solvency. The state currently owes the federal government $1.4 billion for assistance in paying unemployment claims.
As the recession lingered, Republicans decided they wanted to delay the increase and hope the federal government forgives the loan.
Long and others said the tax increase could devastate the economy for several reasons. It could force some businesses to lay off more employees to cover the new tax obligation. And the delay is holding up hiring at some businesses that are afraid to make a move until the session is over.
“A lot of employers that will be affected happen to be large union shops and that should make House leaders sympathetic,” Long said. “It’s always a give-and-take. We’ll see where the politics leads the solution.”
But House Speaker Pat Bauer, D-South Bend, continues to be cagey about the topic.
He said last week he is for eliminating unemployment but is concerned about the state’s growing deficit in the fund.
“I think we can work something out,” he said. “But we’re not trying to slam it through.”
This is the bill that Democrats could use for a nebulous jobs plan they have referred to in recent weeks.
In general, Bauer has said many of Indiana’s bridges need repairs, which could provide many jobs for skilled laborers.
The problem is money. Democrats keep trying to use $500 million from the Toll Road lease proceeds that has been set aside in a trust fund for the future.
But Republicans have flatly rejected the idea in several different years.
“We’re trying to find any way we can to focus on jobs, but it’s been difficult,” GiaQuinta said.
Rep. Randy Borror, R-Fort Wayne, said the best jobs plan legislators can come up with this year is to do no harm to the state’s economy.
This includes the state paying its bills and not raising taxes.
“There is a time when you have to take a deep breath and wait for the economy to come back,” he said.
But a quest for money to aid job creation could lead to the gambling bill. Several times in the past when legislators have agreed to major changes in the gaming industry it has been largely because of the lure of increased state revenue.
“But I’m not willing to sell the state’s soul further for additional revenue,” said House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis.
The gambling bill, so far, contains only some minor changes. For instance, it frees riverboat casinos from several maritime restrictions. And it allows Internet wagering on horse racing in Indiana.
Long said the bill doesn’t cost taxpayers and doesn’t include an expansion of gambling.
But that would change if one of the Gary riverboat casinos is allowed to move inland and build anew, as several Democrats in the House support.
The Senate bill originally included a land-based option for all riverboat casinos – at a cost of $50 million. The owner of the two Gary riverboats could avoid the fee by turning in one of his licenses.
But the casino industry itself split on moving to land-based facilities, causing the provision to be pulled. Several casinos recently have built barges with permission of the Indiana Gaming Commission and are experiencing a competitive advantage. That could disappear with inland casinos.
Bauer compared the Senate bill sent over with a sail with several holes. He said there is inequity between the casinos within Indiana as well as competition coming from Ohio. Both are threats to the industry.
The gambling discussion is difficult and “will consume time,” he said.
