TWO WEEKS LEFT TO COMPLETE LEGISLATIVE SESSION   The deadline for a bill to pass the second house was April 15.  This leaves the two houses about two weeks to resolve their differences on bills before the statutory adjournment deadline of April 29.  There are still a number of issues to be resolved including: the state’s budget for the next two years; funding of the state’s bankrupt unemployment compensation program; finding funds for the agency that runs the Convention Center and the sports stadiums in Indianapolis; the registration and regulation of dog breeders; and several environmental issues.  Of these issues, the only issue that absolutely must be addressed is the adoption of a budget.  

PRESSURE APPLIED TO HOUSE DEMOCRATS ON CAPS  During the last several days before the deadline for bills to pass the second house, a number of House members were targeted by radio ads urging their constituents to contact them with the message that they, the legislators, should in turn urge House Speaker Pat Bauer to give SJR 1 a hearing.  SJR 1 is the resolution that would place the constitutional amendment to legalize the 1-2-3 property tax caps on the ballot in the 2010 general election.  Throughout the session, Farm Bureau has supported the position taken by Speaker Bauer: It makes sense to wait as long as possible to see what the ramifications of the caps might be before adopting such a resolution.  Whether a resolution is adopted this year or next, the earliest this issue can be placed before the voters is November, 2010.

The representatives targeted by this ad campaign are the legislators who have been most supportive of Farm Bureau’s position on the issue of the 1-2-3 caps and the constitutional amendment.  If you are represented by any of the representatives listed below, thank them for agreeing that the tax cap amendment did not need to be addressed by the legislature this year.  It would also be appropriate to send a short email to Speaker of the House Pat Bauer (h6@in.gov) thanking him for protecting farmers by keeping this issue off the floor this year. 

The Farm Bureau staff is aware that the following House members were targeted by these ads: John Barnes, Indianapolis (h89@in.gov); Kreg Battles, Vincennes (h64@in.gov); Bob Bischoff, Greendale (h68@in.gov); Sandra Blanton, Orleans (h62@in.gov); Dave Cheatham, North Vernon (h69@in.gov); Nancy Michael, Greencastle (h44@in.gov); Joe Pearson, Hartford City (h31@in.gov); Scott Reske, Pendleton (h37@in.gov); Paul Robertson, DePauw (h70@in.gov); Vern Tincher, Riley (h46@in.gov); and Trent Van Haaften, Mount Vernon (h76@in.gov).  Also targeted was the only Republican to vote against the caps in 2008, Rep. Tom Saunders, Lewisville (h54@in.gov). 

SENATE PASSES A TWO-YEAR BUDGET  The Senate this week passed its version of HB 1001, the state budget for the next biennium.  The budget was presented by its Senate sponsor, Appropriations Committee Chairman Luke Kenley (R-Noblesville).  It proposes to spend $28.1 billion over the two years of the biennium and relies on about $2 billion of federal stimulus money.  In presenting the budget, Sen. Kenley acknowledged that it could require substantial revision following the adjusted revenue forecast due later in the week.  HB 1001 passed the Senate by a vote of 32-18 with Democrat Sen. Frank Mrvan (Hammond) joining 31 Republicans to support it and the Senate’s 16 other Democrats and Republicans Mike Delph (Carmel) and John Waterman (Shelburn) opposing it.  It will now go to a conference committee.  The House conferees will be Ways & Means Committee Chairman Bill Crawford (D-Indianapolis) and the committee’s ranking minority member, Jeff Espich (R-Uniondale).  The Senate conferees have yet to be named, but will probably be Sen. Kenley and the ranking minority member of the Appropriations Committee, John Broden (D-South Bend).

DOG BREEDER AND ANIMAL CRUELTY BILLS LIKELY HEADED TO CONFERENCE  Both controversial bills dealing with animals appear to be headed to conference committees although no conferees have, as yet, been appointed for either bill.  HB 1468 deals with the registration and regulation of dog breeders in Indiana.  Its author, Rep. Linda Lawson (D-Hammond), is expected to file a motion to dissent from the changes made to the bill in the Senate.  Sen. Jim Merritt (R-Indianapolis) has already filed a dissent motion on SB 238, a bill dealing with cruelty to animals.  Farm Bureau is on record in support of both of these bills provided the Board of Animal Health is given adequate resources, both financial and personnel, to perform any new responsibilities it might be asked to undertake and that the traditional exceptions to the animal cruelty law including accepted farm management practices, hunting, fishing and pest control, be preserved.

HOUSE APPROVES RENEWABLE ELECTRICAL ENERGY BILL   This week the House approved, by a vote of 62-37, SB 300 (Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, and Rep. Win Moses, D-Fort Wayne) a bill that will establish a renewable energy standard in Indiana and provide for net metering.  Under the provisions of the bill as it passed the House, electric utilities must get 15% of their electricity from renewable sources by the year 2025.  Rural electric cooperatives and municipal power companies would not be required to meet this standard.  The bill also increases the amount of electricity a farm or other business may generate and sell back to its power supplier.  This policy of selling power back to the provider is known as “net metering” because the amount sold back is deducted from the amount of power purchased, allowing the consumer to be billed only for his/her “net” use.  The amount of power that may be sold back differs between the two versions of the bill and will be reconciled in a conference committee.  The renewable sources of power identified in the bill include wind, anaerobic digesters, and dedicated crops and crop waste.

ENVIRONMENTAL BILL AMENDED TO ALLOW TOWNS TO REGULATE SMELLS AND NOISES FOUR MILES BEYOND LIMITS   The House has amended SB 461 (Sen. Beverly Gard, R-Greenfield, and Rep. Ryan Dvorak, D-South Bend) to include a provision that would allow cities and towns to regulate the introduction of any substance, odor or sound into the air within four miles of their corporate limits.  The 4-mile authority currently allows cities and towns to regulate dangerous conduct, provide medical, health and community services, and control animals.  SB 461 started as a bill that addressed a number of unrelated environmental matters but its scope was broadened considerably in the Senate Environment Committee.  The bill also now contains a provision that a seller must notify a prospective purchaser of real estate if methamphetamine has been manufactured on the premises.  Farm Bureau will work with the conference committee to remove this latest provision which would allow cities and towns to interfere with normal farming practices.

COURT OF APPEALS GIVES UTILITY OK TO USE EMINENT DOMAIN TO BENEFIT DEVELOPER  The Indiana Court of Appeals has overruled a Floyd County trial court determination to dismiss a lawsuit by a public utility that wanted to use eminent domain to construct a sewer line that would be financed by a developer because it would service a proposed housing development.  This decision in the case of Wymberly Sanitary Works v. Batliner is a severe blow to the rights of private property owners in Indiana.  In reaching its decision, the Appeals Court relied heavily on the controversial 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. The City of New London that held eminent domain could be used to acquire private property from one landowner for the benefit of another if a public purpose was being served.  The attorneys for the homeowners have a month to decide if the case will be further appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court.  The Indiana Agricultural Law Foundation, a non-profit, member-supported affiliate of Indiana Farm Bureau, filed a brief in the Court of Appeals supporting the decision of the trial court.