A Citizen's Guide to Indiana

Masson's Blog

Unemployment benefits plan fails to pass the House

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Mary Beth Schneider, writing for the Indianapolis Star, reports on a political game of chicken in the House that stalled passage of a bill to do something about the state’s empty unemployment benefits fund. The solution lies in increasing the inputs and/or decreasing the outputs — i.e. making businesses pay more, making unemployed take less, or some combination thereof. None of that is very popular. Democrats weren’t willing to pass the bill on their own without significant Republican support as cover. They didn’t want to get hammered for raising taxes or cutting benefits. House Republicans were unwilling to go along or unwilling to go along in sufficient numbers.

Given the divided control of House and Senate, a bipartisan solution would be necessary in any case. The Governor is apparently not providing much in the way of leadership on this issue. So now it will be up to the Senate to take charge. Everyone knows something needs to get done. Currently the fund is operating on a federal loan. Governing is hard.

HB 1207 – Restaurant Nutrition Bill Only Mostly Dead

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After going down to a 48-48 defeat, HB 1207 was raised from the dead and passed on a 51-46 vote.

The bill requires a food establishment with 20 or more locations in Indiana to make certain nutritional information available to customers for each item or unit of food.

In particular, the following information must be made available:

(1) Total calories.
(2) Total fat in grams.
(3) Total saturated fat in grams.
(4) Total trans fat in grams.
(5) Total cholesterol in grams.
(6) Total sodium in milligrams.
(7) Total carbohydrates in grams.
(8) Total fiber in grams.
(9) Total sugars in grams.
(10) Total protein in grams.

If I’m reading it right, calories and carbs have to be immediately accessible on a menu. The rest can be in a separate document.

Immigration bill passes Senate

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Bill Ruthhart, writing for the Indianapolis Star, has an article about the passage of SB 580 concerning “unauthorized alien matters.” What struck me most about the article was the juxtaposition of these comments about the bill:

“This issue is not about the value of a human being. All human beings have value,” said Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, a co-author of the bill. “This is about national sovereignty and the rule of law.”

Opponents argued that immigration is a federal issue and that the state legislature should not intervene.

Presumably when Sen. Delph contemplates national sovereignty and the rule of law, he is thinking about maintaining the integrity of our borders and nationality. However, the nature of his opponents’ arguments suggests that Delph is not so concerned with the federalism aspect of national sovereignty and rule of law — when the federales preempt the states on an issue, the states can go suck eggs.

The divide on this issue is not strictly partisan. Of the 13 “no” votes in the Senate, 9 were Democrats and 4 were Republicans. The Democratically controlled House passed an immigration bill last year, but the House and Senate failed to reach a compromise. It has not been a priority of Governor Daniels who is wary of the business implications. The bill would suspend the state business license of businesses that knowingly, on three separate occasions, hire undocumented workers. It would also require all businesses to use the E-Verify system.

Senate Republicans Like Putting Stuff in the Constitution

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On a 34-15 vote, the Senate adopted a resolution that would enshrine budgetary rules for some of the toll road money in the Indiana Constitution. Lesley Stedman Weidenbener has an article on the move. Sen. Delph thinks the move is necessary to keep the money hungry paws of the Democrats off the money. Sen. Greg Taylor had a nice response:

Yesterday, Sen. Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis, said lawmakers made a number of commitments when they approved the toll road lease. If the trust fund is put into the constitution, then other promises should be as well, he said.

This goes along with efforts to make sure future generations have a tough time legislating equal rights to unmarried people – particularly, but not specifically, gay unmarried people. And of course, efforts to enshrine property tax caps in the state constitution; again making it harder for future generations to choose the best solution for the conditions of the time. It’s as if they are nervous about losing elections in the future.

Scrap Metal Purchaser/IMPD Employer Busted

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Vic Ryckaert, writing for the Indianapolis Star, reports on a police raid that I imagine will get ugly before too long. Police and federal agents raided OmniSource on allegations that it knowingly purchases stolen scrap metal. OmniSource also reportedly employs 51 Indianapolis police officers while they’re off duty, making them one of the largest of such part-time employers of police officers.

With that information, there has to be at least the suspicion that these officers are employed by OmniSource for the purpose of keeping the heat off. Whether that is in fact true is not known.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department began a covert investigation into OmniSource a year ago. On Monday morning, officers seized records and property from six locations: 2205 S. Holt; 850 S. Keystone; 2210 W. Oliver; 1212 E. 25th; 2115 S. West St.; and 2916 S. Bluff Road.
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High prices for aluminum, copper and other metal has driven the demand for scrap metal. Police say OmniSource officials knowingly purchased stolen copper, aluminum and other items, giving thieves an easy market for their stolen goods.

“This investigation is extremely important,” said IMPD Major Chris Boomershine. “This is a very large company.”

This might give a little bit more juice to SB 21 which passed the Senate on a 49-1 vote. That bill expands the requirements for scrap yards to include the source of the “valuable” metals they purchase and also to take a photograph of the person selling the metal. (In a bit of perhaps unwarranted self-congratulation, I’ll also note that the Senate committee amended the bill to change “scrap” metal to “valuable” metal, just as I had suggested when I looked at the introduced bill.)

Great Moments in WTF

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HB 1213 is the statewide smoking ban. Plenty of words have been, will be, and should be spent discussing whether this is good public policy or not. But I just wanted to take a second to point out a bizarre bit of statutory drafting in the bill. IC 7.1-5-12-0.5 would be added to the Indiana Code to make this part of the law of the land:

Sec. 0.5. Abstaining from tobacco use is preferred, encouraged, and supported over the use of tobacco. The dignity and value of an individual are not diminished if the individual chooses to use tobacco.

First – nice use of the passive voice. It’s very difficult to tell who is doing the preferring, encouraging, and supporting here. Second – “the dignity and value of an individual?” Really? What is this doing in the bill? Is the General Assembly doing some motivational speaking? “Just because you smoke, we don’t think you’re a bad person. You’re good enough. You’re smart enough. And, doggone it, people like you.”

This language was inserted on a voice vote on a second reading amendment offered by Rep. Thompson.

My main problem with the provision is that I don’t think it has any place in the legislation. Laws should primarily express the idea of who gets to do what to whom and under what circumstances. For this bill: “You don’t get to smoke and you don’t get to let others smoke in these places. If you do, consequences x, y, and z will follow.” As to the sentiment itself, I suppose I agree with it. The dignity and value of an individual aren’t diminished when they choose to use tobacco. The diminishment occurs when it stops being a choice and starts being an addiction.

The Bill That Must Be Passed

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Just thought I’d flag the first iteration I saw of the biennial propagation of the myth that there is some legal requirement that the budget bill be passed by the General Assembly. From Rep. Dennis Tyler via Muncie Free Press:

A state budget is the one bill that must be passed in a long session of the Indiana General Assembly.

Frequently enough, but not in Rep. Tyler’s particular case, there is the assertion that the General Assembly is Constitutionally required to pass the budget. As a practical matter, the state needs a budget and the General Assembly would be delinquent in its responsibilities if it failed to pass one, but as a legal matter, it is not mandatory for them to pass a budget bill.

HB 1468 – Puppy Mills

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The Associated Press has an article on the House passage of HB 1468 concerning puppy mills. The bill passed on an 81-14 vote. Whatever the legitimate concerns its opponents may have had, it would probably be tough for a legislator to vote against the bill after being confronted with images of “A pug with a missing eye. A shih tzu with fur so matted that it cut into its leg, which had to be amputated. A poodle that underwent a controversial medical procedure to prevent it from barking.”

The legislation would add requirements for commercial dog breeders, defined as those with adult dogs that produce 10 or more litters a year. Breeders would be limited to 30 adult dogs that are not spayed and neutered.

The bill also requires commercial breeders to provide dogs with sanitary conditions and an hour of exercise a day, and breeders could not hire staff members if they have been convicted of animal cruelty.

I’m a dog lover, and were I a religious person, I figure there’s a special place in hell for those who abuse dogs. So, if I were a legislator, I suspect I would have a hard time approaching the topic on a purely rational basis.

Budget Bill

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Mary Beth Schneider, writing for the Indianapolis Star, reports that the House may attempt to pass the budget bill as early as tomorrow. On second reading, the House Republicans attempted only one amendment to the bill. That amendment, which was apparently withdrawn before it was voted upon, would have stripped the bill of a provision allowing schools to use up to 5.5% of their capital projects funds for other purposes.

This year’s budget, as currently written, is odd in that it only provides for one year instead of the typical two year plan. The House Democrats have cited the current economic uncertainty as the reason.

HB 1266 – Notice for Provisional Ballots

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HB 1266 passed the House on a 51 – 47 vote. When a voter casts a provisional ballot, the voter would have to be informed orally and in writing with a form prescribed by the election commission the steps necessary to have the vote counted.

Within three days, the circuit court clerk (I’ll bet they’re thrilled about this) would have to mail the voter information about the following: (1) the reasons that the voter’s ballot is being treated as a provisional ballot; (2) what actions, if any, that the voter must take in order to have the voter’s ballot counted; (3) the deadline by which the voter must act to have the voter’s ballot counted; and (4) certain contact information that the provisional voter may use to find out about the provisional voter’s ballot.