News reports on a legislative committee hearing today on local government restructuring suggests that circus music should have been playing. Mary Beth Schneider, reporting for the Indianapolis Star, has a story on today’s four hour hearing in the House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee. Characterizing the hearing as “sometimes bizarre,” I got the sense that the General Assembly should put its own house in order before looking to fix local government.
The proposals to eliminate or at least reshape township government — including legislation that would have created a single county executive in each county and consolidated library districts –will now remain dormant for the remainder of this session unless they can be revived in the final days, when the Senate and House negotiate final versions of bills.
. . .
[After various shenanigans amending the bill,] [W]hen it came time to vote on the bill itself, a revamped Senate Bill 452 which now included all the reforms, only one Democrat, Rep. John Barnes of Indianapolis, voted for it, with the other six Democrats and one Republican voting no.The remainder of the Republicans walked out, demanding the right to caucus and discuss the vote privately.
Afterward, both parties accused the other of political games to kill the reforms.
Update Jim Shella has more on the chaotic hearing on the local government restructuring bill. He seems to attach a bit of significance to the fact that most of the committee Republicans didn’t actually vote against “the governor’s proposal.” I think it is significant that none of them actually voted for it.
It is just as significant that both sides of the aisle find their own preferences more important than those of their constituents. Term limits anyone?