3/14/2009: Please keep reminding your elected public servants that the General Assembly needs to pass NOW the constitutional property tax caps in Senate Joint Resolution 1. You need to contact your State Representative, your State Senator, House Speaker Pat Bauer, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Crawford. Contact information can be found at http://www.finplaneducation.net/general_assembly_ratings.htm.
House Speaker Bauer has assigned SJR 1 to the Indiana House Ways and Means Committee. Subject to the intricacies of Indiana House Rules, there are three ways to get SJR 1 out of the House Ways and Means Committee to the floor of the House for a vote.
(1) SJR 1 can be passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee in time for a third reading no later than April 15. For SJR 1 to be considered like any other important bill, Speaker Bauer and Chairman Crawford would have to have a change of heart where they give working families the same respect they give single-interest property tax spenders. SJR 1 has been denied a Committee hearing because of false claims that it is necessary to wait a year to get more information about property tax cap effects. This delaying tactic was negated by the updated report issued on January 5, 2009, by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency that details the impact of property tax caps for every local government unit. If SJR 1 ends up being voted out of the House Ways and Means Committee, Chairman Crawford as the House sponsor of SJR 1 will still have to "call down" SJR 1 for both second reading amendments and a third reading vote on the House floor.
(2) Any State Representative can make a motion to suspend House Rule #85 and call SJR 1 back to the House from the Ways and Means Committee. The motion must be seconded by 51 State Representatives and 67 votes are required to pass the motion. In the current political environment, what this means is that 6 House Democrats must join 46 House Republicans to get the motion seconded, and 21 House Democrats are needed to pass the motion. It is unlikely that so many House Democrats will defy Speaker Bauer to champion the cause of working families.
(3) The House Rules and Legislative Procedures Committee can pass a recommendation to suspend House Rule #85 and call SJR 1 back to the House from the Ways and Means Committee. The House may adopt the Committee recommendation by a vote of 51 State Representatives. If needed to pass SJR 1 on the April 29 last session day, 67 State Representatives can vote to use House Rule #83 to suspend the constitutional rule requiring a bill to be read on three separate meeting days. Because the Rules and Legislative Procedures Committee is controlled by Speaker Bauer, the best chance for SJR 1 passage this session is for Speaker Bauer to use this Committee to get SJR 1 to the House floor for a last-minute vote as part of a legislative compromise.
Governor Mitch Daniels, with the assistance of Senate Republicans, will have an opportunity at the end of this General Assembly session to reach a Taxpayer Friendly Compromise with Speaker Bauer. The Taxpayer Friendly Compromise should include passage of SJR 1 in return for accepting one of Speaker Bauer's legislative priorities (such as using some of the state's reserve funds in the next budget).
Hoosiers who value two-party Statehouse politics, or Hoosiers who identify with the Democratic Party, must convince Democrat leaders that it is good politics to allow an Indiana House vote this session on SJR 1. If there is no SJR 1 vote this year - no matter what is done next year - fully 60% of Hoosiers voting for State Representatives in 2010 will label Indiana Democrats as the party that opposes a fair and affordable state and local tax burden. No amount of campaign contributions from single-interest property tax spenders will be able to change this perception. Presidential politics was the tipping point that kept the Democratic Party in control of the Indiana House this year. There will be no presidential politics in 2010 to skew Statehouse election outcomes, and more 2010 Indiana House races will resemble the 2008 District 45 election than the 2008 District 89 outcome. The 2010 Indiana House election is particularly important because the next General Assembly will be responsible for redistricting. If House Democrat leaders block SJR 1 passage this year, enough House Democrats will be doomed to 2010 reelection failure that a Republican House will redistrict Indiana Democrats into irrelevance for the next decade!
APATHY IS NOT AN OPTION! You must ACT NOW if the constitutional property tax caps in Senate Joint Resolution 1 are to be saved! Otherwise, the single-interest property tax spenders will win and we will soon have NO property tax relief to show for the latest statewide sales tax increase. The constitutional property tax caps in SJR 1 are necessary for a more fair and affordable working family tax burden.
From Watchdog Indiana