What is the Indiana State Legislature getting anything done for YOU?

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath of Michigan City today issued the following column:

We are closing in on the end of the 2014 session of the Indiana State Legislature. Are we getting anything done for you?

Here is an update on three of this session’s major issues, as identified by our governor and his majorities in the Indiana House of Representatives and Indiana Senate:

The Senate passed House Joint Resolution 3, the proposal that begins the process of amending our state’s constitution to tell the world who can marry whom in Indiana.

Since HJR 3 was altered, the process leading to a statewide referendum has to start over, which means the earliest a vote could take place would be in 2016…which means another two years or so of ugly, divisive debate on a very personal subject.

The House and Senate majorities are fighting over how to handle the governor’s proposal to get rid of the business personal property tax. In fact, many Statehouse observers are starting to wonder if it might be best to just study this issue over the summer. Since this cut doesn’t do one thing to create jobs or help the middle class and families, I’d be fine if they ditched the whole idea and never discussed it again.

I do like the idea of doing something to improve our state’s sorry record of helping our children even before they start kindergarten. Indiana is one of the worst states in the country in addressing pre-school education.

While the governor’s proposal to start a pilot pre-school program was not everything I wanted to see, at least it was a place to start. Unfortunately, the House and Senate majorities cannot agree on an approach, and it now seems like this idea is going to a summer study committee.

Since it does not appear we are getting anywhere on these issues, let’s see how we’re doing on other matters.

How about making our state more transparent and accountable to the people of Indiana?

Here’s what Indiana House Democrats have proposed during this session:

Asking the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) to be more up-front and honest about the effectiveness of its job creation programs.

A study of the cost-effectiveness of our state’s efforts at privatizing taxpayer services.

Requiring the state’s Inspector General to tell us more about their investigations of state government abuse.

Unfortunately, none of these proposals were approved by the House majority.

They did say yes to our proposal asking the Indiana Attorney General to provide better information on the cases that office handles that impact your tax dollars.

Still, are we doing enough to protect the rights of Hoosiers to know what their government is doing?

Are we doing enough to restore your trust and faith in your state government?