Krieg DeVault Legislative Update

As you are aware, the Legislature has been hard at work, holding December hearings on a variety of issues that will be considered during the 2010 Legislative Session. Due to the short timeframe of the 2010 session, which requires the Legislature to adjourn by March 14, 2010, the Ways and Means Committee, the Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee and the Rules Committee all will hold hearings in December.

The Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee held two hearings on Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 1, the constitutional amendment placing the tax caps already in state statute into the constitution. The committee did not have a quorum at the first hearing and so a second hearing was called to take official action. After hours of public testimony from trade associations and the general public, the committee approved the constitutional amendment 9-3, with Senator Connie Sipes (D-New Albany) joining the Republicans on the committee in voting yes. The other three Democrats voted no. Please find attached a copy of SJR 1 for your review.

The Ways and Means Committee has held two hearings and will hold a third hearing on Monday, December 14th to amend and vote on the legislation under consideration by the committee. In addition to hearing testimony on HJR 1, the constitutional amendment placing the tax caps already in state statute into the constitution, the House Ways and Means Committee has also held hearings on: House Bill 1003, Indiana Worker Preference on Public Works Projects, which requires contractors to employ a certain number of Indiana employees or risk losing contracts and House Bill 1004, Assessed Value of Homesteads and Farmland, which will place a cap on the increase in assessed valuation on a homestead or farmland in a given year. The committee will also hear House Bill 1003, Contracting of Public Assistance Eligibility on Monday, which prohibits the Family and Social Services Administration from contracting out certain intake functions for public assistance eligibility determination. Please find attached copies of these bills for your review. We will provide you an update on committee action next week, including any amendments added to legislation.

Also next week the House Rules Committee will hear testimony on House Bill 1001, Lobbyists, Campaign Contributions, authored by House Speaker Pat Bauer on Wednesday, December 16th. This legislation reduces the threshold for reportable expenses from $100 a day to $50 a day for legislative lobbyists. The legislation places a one-year "cooling off" period on legislators, barring them from lobbying the Legislature for 365 days after leaving office. The bill also prohibits campaign contributions for statewide elected offices during the Legislative Session and prohibits campaign contributions by individuals receiving contracts from the state. Please find this legislation attached for your review.

Legislation passing out of committee during December will be eligible for floor activity in the House and Senate on the first day of session. This means that the Legislature will be off to a very quick start in January when they reconvene for the 2010 session. As always, please do not hesitate to contact any member of our Government Affairs Team with any questions you may have.

Thank You,

Krieg DeVault Governmental Affairs Team