Church Blog

The 2012 General Assembly convened on Wednesday, January 4 but it felt like 2011 again. The Right to Work issue is again dominating the session and Democrat caucus in the House is again using a delaying tactic to keep the House of Representatives from conducting business. By denying a quorum this effectively stops the House from filing and moving bills along the process. Thus far, they have been able to stop HB 1001 Employee’s Right to Work from first reading and therefore from committee passing it for further consideration. But this will not stop the Labor Committee from taking testimony on the bill on Friday.
 
Meanwhile in the Senate, with a quorum proof majority of Republicans, is continuing with the process of filing bills and committee hearings. The Labor and Pensions Committee will conduct a joint meeting with the House to consider the Right to Work legislation; their version, SB 269, is identical to the House bill. There is no certainty as to when the standoff will end or in what manner. But, unlike last year, it is unlikely that there will be a concession to not move the bill. The leadership in the Senate and House, as well as the Governor, is committed to moving the bill. The Democrats are hoping that enough time may convince some of the Republican support to weaken. Stay tuned.
 
Another topic with high priority for the Governor and legislators is local government reform. This topic has been debated for a couple of sessions and it came close to passing last year. This year’s version, HB 1005 and SB 170, is much like last year’s end product; it focuses on nepotism and conflicts of interest and does not tackle the broader structural concern of townships and trustees. The bill prohibits employees from being officials of governing or executive bodies and provides for guidelines and disclosure regarding contracts with companies who are connected to local officials. The nepotism issue provides some exemptions for current employees and for the office of coroner and sheriff’s jail matron and trustees with offices in their home. HB 1005 was heard on Thursday but no vote was taken, despite a bi-partisan quorum. Most groups and persons testifying were supportive. There was concern expressed regarding the small, rural counties that do not have as many qualified persons to fill positions. Some wanted to allow each county/office to establish its own nepotism policy.
 
The delaying tactics may cause some changes in the short session calendar. But at this point all bills are expected to clear the first house by end of January. The session itself must end by March 15. The schedule limits the number of bills members can file and the number that will actually get a hearing. Not all bills are yet available. But, in addition to local government reform and right to work, we expect bills dealing with chemical abortions, child care tax credits, education polices, health care and charity gaming to name a few topics. The conference is already tracking around 50 bills, with more to come.
 
In addition to the Update, one can obtain more detailed information regarding the bills and detailed information about the legislative process through the ICC Legislative Action Center. Under “policy tools” click on “issues and legislation” and access the state or federal bills by clicking “current legislation”. Also, you can access the archived updates, ICC positions and other background information at the ICC web site, www.indianacc.org

Indiana Catholic Conference (ICC) is the public policy voice of the Catholic bishops in Indiana regarding state and national matters.