Eric Bradner has a column in the Evansville Courier Press discussing the progress of the General Assembly so far. He points out that they haven’t actually done anything all that significant yet. The property tax Constitutional amendment is politically popular, and it won’t actually change anything directly — the property tax caps are already law. Township “reform” is pretty much just passing the buck. They allow for local referendums on whether to eliminate townships. They can claim to have done something about the Kernan-Shepard report while at the same time telling their colleagues in township government that they never voted to eliminate the position. I’m not sure the ethics bill fits Bradner’s narrative especially well, but his point is well taken – it involves relatively small changes in response to what is perceived to be a big problem.
Big changes, suggests Bradner, would be moving on Sen. Becker & Rep. Crouch’s proposal to make Medicaid waiver eligibility presumptive for at-home elder care, thereby reducing the hardship involved with sometimes lengthy eligibility determinations. Or, he suggests, redistricting reform could move forward. (On that, see a good analysis of Rokita’s disingenuous craftiness on the subject.) In addition, net metering could be important as could gaming issues.
So far, there has been a little sizzle, but the meat remains to be seen.
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