Senators defeat measures aimed at restructuring local government
By Mary Beth Schneider
mary.beth.schneider@indystar.com
Gov. Mitch Daniels' hopes of eliminating townships and otherwise restructuring local government suffered multiple blows Wednesday, as several bills he supported were gutted or defeated in Indiana Senate committees.
Advocates of the reforms blamed the setbacks on an entrenched political network in which lawmakers protect their friends in township government. Critics hailed the legislative defeats as a victory for maintaining decentralized government that is closest to the public.
Among the victims:
Bills to do away with township government, including one focused on Marion County. But senators passed amendments that would ban the future hiring of township officials' relatives and would require township budgets -- typically fat with reserves that vastly exceed the budgets -- to be reviewed by county councils.
A bill to consolidate smaller school districts was pulled from consideration without a vote.
A proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate some county offices as constitutionally required was voted down.
Daniels has made the reforms a centerpiece of his second term, and this week he went on the road to try to build support for them with former Gov. Joe Kernan, who was co-chairman of a commission that recommended the restructuring.
On Wednesday, Kernan's office had no comment about the township bills other than to say it would continue to monitor them.
But Daniels was sharp in his criticism of the votes of two Republicans -- Sens. Jim Buck of Kokomo and Sue Landske of Cedar Lake -- who joined four Democrats in voting against the constitutional amendment.
"I'll make no comment about Democrats all voting against reform, but when it comes to two members of my party, I'm disappointed in them and embarrassed for them. We'll try again next year," Daniels said in a statement.
Marilyn Schultz, a former Democratic state representative now leading the reform effort at mysmartgov.org, said her group is "profoundly disappointed the township bill was so gutted."
"There's a reason why things haven't changed for the last 150 years, since we've known it was a problem," Schultz said of Indiana government. "It's very entrenched local politics and it's the good ol' boy-girl network at its very strongest."
But she and other supporters of the reforms said they haven't given up hope that the issues can be resurrected before this session ends April 29.
She also pointed to a couple of successes:
Senate Bill 506, which passed 30-19, would set up a process for counties (other than Marion and Lake) to move to a single county executive or a board of supervisors, unless voters choose otherwise.
Senate Bill 452, which bars a local government employee from serving on his or her own unit's elected body, passed 32-18.
Those bills, and any hope of reviving the other reforms, would need to clear the Democrat- controlled House. But the odds of that don't appear good.
House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, repeated what he has said all session: Lawmakers' focus must be on job creation in light of the economic downturn.
He said he would review the bills that pass the Senate but added, "They spent an awful lot of time over there (in the Senate) on those bills and really came up with very little."
Sen. Connie Lawson, the Danville Republican who had fought to eliminate township government in Senate Bill 512, said she was disappointed at having to gut her own bill as the only way to keep the issue moving in the legislature.
"The township bill is still alive. It might be floundering, but it's still alive," Lawson said. "Whatever progress we can make is a step in the right direction."
The Senate Local Government Committee she leads rebuffed her suggested compromise to keep townships but eliminate their boards.
In the end, Lawson had to settle for simply barring nepotism in future hires -- though current employees who are related to township officials can keep their jobs -- and with having county councils review and approve township budgets.
Under that compromise, councils would examine the cash reserves of townships if they exceed 10 percent of their budgets to at least question whether the surplus should be spent before taxpayers are asked for more.
That issue recently was highlighted by The Indianapolis Star in a story that found Indiana's 1,008 townships are sitting on $200 million of reserves, about 10 times their annual budgets. For some townships, the reserves amounted to hundreds of times more than their budgets.
Lawson blamed the defeat in large part on a lack of political will.
"There's only so much political will a legislator is willing to expend," she said. "It's difficult to change because we know the people who are operating our township governments. It's always difficult to put aside personalities."
Sen. Teresa Lubbers, R-Indianapolis, said she remains optimistic that one reform -- SB 521, consolidating the administration of smaller school districts -- could be revisited, if not this session, then next year.
From The Indianapolis Star
February 19, 2009