PELATH ON HOLCOMB’S AGENDA: WELCOME TO THE ERA OF TAX AND SPEND REPUBLICANS

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath from Michigan City today issued the following statement after Gov.-elect  Eric Holcomb announced his agenda for the 2017 session of  the Indiana General Assembly:

“At first glance, I must say this proposal contains a lot of taxing and spending. If this program had been announced by a Democratic  governor, I suspect the Republicans in the House and Senate  already would have sharpened their pitchforks and made plans to storm the battlements.

“But the unique dilemma facing our next governor and his party will be to  reach a medium between an honestly-held desire to improve  many areas in our state against a steadfast party dogma that  taxes cannot be raised and government spending is bad. Already I have seen the usual complaints about  state lawmakers living up to the pledges they signed so many years ago. Many will find that a commitment made when you  weren’t in charge of government can take a whole new light when you run the show.

“I cannot deny that there are many things here that are worthy of bipartisan support. Indiana House Democrats do recognize the need to  improve our infrastructure, and it has been good to see a  general recognition that taxes collected on the sale of gasoline should go toward improving our roads.

“We will need to hear more about this impressive array of tax increases that are being discussed here. Merely calling them user fees will not remove the stigma that comes with asking people to pay  more than they have in the past.

“And while I applaud the commitment to expansion of pre-K, I find this program  distressingly vague on ways to improve the ongoing troubles facing our state’s public schools. Thanks in large part to previous administrations’ hyper-salivation over charters and vouchers and the like, the schools that carry most of the heavy lifting for educating Hoosier children are having to do more with less state support. We need to listen to them more closely.

“Now that we are figuring out the parameters of debate for the 2017 session,  Indiana House Democrats stand ready to offer their services to help these warring factions within the Republican  majorities find an answer to their dilemma. Our role will be to make sure that the voices of those who feel  they are ignored by government can be heard.”

7th Circuit Affirms Indiana’s Ban On Robocalls

Dave Stafford for www.theindianalawyer.com

A political organization that argued Indiana’s ban on telephone robocalls disfavored political speech and was content discrimination got a terse reply from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday.

“We don’t get it,” Circuit Judge Frank Easterbrook wrote in Patriotic Veterans, Inc. v. Greg Zoeller, Attorney General of Indiana, 16-2059. “Nothing in the statute … disfavors political speech. The statute as a whole disfavors cold calls (that is, calls to strangers), but if a recipient has authorized robocalls then the nature of the message is irrelevant.”

Bans on computer-assisted robocalls that deliver recorded messages have been sustained in two circuits. But Patriotic Veterans sued to block I.C. §24-5-14-5 after South Carolina’s law was overturned and after the Supreme Court of the United States struck down an Arizona town ordinance regulating the content of signs in Reed v. Gilbert, 135 S. Ct 2218 (2015).

But Easterbrook wrote that Indiana’s law bans robocalls not on the basis of content, but requires the consent of the person being called to use the technology.

“No one can deny the legitimacy of the state’s goal: Preventing the phone (at home or in one’s pocket) from frequently ringing with unwanted calls. Every call uses some of the phone owner’s time and mental energy, both of which are precious,” Easterbrook wrote.

“Preventing automated messages to persons who don’t want their peace and quiet disturbed is a valid time, place, and manner restriction.”