The Indiana Senate today passed watered-down legislation that would create a committee to study a transit expansion in central Indiana over the summer.
Lawmakers then would consider legislation to expand mass transit in 2014.
Transit advocates had hoped to get their long-discussed and long-studied transit initiative through the Indiana General Assembly this year. That appears unlikely at this juncture, but efforts to revive it are likely to continue until the legislature adjourns April 29.
Prospects looked bright earlier this year. Transit advocates had buy-in from Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, Hamilton County suburban government leaders, plus hundreds of businesses and community organizations.
If the original legislation had passed, Marion and Hamilton counties planned to hold referendums in 2014 to double the size of IndyGo and add commuter transit between the two counties.
The House passed that proposal with bipartisan support. But once the measure moved to the Senate, it encountered problems. Indianapolis-area Republican Sens. Mike Young, Pat Miller, Michael Crider, Scott Schneider, Brent Waltz, Mike Delph and Jim Merritt had been split on the issue.
They decided that a summer study committee would be the best compromise. The Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee voted 12-0 April 2 to approve their plant to study the issue over the summer rather than approve legislation to expand transit.
The study committee will look at the scope and cost of the proposal, funding options and the proposed technologies.
The bill's author, Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, still plans to try to revive the full transit expansion in a conference committee of Senate and House lawmakers the next few weeks. But that seems unlikely given the politics on both sides of the aisle.
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