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Area legislators weigh in with expectations for new session

From left, Dan Leonard, Jim Banks and Travis Holdman.
From left, Dan Leonard, Jim Banks and Travis Holdman. Photos provided.

Originally published Jan. 6, 2014.

The 119th legislative session of Indiana's General Assembly begins today, Monday, Jan. 6.

The House and Senate reconvene this afternoon at 1:30.

As with every legislative session, our area representatives have hopes and expectations for the controversial issues and their own legislation.

They weigh in here:

Rep. Dan Leonard
(R-Huntington)

Leonard says the marriage amendment is "not an easy issue," and will receive a lot of focus during this session.

When things come back around for a final hearing, he notes, things get more heated.

"You study it harder, you go out and talk to your constituents," he says.

But, Leonard says he doesn't like the way the amendment is worded.

"The second statement is the problem," he says, referring to the wording as something that, "must be interpreted."

"I am leaning presently toward amending the resolution," says Leonard.

"We are not debating whether gay marriage is legal - we are debating whether or not to put it in the constitution."

He says this is a more social than governing issue, and if it is put into the constitution, he says, "We better make darn sure we get it right."

Another hot button topic, to which Leonard is opposed, is the elimination of personal property tax.

"The fiscal impact on our state would be about $1 billion - that's with a ‘B'," he says.

Leonard explains that personal property tax is assessed, collected and stays local. Meaning, local governments would feel the absence of those funds the hardest.

"Without replacing that money in some fashion, why grind down on local units that much?" asks Leonard.

He says the impact in Indiana's economic development "isn't that big," although proponents of eliminating the tax say businesses would be more apt to move into Indiana if they did not have to pay the tax.

Leonard says, "Currently Indiana is ranked seventh in the nation as a business friendly tax climate, and we are number one in the Midwest."

Throughout the session, Leonard notes, the bill may be negotiated and amended, and may turn into "something I can live with."

Until then, he says, "Why do we as a state say (to local government), ‘You don't deserve that (money).' Bam! It's done."

On his own legislative docket, Leonard has five bills ready to go.

The first will deal with workforce development, he says, and will "hopefully cure the problem" of paying off the state's unemployment insurance debt to the federal government.

The second, amends a law that he helped pass a few years ago, he says. Currently, subdivisions in Indiana that are built in sections may impose covenants - like rules - on homeowners. Leonard explains that a few years ago a bill was passed into law to allow subdivisions with "x" amount of sections to combine those sections and their covenants, unifying those rules across the entire subdivision. This amendment will make that number lower than it is currently, and allow any subdivision with 5 or more sections to combine those covenants across the board.

The third bill he says is a "big bill dealing with small issues."

As Subcommittee Chairman of Local Government for the Ways and Means Committee, Leonard says this bill comes from him full of "little clean-up things."

Another bill Leonard will propose in that capacity would allow Departments of Local Government Finance to post their budgets online, rather than requiring them to publish those budgets in the paper.

Simply, Leonard says, this would make the information easier to find and easier to make public.

The fifth bill, at press time, Leonard says is still up in the air, but will potentially deal with homeowner protection. It would require anyone wanting to file a lien on a property to do so in a certain amount of time, essentially protecting any new homeowner from having that lien slapped on the property after they take possession.

Sen. Jim Banks
(R-Columbia City)

"I believe the governor has a bold agenda this session," says Banks.

He says he expects the marriage amendment, which must be passed through the Senate and the House twice before it appears on ballots for voter determination, to be a hot topic.

Banks says he will vote in favor of the issue, because his constituents have widely requested to be able to vote on the issue themselves - whether they are for or against the amendment.

"It is a very emotional, personal issue," he notes.
Another controversial topic Banks expects is the proposal by Gov. Mike Pence to eliminate personal property tax.

Banks says many local government officials are against the proposal, because eliminating the tax would take money away from their budgets.

The upside to eliminating the tax says Banks, is that Indiana businesses would grow and jobs would be created.

Banks' own agenda is largely involved in education issues and veterans support, he says.

He has his hand on several bills he plans to propose.

At the K-12 education level, he helped pen a bill that would allow teachers who move from a higher performing to an underperforming school to keep their previous pay-rate.

"This would be a great opportunity to put better teachers in schools where they can do the most good," says Banks.

Currently, he notes, when teachers start teaching at an underperforming school, they usually see a significant pay cut, which keeps the best teachers out of the schools that need them most, he says.

He also hopes to see passed a requirement for all state universities to apply credits earned in the military to veteran's degrees.

"It is the right thing to do," he says.

If universities would be forced to accept those credits towards veteran's degrees, Banks says it would decrease the cost of education for veterans and lessen their degree-seeking timetable.

Banks says the unemployment rate for veterans in Indiana is double the rate of non-veterans, and he wants to help get that rate down.

Another bill to benefit veterans would allow better opportunities and avenues for them to receive treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, commonly known as PTSD.

"There is an overwhelming number of veterans with PTSD," says Banks, "Some treatments are not available in Indiana - if this bill passes, they would be," he says.
Banks says he has worked on a handful of other bills that focus on education reform as well.

"I am looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting back to work," says Banks.

Sen. Travis Holdman
(R-Markle)

Holdman says he is looking forward to getting a few different things accomplished during this session.

He has some clean-up bills he will propose, such as updating insurance laws, which he says is an annual process.

He also will reintroduce a bill that would allow farmers to post "no trespassing" signs on their property, with criminal charges becoming the consequence of violating those signs.

For example, Holdman says the bill would allow a farmer to post a sign that prohibits anyone from taking photos or videos of their crops, making anyone found doing so punishable by law.

Holdman says this bill, if passed, would protect the rights of farmers and their crops.

He says his constituents have raised no huge concerns before the beginning of the session, but he knows the marriage amendment will be a big issue.

Holdman says his constituents are divided on the amendment at about 60/40 in opposition of it. He has received calls, emails and letters about the topic, he notes.

He also says he expects the proposed elimination of personal property taxes to cause a stir.

"Local government is funded with personal property tax," he explains, "(local government) is concerned they will lose revenue."

The benefit of eliminating the tax, though, he says, would be attracting new businesses to come to Indiana.

"Many of our neighboring states have no personal property tax," he says, and Holdman thinks this means Indiana loses out on bringing in new business.

For example, Holdman explains, a business that uses printers and computers is currently required to pay a personal property tax on all that equipment. In other states without the tax imposition this is not the case.

Holdman sits on the committees for banking, insurance policy, local government and environmental affairs, so he is sure to be greatly involved in the discussion of such a bill passing into law.