Masson's Blog
The General Assembly has adjourned sine die.
The Legislative Services Agency has made a handy Enrolled Act Summary (PDF) available. It contains the Bill Number, the Action taken by the Governor, the Effective Date of the bill, and a short description.
Senate Bill 0218 So far, the conference committee version seems to have been passed by the Senate 36-13 but no action has been taken by the House.
Provides that evidence of failure to comply with the laws concerning safety belt use may be admitted as evidence in a civil action to reduce damages for injury to a person who is at least 15 years of age at the time of the accident, and may limit the liability of an insurer. Provides that the defendant has the burden of establishing that use of a safety belt would have reduced injuries. Provides that if evidence that the plaintiff failed to comply with the laws concerning seat belt safety is admitted in a civil action, a court shall admit evidence that: (1) a driver who is a defendant was intoxicated at the time of the accident; or (2) a defendant caused or contributed to the accident in violation of Indiana law. Requires certain expert testimony to establish that a plaintiff failed to comply with the safety belt law. Requires a defendant to plead an affirmative defense if the defendant asserts that a plaintiff failed to comply with the safety belt law. Permits damages to be reduced by not more than 4% arising from a cause of action involving an accident in which a plaintiff failed to comply with the safety belt law. Requires a court to issue certain instructions to a jury concerning damage reductions and to furnish a specific jury form if evidence was submitted to the jury to prove that a plaintiff failed to comply with the safety belt law.
Senate Bill 0049 This bill attempts to prohibit the use of spyware, and creates a civil cause of action against the person who committed the prohibited act. It also establishes venue for the criminal trial of someone who commits a criminal act involving the use of the Internet.
Senate Bill 0001 Tax incentives. Requires a personal property tax abatement filing to be accomplished by filing a schedule rather than an application; and states that the abatement applies in the amount claimed unless denied by the assessor. Changes the appeal procedure for a denied or altered deduction in an economic revitalization area (ERA). Changes the deadline for updating a statement of benefits for ERA deduction. Establishes a property tax investment deduction. Expands professional auto racing tax exemptions. Grants a number of research and development tax incentives. Increases venture capital investment tax credits.
House Bill 1365 Local Government. Specifies the conditions under which a county fiscal body can change the compensation for a newly elected county office holder. Allows township governments to merge upon the adoption of identical resolutions by the township boards (presented to the township boards by the township trustees) and an ordinance by the county legislative body. Allows merged township governments to dissolve the merged government and be reestablished as separate governments upon adoption of an ordinance by the county legislative body. Allows a Sheriff to charge a $200 administrative fee for conducting a Sheriff’s sale in foreclosure.
House Bill 1141 on Superior Courts passed. But the procedure seems a bit odd. The House passed a bill, the Senate amended it and passed that bill. The Senate version creates one new superior court in Dearborn County, DeKalb County, Hamilton County, Howard County, and Montgomery County and creates two new superior courts in Hendricks County. Adds an eighth judge to the Monroe circuit court on January 1, 2006 and a ninth judge to the Monroe circuit court on January 1, 2008. Hendricks County is permitted to add a magistrate.
The House dissented from the Senate amendments and threw it into Conference Committee. The Conference Committee report added provisions concerning aggressive driving and criminal recklessness. It also allowed a magistrate in Madison County and Perry County and added a fifth judge to the Vigo County superior court. The Senate passed the conference committee report 48-0 only to have the House change its mind about dissenting from the Senate’s amendments and the House went ahead and passed the bill as it came out of the Senate.
The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has an editorial entitled A taxing review. Amidst numerous caveats warning about fine print and apple/orange comparisons, the Journal Gazette cites reports that show Hoosiers get off pretty lightly on their taxes, particularly compared to neighboring states and that, from a tax perspective, Indiana has one of the more pro-business structures.
Indiana ranks 29th in per capita taxes paid with an average of $1,916 per person in state taxes. (Compared to Hawaii’s high of $3,048, Texas’ low of $1,367, and neighboring Michigan at 11th with $2,379 per person.) The editorial also notes that the conservative Tax Foundation ranks Indiana as the 12th best business tax climate in the country, despite Governor Daniels’ insistence that Indiana’s business climate wasn’t conducive to job creation. (Clearly, now Hoosiers will have employers banging down their doors with jobs since we’re going to fiddle with our clocks.) With respect to business tax climate Ohio ranked 29th, Michigan was 36th, Illinois was 23rd and Kentucky ranked 44th.
The backdrop of a biennial state budget adoption is an appropriate
setting for a review of state tax burden – a review that shows Hoosiers
don’t fare as poorly as they might suspect. On a per-capita basis,
Indiana ranks behind 29 other states in the amount residents pay in
state taxes.
Representative Frankenst . . . errr . . . Bosma, with the assistance of Rep. John Ulmer (R-Goshen) and Rep. Troy Woodruff (R-Vincennes) has brought DST back to life. In an article entitled, House passes daylight-saving time bill, Mary Beth Schneider and Kevin Corcoran report that the vote stood at 48 to 49 against Daylight Saving Time with opponents calling for Bosma to close the voting. He didn’t. Reps. Ulmer and Woodruff were prevailed upon to renege on their vote, and Rep. Bosma immediately closed the vote once he got the result he wanted. Democracy in action. Presumably the villagers with the torches and the pitchforks will show up at the next election.
The roll call vote is here. I see that Rep. Lehe (R-Brookston) switched his vote from Yea to Nay. As you recall, he could have killed it on the first go around, but voted “yea” and kept it alive long enough to go to the Senate. Reps. Gutwein and McClain stuck with their flip-flops.
The Star has some related articles:
Update 4/29/05 8:38 p.m. (HST): The Evansville Courier Press has an article that makes it sound like Rep. Woodruff (R-Vincennes) wasn’t happy in his role as the final flip-flop necessary to pass Daylight Saving Time. Some quotes:
House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, then held the vote tally board open for several minutes as arms were twisted.
Finally Woodruff flipped, casting the 51st, tie-breaking vote. The measure passed 51-46. Woodruff repeatedly had said in recent weeks that he would not support the measure because Eastern Daylight Time is not popular in his district.
When Woodruff’s vote came on the board, Bosma immediately closed the machines and supporters cheered. Several Republicans patted Woodruff on the back and when reporters approached, he was immediately ushered into the Bosma’s office with the doors closed.
Gov. Mitch Daniels’ chief of staff entered, as did the House Republican campaign director. After a few minutes, an ashen Woodruff emerged to talk to reporters.
“It became pretty obvious to me that this had become a partisan issue,” Woodruff said. One Democrat who supported the bill in the Thursday morning vote switched to no and a few other Democrats who were soft supporters voted no.
Woodruff said with a shaking voice that the supporters said the measure could bring new jobs to the state.
“People in my district certainly don’t know that there’s any value in it,” Woodruff said. “I’m trying to move the state forward. Some things are more important than re-election. And I think this is one of those issues.”
When asked why he would vote with his party, but against what he had said his district wanted, Woodruff said, “At the end of the day, I’m going to have to explain this vote to my constituents. If you can’t explain why you did something one way or the other, then you probably shouldn’t have done it.”
Passed House Conference Committee Report, Senate Bill 0498 This Conference Committee report, passed by the House but still pending before the Senate allows a county or municipality to provide for penalties of up to $7,500 for a second violation of an ordinance (the first violation remains capped at $2,500). This does not apply to a parking or traffic violation. Also, it allows the county or municipality to provide for community service in lieu of the defendant paying a fine. Community service has to be by agreement of the defendant and the county or municipal attorney and has to be in writing. The fine would be assessed if the defendant failed to abide by the community service agreement.