INDIANAPOLIS —— With the 2008 legislative session under way, now would be a good time to look at the unique nature of a short session for the Indiana General Assembly, since it is crucial to our consideration of property tax relief and other major issues.
A short session, which takes place every even-numbered year, must be completed within 29 calendar days. Since the Legislature doesn't meet every day of the year, those 29 days are spread out over the next two-and-a-half months. The actual deadline for completion of our work is March 14.
In other words, we have half the time to conduct legislative business in a short session than is available to us in a long session. That change is most obviously reflected in the various deadlines for action that House members face.
The deadline for filing bills in the House is Tuesday (January 15). Since each representative can file only five bills in a short session, we will be able to consider a maximum number of 500 bills this year. Many times the final count is far less than 500.
Compared to a long session, when it is common that more than 1,000 bills are filed in the House alone, that 500 bill limit in a short session certainly sounds more manageable. However, here is where a compressed time schedule begins to take its toll.
House committees must complete action on House bills by January 24. With less than two weeks to handle bills, many of these proposals will fall by the wayside, simply because there isn't enough time.
And with the third reading deadline to complete all work on House bills set for January 30, that means we have less than three weeks to complete debate and take votes on some form of property tax relief for Hoosier families.
This schedule shows the need for starting work on the governor's tax relief plan, which is contained in House Bill 1001. This week, members of the House Ways and Means Committee conducted their third and fourth public hearings on the legislation, giving residents of the Fort Wayne and South Bend areas a chance to make their feelings known.
Can we complete action on property tax relief in the next three weeks? The people of Indiana are demanding that something should be done, and I sense there is a willingness on both sides of the aisle to provide more relief.What I cannot do is predict how this schedule will affect those issues that might gain more attention in other legislative sessions.
Although we have not reached the deadline for filing bills in the House, an early look at the legislation that has been put up for consideration shows a number of proposals that offer tax breaks of varying kinds, ranging from creation of a yearly "holiday" that enables people to pay for items without paying a sales tax (House Bill 1039) to a property tax freeze for seniors making less than $30,000 per year (House Bill 1018).
It is difficult to believe that the Legislature will have time to fully consider the extensive government reform proposals offered by the commission led by Indiana Chief Justice Randall Shepard and former Gov. Joe Kernan, but some lawmakers want to give it a try. It is more likely that these proposals will be examined by a legislative study committee this summer.
But there are many other worthy topics that might not get the chance to become law in 2008. Several bills would place additional restrictions on smoking in public places in Indiana. One such measure (House Bill 1056) would penalize anyone who smokes in a vehicle with a passenger less than 13 years of age. Another bill in the Indiana Senate would mandate the use of "fire-safe" cigarettes that extinguish on their own if left unattended.
With so many proposals on the table, and so little time to consider them, it will be hard to keep track of everything that can come up this session. I encourage you to contact me whenever you have questions about particular bills or want to register your opinions on issues before the Legislature.
You can reach me by calling the toll-free Statehouse telephone number of 1-800-382-9842, emailing me, or writing to me in care of the Indiana House of Representatives, 200 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204.
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