Legislative “To Do” List
Now that the 362-kilogram gorilla in the room known as the marriage amendment has moved on, we can now turn our attention to issues that actually matter.
And believe me, there are still quite a few of them to work out and there’s less than 30 days to go in this session.
Lawmakers still have to figure out what to do with the reduction/elimination of the business personal property tax. Governor Mike Pence says he supports giving replacement revenue to local governments if they lose it under the Senate plan, however Senators are expressing no desire to pony up the cash.
Someone needs to make a decision as to whether there will be any dollars for early childhood education vouchers for low-income families.
A law authorizing a referendum for mass transit in Central Indiana needs to be passed.
Someone has to do something about whether the state will stay with Common Core or adopt higher standards that won’t compromise Hoosier kids’ abilities to succeed when it comes to the ACT and SAT.
There’s a criminal code that still needs to be reformed and money to be found for community corrections.
We have to figure out if drug testing for welfare recipients is a good idea as well as limit the types of food folks on government assistance can buy with our tax dollars.
And those are just a handful. There are quite a few other issues out there.
To be fair, lawmakers have been dealing with them, it’s just that HJR-3 has gotten all the attention. Luckily now that it won’t see the light of day until next session, and I doubt it will see it even then, items that actually improve the lives of Hoosiers can take center stage.
