The House passed HB 1001 and HB 1002 by votes of 97-2 and 61-38, respectively. HB 1001 had to do with lobbying and ethics, and HB 1002 had to do with preferences for Indiana companies in public works projects.
In case you were curious, the two “no” votes against HB 1001 were Tim Brown (R-Crawfordsville) and Dave Wolkins (R-Winona Lake).
The House also passed HJR 1, which takes the property tax cap law that’s already in place and enshrines it in the Constitution for future generations to enjoy regardless of whether it ends up being good policy or not. The resolution passed by a vote of 75 – 23. If it passes the Senate, which it probably will, then it will be up to The People to vote. Perhaps I underestimate the attentiveness of my fellow Hoosiers, but when it comes time to vote on this, I’d be surprised if 1/2 the people casting votes do so with the understanding that these tax caps are already the law; it will save them exactly nothing in property taxes – at least in the near term; and all they will be doing is make things harder to fix if the Law of Unintended Consequences rears its ugly head. But, I guess if you get to campaign on being Tough on Taxes, it’s all worth it.
Update Abdul has published an excerpt from a letter sent by the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns to legislators. It responds to legislators who claimed that local officials didn’t “make the case” forcefully enough against Constitutionalizing property tax caps. What that seems to mean is that the locals didn’t provide enough political cover for legislators to vote against this block of text making its way into our Constitution.
Doug:
I am tired of your analysis. It makes too much sense and seems to give the population in general zero credit. An accurate assessment. I mean really, who ever said you get what you pay for?
Ugh.. once again we’ll rue the day this HJR passes – and with a Constitutional amendment, it will take forever to overturn it.