From the Indianapolis Star:
The Indiana General Assembly ended its 2013 legislative session early this morning after a marathon day of voting was capped by passage of a $30 billion two-year state budget.
That bill — a spending plan that returns more than $1 billion to taxpayers over four years — was hardly, though, the most contentious issue legislators dealt with on a final day of voting that began at 9 a.m. Friday and didn’t end until about 1:30 a.m. Saturday.
In between, they voted on expanding vouchers to use public dollars to send students to private schools; eliminated at-large council members in Marion County; gave a $100 million helping hand to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; gave tax breaks to Indiana’s gambling industry; and voted to require a closer regulatory look at the controversial Rockport coal-gasification plant.
And those were just the bills that got passed and advanced to the governor’s desk
Some, in the last frenetic hours of deal making, didn’t make the cut.
A bill that would have required some welfare recipients in Indiana to be tested for drugs died when the Senate balked at denying financial assistance to children if their drug-using parents lost benefits.
And the House pulled the plug on a sweeping measure the Senate had approved that would have made it a crime to take videos, photos, or any other action —including texting — while on private property if the intent was to harm a business’s reputation.
Early this morning, moments after legislators cheered as the 2013 session finally ended, House Speaker Brian Bosma, called the session “a tremendous success.”
He cited the budget which he argued funded priorities while also incorporating tax breaks. But, after two years in which the legislature had been embroiled in bitter partisan fights over labor union laws and education reforms, Bosma said that this year, the legislature changed its tone.
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And they did disagree, especially on many of the contentious issues that were decided on Friday.
Those included the budget, which the House passed 70-30 and the Senate approved 39-11, largely on party lines.
Republicans say the budget is balanced, funds priorities and gives more than $1 billion to taxpayers over four years through a mixture of corporate, income, inheritance and financial institutions tax cuts. The spending plan includes increased funding for roads, education and child services.
Gov. Mike Pence followed the budget vote in the legislative chambers from his office. The governor didn’t get the 10 percent income tax cut he championed for months, but the legislature did give him a 5 percent cut.
Afterward, he issued a statement praising what he called “one of the most civil and substantive sessions of our state legislature in recent memory.”
“We put together a budget that holds the line on spending, funds our priorities, saves for the future and still puts more money back in Hoosiers' pockets. It funds excellence in our schools, rewards outstanding teachers, and includes the first new money in a decade for local roads,” Pence said.
Democrats, though, called the session, and especially the budget, a missed opportunity, with tax cuts that mean more to the wealthy than the poor and education funding that leaves many schools with less than they got two years ago despite the overall increases.
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For months, lawmakers whose districts include casinos and racinos, joined by those who simply support the jobs and tax revenue gambling gives Indiana, have fought to expand Indiana law to help those businesses compete with out-of-state competition.
The goal: Live dealers for table games at the two racinos in Anderson and Shelbyville, and land-based casinos for the 11 riverboats.
What they got: Some tax breaks.
Supporters of adding the table games and land-based venues threw in their chips late Friday, accepting a deal that gave the tax breaks and little else. Senate Bill 528 passed the House 79-19 and the Senate by a vote of 39-11, sending the bill to Pence.
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Shortly before midnight Friday, the Senate voted 38-12 and the House voted 60-37 for a bill that gives the Indianapolis Motor Speedway a $100 million financial package to help pay for improvements at the iconic track at 16th Street and Georgetown Road.
Under changes that the House wanted, the $5 million the state gives annually for 20 years to the Speedway is considered a loan. The Speedway is required to pay $2 million annually, allowing for $7 million annually for bond payments, with the bonds handled by the Indiana Finance Authority.
The money – to pay for improved seating, video boards and lights that the track hopes will allow for more events – will be paid back through the growth in sales and income taxes at the track and at concessionaires that surround it. A ticket tax, which expires after 20 years, also will be imposed.
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See the full article here:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013304260094
