INDIANAPOLIS —As they consider a weak statewide smoking ban, Indiana lawmakers also are trying to decide whether they are going to let local governments pass stronger versions on their own.
A version that cleared the House earlier this year would do so. After watering down the bill to add bars and nursing homes to a list of excluded places that already included casinos and fraternal clubs, the Senate's version would not give local governments that power.
Now in the last week of this year's legislative session, the two chambers are trying to hash out their differences in a joint conference committee, before sending the bill back to the House and Senate for final votes.
"I don't want to go down that path of trying to trump what locals have successfully done for a number of years," said Rep. Eric Turner, R-Marion, the author of the House's stronger smoking ban.
It all essentially means nothing for Evansville, for two reasons: The city already has a smoking ban; and its ban excludes Casino Aztar. For other communities in Southwestern Indiana and through the rest of the state, it's a different story.
While the Senate's version of the smoking ban would preserve ordinances that already exist, it would prevent communities from passing new smoking bans stronger than the state's.
It also would bar smoking bans that cover any of the state's 11 casinos and two racinos — an essential step, argued Casino Association of Indiana head Mike Smith, to protecting $650 million in gambling tax revenue, because casinos tend to draw a smoking crowd.
Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, drew a clear line in the sand last week when he said he would support only a smoking ban that excluded bars.
That essentially gutted the bill, the American Cancer Society and others have argued, because many restaurants have done away with smoking sections on their own. The Senate's bill still would cover restaurants, hotels, bowling alleys and shop room floors.
The joint House-Senate conference committee held a public meeting Monday morning, as all conference committees appointed to deal with specific bills are required to do. However, the rest of its deliberations almost certainly will occur behind closed doors.
Here are some of the other issues lawmakers will try to resolve in conference committee before adjourning for the year at the end of this week:
Rockport
Developers of the proposed $2.6 billion coal-gasification plant there have expected to qualify for a tax credit potentially worth $120 million over 20 years. First, though, lawmakers might need to approve it. Gov. Mitch Daniels' administration is fighting to have language that would make clear the plant's qualification for that tax credit inserted into a bill.
Police entry
Lawmakers are likely to reverse the Indiana Supreme Court's 2011 decision. The court said Hoosiers have no right to resist police who unlawfully enter their homes; the General Assembly wants to approve a measure that says they can — while also legally protecting police who are doing their jobs.
State spending
In one of the least controversial spending bills in recent memory, the General Assembly is set to spend between $80 million and $100 million more each year on full-day kindergarten, funding $2,400-per-student grants for school districts that offer the program. It also is setting aside $5 million or $6 million for victims of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse tragedy. Budget leaders are now trying to finalize the details.