INDIANAPOLIS — Though state lawmakers are advancing a measure that would require mergers to gain the separate approval of both city and county voters, it won't affect the one Evansville and Vanderburgh County are considering.
Under a bill set for a final vote in the Senate as soon as today, cities and counties seeking to consolidate their governments would be required to give both voting blocs the chance to reject it.
Senate Bill 174 would set an "acceptance threshold" between 50 percent and 55 percent — that is, a minimum of 50 percent to 55 percent of the voters in the city, and the voters in the county, as separate groups, would have to approve mergers.
It's a similar idea to one proposed by Sen. Jim Tomes, R-Wadesville, in a different bill. Still, none of the versions advancing this year would take effect before Evansville and Vanderburgh County voters go to the polls this November.
The bill that is expected to soon get a vote in the Senate would not take effect until 2013.
Creationism in schools
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana says a state lawmaker's effort to allow schools to teach creationism in science classes is in clear violation of the U.S. Constitution, and would be a ripe target for lawsuits that would come at taxpayers' expense.
Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, chairman of the Senate's education committee, authored the measure.
It passed his committee on an 8-2 vote. Now, the ACLU of Indiana is seeking to beat it back.
"When we hear time and again about limited resources for education, I think it's fair for Hoosiers to expect better stewardship of taxpayer dollars than lawmakers are demonstrating by undertaking projects that are clearly in violation of federal law and the Constitution," said Gilbert Holmes, executive director of the ACLU of Indiana.
Human trafficking
An attempt to toughen Indiana's human trafficking laws ahead of the Feb. 5 Super Bowl in Indianapolis is set for a final vote in the House today, and would head to Gov. Mitch Daniels' desk to be signed into law immediately afterward.
The bill, which would close loopholes that Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller says must be dealt with immediately, has gained unanimous support so far.
Zoeller was joined by community leaders, including current and former Indianapolis Colts players, in signing a pledge that said they would take responsibility for making sure the public does not tolerate the commercial sex industry.
"There is a need to change the culture that makes it acceptable for men to purchase sex and to talk openly about it as socially accepted in male-dominated places," Zoeller said.