Indiana legislators discussed issues including full-day kindergarten, privatization of the lottery, health care and cigarette sales taxes Saturday.
More than 20 Kosciusko County representatives and residents attended the meeting with the legislators to hear an update on bills that currently are being addressed by the House and Senate.
The seventh annual event was held at the Kosciusko County Farm Bureau office in Warsaw.
Speakers included State Sen. Ryan Mishler, representing District 9, and state representatives Bill Ruppel, district 22, Dave Wolkins, district 18, and Bill Friend, district 23.
Mishler gave an update on bills that have gone through the Senate the last couple of weeks.
He said Senate Bill 1 is being addressed, with is for a proposed Commerce Connector Expressway in Lake County east of Indianapolis. He said the Senate is debating whether or not to make a toll road to pay for the road.
"The bill would allow the governor to see if anyone is interested in doing a privatized agreement to pay for those roads," Mishler said.
Mishler also discussed full-day kindergarten, and said he has received many e-mails on the issue, and after residents in his district completed a survey on the issue, the survey showed 74 percent of his district is against full-day kindergarten.
He said some of the issues with full-day kindergarten are that there would be a cost of $200 million to fund it every year, schools may not have enough space and would need more classes, and that would raise property taxes. He said he would like to see money go toward high school programs.
Privatization of the lottery also was discussed by Mishler.
He said the lottery generates about $200 million in revenue a year, and made a record $218 million last year.
He said under the Senate's current proposal, the governor would like $1 billion up front and the $200 million would be turned over to the state.
He said it is possible there will be an expansion in gaming whether it be slots at race tracks, bars or legions.
Mishler also informed those who attended that the Senate is working on a health care plan that would attempt to provide health coverage for all Hoosiers.
The plan, The Health and Indiana Insurance Plan, is for ages 19-64 and for those who can't afford insurance and don't qualify for Medicaid.
Eligible Hoosiers would receive money for preventive care of up to $500 annually. This covers costs associated with physicals, smoking reduction and diabetes screening.
A $1,100 personal wellness responsibility account would be established for each eligible person to use for medical costs, such as physician visits, prescriptions and diagnostic exams. In addition to these benefits, each person would be provided with $300,000 of annual insurance coverage with up to $1 million of lifetime coverage.
He said to qualify for the program, a person must be 200 percent of the federal poverty level, make less than $40,000 a year for a family of four, and must be a resident of Indiana.
Mishler also said the governor is favoring a cigarette tax increase, and said if there was a 50-cent tax increase on cigarettes that would generate $207 million.
"We are trying to cut back on the number of smokers in Indiana," Mishler said.
Ruppel gave an update on the legislative session and bills in the House.
In January a couple of years ago, he said there were 60 pieces of legislation passed, but there were only 10 pieces of legislation passed this January, and there were not any committee meetings the first two weeks of January.
"The leadership of the House proposed they would work together, but now that bills are out, they are not listening to amendments or minorities and forcing labor issues through," Ruppel said.
Ruppel said a bill was passed in the House last week that if a township is more than 5,000 people and there are workers, they have to join a union. The bill also states that if a school corporation is in a township or area of more than 5,000 people, they have to be unionized.
He said the House will vote this week on a property tax relief bill that allows cities, counties and towns add up to 1 percent on top of local taxes for property taxes replacement.
He said at least 60 percent of the 1 percent increase to local property tax relief may go for local property tax relief, and up to 40 percent of the new 1 percent is for new local spending.
"There is a lot to be done, and it all will be quick and fast," Ruppel said.
Ruppel said Jan. 26 was the last day for bills to pass in the House and Senate.
Friend said the House passed a bill last week that will move the administration of the Department of Motor Vehicles to the Secretary of State office.
He also said the Democrats proposed to remove the sales tax on gasoline, but backed away from the proposal because there isn't a mechanism to replace the $300 million that would be lost, and programs such as full-day kindergarten couldn't be funded.
Friend said there is some agreement between the governor and the Speaker of the House who support full-day kindergarten.
Wolkins said municipal officials across Indiana are supporting a tax restructuring proposal called Hometown Matters, a plan that aims to reduce reliance on property taxes.
"The proposal gives local government flexibility, but people's taxes will increase since the plan only dedicates 25 to 75 percent of the new money raised to reducing property taxes," Wolkins said.
He said the additional revenue will be used for ongoing services.
The proposal would make alternative financing available to local officials, creating new local sales taxes and supplemental income taxes.
