From the Muncie Star-Press:
For the first time, legislation opening the door for an expanded mass transit system in central Indiana, including Delaware County, has cleared both houses of the General Assembly.
The House voted 52-47 on Monday in favor of Senate Bill 176, which would allow Delaware, Hamilton, Hancock, Johnson, Madison and Marion counties to raise income taxes — with voter approval — to help fund an expanded mass transit system.
Last month, the bill passed the Senate on a 28-20 vote. Still, differences remain between the House and Senate versions.
The Senate wants the business community to cover 10 percent of the expanded system’s operating costs via a corporate income or employment tax. The House wants to give counties the option of developing a light rail system in addition to bus service.
Despite those disagreements, Rep. Jerry Torr, the Carmel Republican who sponsored the bill in the House, thinks the two chambers can reach a compromise.
“I’m pretty confident at this point that we’ll work out our differences,” he said.
Indianapolis-area mass transit advocates have tried for at least three years to get similar legislation through the General Assembly.
This year’s measure will now go to conference committee, where House and Senate appointees will try to meld their two bills.
The legislation that emerges from that process will then go back to both chambers for a final vote.
Over the coming days, conference committee members will try to compromise with the other chamber without shedding too many votes in their own.
That tension was already on display during Monday’s floor debate in the House.
Rep. Mike Speedy, R-Indianapolis, worried about the level of risk to taxpayers, especially if counties are allowed to fund light rail, which has experienced major cost overruns in other cities.
“If we don’t understand those risks,” he said, “how can we expect the public to understand them?”
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http://www.thestarpress.com/viewart/20140305/NEWS01/303050026/Local-referendum-could-come-from-transit-bill
