A Citizen's Guide to Indiana

Mary Beth Schneider reports for the Indy Star that House passes time change bill

A controversial bill to put all of Indiana on daylight-saving time survived today when the Indiana House, after earlier voting 50 to 49 against the legislation, came back after three Republicans changed their vote to pass it 51 to 47.

Ms. Schneider’s article did not specify which Republicans switched their vote on SB 127, so I went back to the roll call votes. Comparing the first vote with the second vote, I was able to determine that the flip-floppers were Representative Eric Gutwein (R-Rensselaer), Representative Don Lehe (R-Brookston), and Representative Richard McClain (R-Logansport).

I am sorry to report that all three of these individuals represent White County which is my county of residence. Bold move gentlemen. Over here relatively close to the Illinois border, I am not sure that decision is going to be at all popular. It’s pretty easy for a legislator over in Richmond to vote for this bill — it just puts you more in line with neighboring Ohio. But, closer to Illinois — not to mention the Central Time Zone counties of Jasper and Newton, I’d figure there would be a greater chance of having to pay a political price.

The Indy Star has an article entitled Time change bill faces deadline. Today is the last day for bills to clear the second chamber of the General Assembly. After this, there will be a couple of weeks for conference committees to hammer out differences between House and Senate versions of bills. So, if DST doesn’t pass today, it’s pretty much dead for the season — unless the Senate does something really unprecedented with its rules, and I don’t foresee Senator Garton messing with Senate Rules for much of anything, let alone something relatively insignificant like Daylight Saving time.

The Indy Star suggests that the 5 counties in southeastern Indiana observing Eastern Daylight Time are doing so in violation of federal law:

Meanwhile, five counties in southeastern Indiana, despite federal law, observe daylight-saving time on their own so that their clocks can be aligned with Ohio and Kentucky.

I’m not sure that’s the case. As I mentioned earlier, I suspect those counties were grandfathered in by Pub.L. 89-387 passed in 1966 which allowed political subdivisions observing Daylight Saving Time in 1966 to continue doing so regardless of what the rest of the state did. If Ohio, Clark, Dearborn, Floyd, and Harrison Counties were observing Daylight Saving Time in 1966, it is o.k. for them to continue doing so even if the rest of Indiana does not. (On the other hand, rereading that provision it could be that such political subdivisions were only allowed to observe DST in 1966 and that those 5 counties have been observing DST illegally since 1967. Maybe if anyone has been defaulted for showing up to court late in those counties, they could petition to have their judgment set aside on the grounds that they were merely keeping time in accord with federal law.)

Niki Kelly, writing for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has an article on Mitch Daniels tenure so far entitled Daniels hits legislative bumps. She gets the assessment of various legislators as well as a Ball State political science professor of Governor Daniels performance so far.

He is drawing praise for his accessibility and leadership, but being criticized for his inclination to micromanage the General Assembly and not fully understanding the power of his pulpit.

One of his major blunders, according to Rep. Win Moses (D-Fort Wayne), was being out of the state in the final, critical days of the first half of the session. Had he been at work in the State House, he could have brokered a deal and resolved the standoff between House Democrats and House Republicans which ultimately led to the death of over a hundred bills. Then, due to his political inexperience, he regarded the setback not as the bump in the road it was but as “the road caving in” and came unhinged, tagging Democrats with terrorist buzzwords.

On the other hand, Moses gives the Governor praise for “extraordinary leadership” on the Colts stadium issue once legislators and the mayor of Indianapolis seemed backed into their corners. (Of course, Moses’ compliment was decidedly mixed: “I would consider his high point in this session the way he has helped Indianapolis – in his own unique power-grabbing way,” Moses said.)

One of the other main beefs with Daniels are his attempts at power grabs: “That includes trying to procure appointments on local airport boards, taking control of the stadium project from the Indianapolis Capital Improvements Board and asking all boards and commission members to resign.”

The flip-side of that has been an ambition that has generally been regarded as positive even if not always effective. Part of the reason the agenda for changing Indiana’s fiscal structure hasn’t been successful is the entrenched nature of the Senate. The Republican Senate has helped pass budgets for the past 16 years:

No doubt the governor feels very deeply about being an agent of change for Indiana, but he doesn’t understand that our legislature is very well entrenched. We’ve had budgets under Democrats, but all 16 years there was a Republican Senate,” said Ball State University political science professor Raymond Scheele.

“A lot of what he criticizes they helped pass. They’ve got a stake in the current tax structure and the way it is assembled, and the governor is trying to change all that. It is not going to change as rapidly as he thought at first.

Daniels’ accessibility to legislators has also been notable. But, being one of those rare Governors to have the good fortune to have both chambers of the General Assembly controlled by his party, that accessibility hasn’t meant as much as it could because he does not have much incentive to compromise.

The Ball State political science professor, Raymond Scheele, called it a “rocky start” but the Journal Gazette noted Daniels’ 55% approval rating in a recent central Indiana poll.

The Evansville Courier Press has an editorial on the demise of school vouchers in this year’s General Assembly. Their take: generally supportive of vouchers, but given the state’s financial situation, this isn’t the time to spend money on experiments.

In another year, in another era of school funding, a good argument might be made for a voucher program such as the one that received serious consideration from the Legislature this year. But it was ill-timed, considering everything else under consideration for public schools. Indeed, with the current state funding crisis, a perfect storm appears to be bearing down on large urban districts such as the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corp. The voucher proposal might have merit, but in the context of everything else headed for the EVSC and similar districts, it amounted to piling on.

. . .
[The voucher bill] would have allowed parents of children in schools that are not meeting the standards of No Child Left Behind to transfer their children to other schools, including private schools. The money that public school would have received from the state for that child would have followed the child to the private school, further cutting the funds going into public schools.

The Indy Star had a pretty blistering editorial about the House GOP’s refusal to allow a floor vote on Mayor Peterson’s pet legislation designed to consolidate Indianapolis/Marion County government, lower taxes, and build a more efficient government. The House GOP, you may recall, was the group who waxed sanctimonious about how evil the House Democrats were for blocking floor votes when they boycotted a couple of session days. The Star’s editorial is entitled House GOP must get out of the way.

Republicans like to claim they stand for lower taxes and smaller government. You wouldn’t know it by looking at the Indiana House.

Republican leaders in that august body are refusing to allow a vote on legislation that would help Marion County build a more efficient government and avoid higher taxes.

The only logical explanation for the stubbornness is a bad case of partisan politics. The most visible champion of local government consolidation is a Democrat — Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson. And House Republican leaders dislike Peterson more than they detest higher taxes and inefficient government.

Personally, I’m a political realist. Blocking votes on legislation is part of the game, and, since, on the whole, that means fewer laws and regulations, I regard it as a positive. But, the House GOP banged “THE PEOPLE OF INDIANA DESERVE A VOTE!” drum pretty hard when the House Dems walked off the floor. Hypocrisy bugs me more than additional laws. I don’t really know anything about the IndyWorks legislation, so I don’t really have a position on whether it is meritorious.

Senate Bill 0268

Prohibits the state, a state educational institution, or a political subdivision of the state from using resources to knowingly participate in human cloning activities. Requires the state department of health to revoke the license of a hospital that knowingly allows human cloning activities. Requires the medical licensing board to revoke the license of a physician who knowingly participates in human cloning. Allows Indiana University to establish an adult stem cell research center. Defines adult stem cell and fetal stem cell and states that these types of stem cell research are not included in the definition of cloning. Makes: (1) the unlawful participation in; (2) the implantation of or the attempt to implant the product of; and (3) the shipment or receipt of the product of; human cloning a Class D felony. Makes the purchase or sale of a human ovum, zygote, embryo, or fetus a Class C felony.

Passed 80-15.

Cloning is defined as: “the use of asexual reproduction to create or grow a human embryo from a single cell or cells of a genetically identical human.” The definition excludes certain reproductive treatments and certain types of stem cell research, including “embryonic stem cells from lines that are permissible for use under applicable federal law.” (I could well be mistaken, but my understanding is that certain types of stem cell lines are impermissible to research with federal funding, but otherwise permissible. Does Indiana’s provision refer to stem cell research permissible with federal funding or to the broader set permissible under federal law?) “Human embryo” is defined as a human egg cell with a full genetic composition capable of differentiating and maturing into a complete human being. (The legal definition here seems more sweeping than the medical definition. The legal definition here seems to encompass a zygote (fertilized egg) and a blastocyst (a small ball of cells as well as an embryo and a fetus.)

When I hear that there is a ban on “human cloning” I think, “Oh, scientists can’t offer to go around creating another ‘Doug’. Much as the world would benefit from an abundance of Dougs, that doesn’t sound like bad public policy. But, this bill sounds like it may have broader limitations on scientific research. I’ll try to check with Masson’s Blog’s unofficial medical consultant and see what his take is.

Senate Bill 0092

Makes it a Class D felony for an operator of an Internet site to knowingly or intentionally use the Internet to engage in unlawful or professional gambling. Provides that if the operator makes the Internet gambling transaction available to a person in Indiana, the operator thereby submits to Indiana’s jurisdiction. Passed 73-22.

I’m not overly troubled by this bill in particular, I guess; but I do worry about bills like this. For example, I am worried that some state could say that it is illegal for a person to engage in political speech over the Internet without disclosing this or that under the state’s election law and that by making my political speech available over the Internet, I submit to the jurisdiction of that state. And, suddenly I get a summons in the mail. That doesn’t seem quite right.