Wednesday, October 24, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS - Republican legislative leaders presented a united front behind Gov. Mitch Daniels’ property tax restructuring and reduction plan Wednesday, and said they want work on legislation incorporating most of it to be put on a fast track.

Sen. David Long, president pro tem of the GOP-led Senate, said Senate Republicans will introduce 10 or more bills that include aspects of the plan on an organization day Nov. 20. Committees will then hold hearings in December in hopes of voting on the bills so they are ready for Senate floor action when the session gets under way in earnest Jan. 8.

Long said he hoped House Democrats would hold their own hearings on the plan, which include caps on property assessments and an increase in sales taxes, during what is usually a break between organization day and January.

House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, was more forceful during a joint news conference by GOP leaders by calling on Democratic House Speaker Patrick Bauer to hold early hearings also. He said without early action, lawmakers could find themselves in a ‘‘cram session'’ during the final week of the session that could jeopardize immediate and lasting property tax relief.

Bauer, D-South Bend, said he would take such statements as suggestions.

But he was clearly irked after the GOP news conference, saying he had no discussions beforehand with Long, House Republicans or Daniels about timing or procedures. GOP leaders should have talked to him about their plans privately before announcing them publicly in what he called a ‘‘partisan news conference about procedures.'’

He said he did not even know the details of Daniels’ plan until 5 p.m. Tuesday, and without talking to him first, Republicans had announced what they were going to do.

‘‘I think that makes passage of a bill have a disconnect,'’ Bauer said. ‘‘I think we need to communicate and connect. I think I will overlook that but at the same time it doesn’t help move things along. We’ll do what has to be done at a deliberative speed.'’

Bauer said time is needed to digest the complexities of the plan, including the proposal to raise the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent to help pay for part of the property tax relief. Tax increases are supposed to originate in the House, and Bauer said a detailed analysis is needed on what its impact will be on people and the tax structure.

The flap came just a day after Daniels announced his plan, and could signify the delicate balancing act between politics and personalities that often determines what passes and what fails in the Legislature - especially when it comes to major tax policy.

Republicans control the Senate 33-17, with Democrats holding just a 51-49 advantage in the House.

The administration says Daniels’ plan would lower homeowner tax bills by about one-third on average statewide.

It would cap homeowner property taxes at 1 percent of a home’s assessed value beginning in 2009, with limits of 2 percent for rental property and 3 percent for business property. Daniels wants lawmakers to set the limits by law at first and then amend them into the state constitution so they are harder to reverse.

The proposal includes expanded exemptions for homeowners; new spending limits on local governments; elimination of elected assessors to be replaced by a single appointed one in each county; and a requirement that all significant local construction projects be voted on in a public referendum.

The state would assume the remaining 15 percent of school operating costs it doesn’t pay for, school transportation costs, and care for neglected, abused and delinquent children - all things largely funded by local property taxes.

Bauer said Tuesday that he had some concerns about the plan, but called it a good starting point.

Republican legislative leaders went beyond that Wednesday, praising it as solid and sweeping.

‘‘We were hoping for an initiative that was bold, immediate, transparent and permanent, and the governor’s plan meets all those criteria,'’ Bosma said. House Republicans plan to present legislation incorporating the proposal, but House Democrats are sure to move their own version.

Long said Senate Republicans might make some modifications to Daniels’ plan, but they would not be significant.

Meanwhile, Daniels began a two-day tour of the state on Wednesday promoting his plan.

http://www.wabashplaindealer.com/articles/2007/10/25/state_news/state1.txt