By Lesley Weidenbener
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS – A legislative committee created solely to study whether Indiana should continue implementing the controversial Common Core educational standards adjourned for the year Friday without making a recommendation.

State Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, is the co-chair of the Interim Study Committee on Common Core Educational Standards and said the group was charged with making a recommendation about the standards to the State Board of Education. But the group couldn’t get a majority vote on its proposal. Photo by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com

Republicans on the evenly divided committee called for the State Board of Education to abandon Common Core in favor of standards that would be based on “Hoosier common sense.”

But the lone Democrat who showed up for Friday’s meeting voted no, denying the GOP the votes needed to send the recommendation to the State Board of Education.

Rep. Justin Moed, D-Indianapolis, said his vote wasn’t as much intended to support Common Core – a set of national standards adopted by more than 40 states – as it was a protest of the process that led to the committee proposal. He said the group heard hours of testimony for and against Common Core but never had a working session to try to hammer out a recommendation that a majority of members could support.

State Rep. Justin Moed, D-Indianapolis, was the one Democrat to show up for the final meeting of the Interim Study Committee on Common Core Educational Standards. Moed voted against a GOP proposal to abandon Common Core in favor of state-created standards and it failed to pass. Photo by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com

Instead, he said, Republicans – who chair the Interim Study Committee on Common Core Educational Standards and hold the majority in the Indiana House and Senate – distributed the proposed recommendation a day before the meeting.

“This committee was set up by the legislature and the governor to be a bipartisan committee,” Moed said. “And in order to do that, the parties have to work together. And the only parties working together on this issue were the Republican Party and the tea party.”

None of the committee’s other five Democrats attended Friday’s meeting, although they’ve been to three previous meetings that included more than 25 hours of public and expert testimony on the issue.

Republican members said they would still send the proposal to the state board, even if it doesn’t have the endorsement of the committee.

Rep. Rhonda Rhoads, R-Corydon, said Friday she’s disappointed the Interim Study Committee on Common Core Educational Standards couldn’t reach an agreement on a proposal to abandon the standards and replace them with some drafted by Indiana officials. Bu she said the board’s indecision should send a message to the State Board of Education that there’s no consensus support for Common Core. Photo by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com

Rep. Rhonda Rhoads, R-Corydon, said she was disappointed the group couldn’t get enough votes to pass the measure. But she said the committee’s split on the issue should be a signal to the Board of Education that there’s no consensus that Common Core is the right direction.

“We need to work on finding a better solution for our students,” Rhoads said.

Common Core is a set of K-12 school standards created by a group of state education officials and endorsed by President Barack Obama’s administration. The State Board of Education voted in 2010 to start phasing in Common Core, a decision that drew little attention.

But as educational materials associated with the standards began to emerge, so did opposition and the General Assembly voted earlier this year to pause its implementation for a second look. The legislative committee’s recommendation was to be part of that process.

One of the committee’s co-chairs, Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, started Friday’s meeting saying the group had an obligation to approve a recommendation. But he said he wasn’t surprised that several Democrats didn’t attend.

“Their absence obviously shows that they must not have a strong commitment to it,” he said.

Sen. Carlin Yoder, R-Middlebury, castigated Democrats for failing to show attend the group’s last meeting.

“It makes no sense to me after we’ve spent as much time as we did studying this and there’s not a desire to at least weigh in on this issue. I’m sick of walkouts,” Yoder said, a reference to Democratic walkouts in the Indiana House in 2012 over labor legislation.

Moed said Democrats did not coordinate an effort to skip Friday’s meeting. He said members had little notice the group was to meet and did not feel they had input into the proposed recommendation.

Lesley Weidenbener is executive editor at TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

Congressman Bucshon will be touring Washington, IN this afternoon with Governor Pence to survey the damage from yesterday’s storm. The group will meet at Bethany Christian Church (1139 S. IN 57, Washington) at 4pm ET.

Congressman Bucshon will also make a stop in Knox County to tour the area with Sheriff Morris.  Congressman Bucshon and Sheriff Morris are expected to meet at the Mini Mart in Decker, IN (10870 US Highway 41, Decker, IN )at 1:30pm ET.

By Lesley Weidenbener
TheStatehouseFile.com

Lesley Weidenbener, managing editor, TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS – The biggest question about the upcoming session of the Indiana General Assembly is how legislative leaders will handle a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

Referred to by many as a ban on same-sex marriage, the proposal has already passed the legislature once. If it passes again, the amendment goes to the ballot for possible ratification by voters.

But it’s not been clear whether House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, and Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, plan to allow votes on the proposal at all. And recently, they’ve been avoiding the question.

That might be about to change – and the answer could affect the rest of the legislative session.

The leaders will be part of a panel Monday sponsored by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, which has not taken a stand on the amendment. In past events, questions for the panel have typically come from the chamber’s president, Kevin Brinegar, and from business leaders in the audience.

It seems unlikely the same-sex issue won’t come up, particularly because the event is on the eve of the legislature’s Organization Day. That’s the official start of the 2014 session, although work won’t begin in earnest until January.

So even if the question doesn’t come up at Monday’s panel, it will certainly be posed by reporters on Tuesday.

Bosma and Long’s silence on the issue so far seems to indicate indecision about the issue among Republicans, who have quorum-proof majorities in both the House and Senate. That’s no surprise – but it is a change.

The marriage amendment passed easily – with both Republican and Democratic support – in 2011.

Then last year, the leaders announced they were postponing votes on the amendment because the U.S. Supreme Court was considering another state’s marriage laws. Bosma and Long said then that they planned votes in 2014 and expected the measure to pass.

But much has changed.

This summer, the high court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage law, essentially opening federal benefits to legally married, same-sex couples. However, the court said states could still impose bans.

A coalition of businesses and other organizations that oppose the amendment have nabbed some pretty high-profile members of late, including Indiana University, Ball State University, Emmis Communications and the Indy Chamber.  Already, two of Central Indiana’s biggest employers – Eli Lilly & Co. and Cummins Inc. – are on board.

Meanwhile, public opinion has been moving quickly, with more and more Hoosiers saying they either oppose the constitutional amendment or support same-sex marriage.

The WISH-TV/Ball State Hoosier Survey revealed last week that Hoosiers are split on the issue of legalizing same-sex marriage, with 48 percent supporting the idea and 46 percent opposing it – a statistical tie.

But the poll also found that just 38 percent of respondents support the marriage amendment while 58 percent are opposed.

Ball State political science professor Ray Scheele told WISH-TV that the opposition to the amendment is growing. “And that’s been true over the last couple of years,” he said.

Legislative leaders have some tough decisions to make about the proposal. We may find out soon which way they are leaning.

Lesley Weidenbener is executive editor of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

AG Zoeller urges consumers to sign-up for state’s Do Not Call list by Tuesday

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said while Indiana residents welcome lower health insurance rates, agents using robocalls to solicit Hoosiers is illegal and their sales pitches may backfire.

Nearly 50 consumers filed complaints earlier this year after receiving robocalls or prerecorded phone messages offering affordable health insurance. Zoeller’s office determined the calls stemmed from Andrew D. Ross, a Nevada agent, who has a non-resident license in Indiana to sell insurance.

“With the recent rollout of the federal health care law, the number of callers soliciting discounted health insurance products will likely increase,” Zoeller said. “It’s important Hoosiers know what to look out for and don’t hand over personal information to unsolicited callers who have not been verified.”

In Indiana, most robocalls are illegal regardless of whether or not your number is registered on the Do Not Call list. Exceptions include calls from school districts to students, parents or employees and businesses advising employees of work schedules.

Zoeller filed a lawsuit against Ross in Marion County Superior Court on Thursday, for making at least 47 calls between January and May to residents across the state. According to the lawsuit, Ross is accused of violating the Indiana Telephone Solicitation of Consumers Act and the Indiana Regulation of Automatic Dialing Machines Act. The Attorney General’s office seeks civil penalties, investigation and prosecution costs, and to stop the illegal calls. Zoeller said the lawsuit has been forwarded to the Indiana Department of Insurance for their consideration.

If someone gets a call offering health insurance, they can verify the agent is licensed with the Indiana Department of insurance (IDOI) by checking here or by calling the IDOI consumer services division at 800-622-4461. Consumers can file insurance-related complaints by visitingwww.in.gov/IDOI.

Zoeller said consumers should be on alert for these types of calls with the recent rollout of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. For more information about scams and what to look out for visit www.IndianaConsumer.com/ACA.

The next quarterly deadline to register for the state’s Do Not Call list is Tuesday, Aug. 20. Consumers can register their residential landline, cell, VOIP or prepaid wireless numbers for free by visiting www.IndianaConsumer.com or by calling 1.888.834.9969. Individuals do not need to re-register unless their address has changed. Out-of-state area codes can also be added as long as the billing address is located in Indiana. Those consumers who are registered and receive an unwanted call can file a complaint with the Attorney General’s office by visitingwww.IndianaConsumer.com.

Zoeller said consumer complaints help the Attorney General’s office bring enforcement actions against violators and stop unwanted calls. Since 2009, the office has obtained 124 settlements or judgments against companies that violated Indiana’s telephone privacy laws. The total awarded to the state has been more than $20.5 million. Zoeller said the money collected is used to defray the cost of enforcing the state’s telephone privacy laws.

The Attorney General’s office also shares caller-ID numbers of suspected illegal telemarketers with companies that block spam callers for their customers. Zoeller said that while many investigations into the source of unwanted calls turn up empty due to internet-based technology most of the reported caller ID numbers are now being shared with companies that can use the numbers to block calls for their customers.

Zoeller thanked Deputy Attorney General Eliza Bradley for her work on the case against Ross and commitment to the Telephone Privacy Section within the Attorney General’s office.