INDIANAPOLIS – A flurry of activity Thursday dealt blows to some measures while keeping others alive for final discussions.
Lawmakers are set to end session March 10 – a few days early because of a lack of hotel rooms in Indianapolis during a basketball tournament – and that has pushed up the horse-trading and posturing.
“People are maneuvering like it’s already conference committee,” House Speaker Brian Bosma said.
The House Ways and Means Committee still hasn’t acted on a request from Gov. Mike Pence for additional Regional Cities dollars.
So the Senate Appropriations Committee passed House Bill 1161 unanimously. It would provide an extra check for public employee retirees but the $42 million Regional Cities appropriation was also added.
That means the language is currently alive in two places for the stretch run – Senate Bill 302 and House Bill 1161 – and will be part of key negotiations on larger issues.
The Senate Appropriations Committee also stripped out Bosma’s pet program to provide tuition scholarships to top Indiana high school students going to college to become a teacher.
House Bill 1002 would have set up the structure of the scholarships – costing $6 million a year when fully implemented. But it wouldn’t have been funded it until next year.
Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, removed the program and instead inserted a study of the scholarship issue.
“It’s unfortunate the Senate has chosen to gut it,” Bosma said, noting there is no cost to passing the framework and getting it in place and ready.
“I think the fact that my name is on the bill had something to do with it,” he said.