INDIANAPOLIS — The accomplishments of the Indiana General Assembly's 2016 session, which ended Thursday, tend to fall into two categories: fixes for problems largely created by the Legislature; and the beginnings of long-term solutions to urgent state needs.
However, the issue that earned Indiana worldwide condemnation last year did not get resolved during the 10 weeks lawmakers met this year at the Statehouse.
As a result, it remains legal for an employer, landlord or business, operating in most parts of the state, to openly discriminate against a person due to his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.
Senate President David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said he's proud that senators debated whether to enact civil rights guarantees for lesbian, gay and bisexual Hoosiers, with strong protections for religious liberty, even though Senate Bill 344 never advanced for a final chamber vote.
"The Senate had a real education this year," Long said. "But we're not there yet. ... It's a lot tougher road to get a statewide law than maybe we expected."
Lawmakers had greater success blunting the impact of sanctions on teacher pay and A-F school grades tied to Indiana's high-stakes standardized testing program.
The ISTEP exam was rewritten last year after Republican Gov. Mike Pence demanded lawmakers alter Indiana's educational standards because, in part, Democratic President Barack Obama endorsed the Common Core State Standards adopted by the prior Republican administration.
The new state standards required a new test be produced that students and teachers were not familiar with — causing test scores to plummet.
In response, lawmakers quickly approved Senate Enrolled Act 200 and House Enrolled Act 1003 to "hold harmless" schools and teachers, and Pence eagerly signed the measures into law, despite previously proclaiming that no school accountability pause would be needed.
Other plans to fix problems caused by the Legislature included House Enrolled Act 1002, creating a scholarship program to lure new teachers to Indiana schools after multiple attempts to de-professionalize education caused a teacher shortage; and Senate Enrolled Act 308, shifting higher-than-expected agricultural property taxes onto other property owners.
Lawmakers also somewhat reversed course on criminal sentencing reform by agreeing in Senate Enrolled Act 290 and House Enrolled Act 1235 to jack up penalties on drug dealers and reimpose mandatory minimum sentences for some repeat drug offenders.
The most ambitious proposal of the year, a long-term road funding program championed by state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, and paid for in part by state tax hikes, was reduced to a minor increase for state road construction using surplus revenue and more money for local road and bridge maintenance, especially for local governments that increase their vehicle taxes.
House Enrolled Act 1001 also establishes a task force to recommend a strategy for Indiana to meet its infrastructure-preservation needs over coming decades.
Likewise, House Enrolled Act 1395 creates a panel tasked with devising a replacement for the ISTEP exam, and Senate Enrolled Act 80 takes a first step toward limiting access to cold medicines containing a key ingredient in the manufacture of methamphetamine.
State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, said she believes the session will be remembered as a series of missed opportunities to do more for Hoosiers by resolving pressing issues, such as LGBT civil rights, instead of putting them off until next year.
"There were a lot of things that we just should have done and didn't," Tallian said.