Statehouse Leadership Previews Upcoming Session
By Eric Berman
11/16/2009

The partisan divide in Washington over health care reform is echoing at the statehouse.

Legislative leaders are split over what a health care bill similar to the one which passed the U.S. House might do to Indiana's budget. Senate President Pro Tem David Long (R-Fort Wayne) says he's "scared to death" Congress will dump huge increases in Medicaid spending onto state governments.

"I hope the message is sent and heard in Washington that you can't get away with claiming you're not having a negative and sour economic impact on your home state just because you didn't raise federal taxes," Long says.

Senate Minority Leader Vi Simpson (D-Bloomington) responds people are already paying for the uninsured through their insurance premiums, to the tune of an average thousand dollars per person. She's reserving judgment on the bill, noting there's no way to tell how much of the House bill will survive into a final version. But she says the nation has a health-care crisis it needs to address.

Long, Simpson and their state House counterparts, Speaker Patrick Bauer (D-South Bend) and Minority Leader Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis), spoke at the Indiana Chamber's annual legislative preview luncheon, a day before the ceremonial first day of the new legislative session. The General Assembly's work begins in earnest in January.

Leaders in both parties repeated their support for Republican Governor Mitch Daniels' decision to make deep spending cuts to compensate for tax collections that have fallen more than $300 million short of expectations so far this fiscal year. Simpson cautions it's too soon to assume the budget will remain in the doldrums -- she says she's hopeful the end of the recession and the approach of the holiday shopping season will bring a long-awaited turnaround, after 13 straight months of lower-than-expected revenue.

Bauer again declined to commit to allowing a vote on a constitutional amendment to make the state's property tax caps permanent. He says the fact some tax bills are still rising even with the caps in effect suggests the limit of one-percent of a home's value may not be the right way to draw up the proposal.

Long says it's critical to pass the caps in 2010 to avert a constitutional challenge to the existing ceilings, and to force budget action by cities and counties who may have been putting it off while they wait to see what the legislature will do.

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