Republican Leadership Owes Us An Explanation

Republican Leadership Owes Us An Explanation

by Gail Riecken, CCO Statehouse Editor

Gov.Eric Holcomb just released the date and tentative agenda for the upcoming Special Session.

There are five bills on the May 14th agenda, according to TheStatehouseFiles. There are four bills that the legislature did not pass before the Mach 14th deadline, bills that the Governor and Majority wanted passed, and a technical corrections bill.

One bill is a school safety bill with an appropriations/advance of monies; another empowers the state to eliminate the school board of a school-in-stress and replace it with state appointed manager; another, a takeover of a Muncie school by Ball State and a multimillion dollar loan from the state to the school; another waves state taxes for software delivered over the internet; and, finally, another aligns the state’s tax code for changes in the IRS code.

Seems like a lot was left on the table during regular session. So, I have a question. If these were so important, why didn’t they pass?

And, if these are timely and need to be passed this year, why cannot these bills be written to include a retroactive clause to some previous date and then passed at the legislature’s Organization Day, already scheduled for November? There would not be any extra expenses and the work would be done this year.

The Governor has the right to call a Special Session.  The Indiana Constitution, Article 4 Section 9 states “In the Opinion of the Governor, the public welfare shall require it, he may, at any time by proclamation, call a special session.  Special Sessions should be held for the public welfare when it is required.”

But, there are compromises that should be addressed.

First, there is an official legislative process in the Indiana Constitution that ensures a bill is properly vetted. That process will be aborted in Special Session now that the Governor has called for bills to be passed in one day.

Indiana Constitution Article 4-Section 18 states “Every Bill shall be read, by title, on three several days in each house unless in case of emergency, 2/3rds of the house where such bills be pending shall by a vote of yeas and nays, deem it expedient to dispense with this rule; but the reading of a bill, by title, on its final passage shall, in no case, be dispensed with; and the vote on the passage of every bill or joint resolution shall be taken by yeas and nays and it must be expedited.”

To initiate any vote on bills during a special session that lasts less than 3 days, it is required that 2/3rds of the total House membership, that is Sixty-Seven people (67) must vote to suspend this rule. With 70 members of the House and 41 members of the Senate the majority party can do this without any debate or discussion.

Second, included in the official legislative process is the extremely important opportunity for the public to comment. However, Republican leadership does not feel there is time for the public to comment in order to get everything done in a day.

Moreover, any advocacy efforts are going to be difficult.  If you want to talk with your legislator about one of the bills, there is little time for you and me to even review the bills. The official text of the bills won’t be posted publicly until April 30, just two weeks before they are voted.

Leadership owes us an explanation of their position. They are granted the option of a Special Session by law through the Governor. But, that doesn’t mean an explanation of the compromises isn’t owed us.

They should tell us why a Special Session is necessary now. And, they should explain why the bills cannot be scheduled on Organization Day and passed with a retroactive clause.