Legislators Give Update On SessionState Senators Ryan Mishler and Jim Banks, along with State Representative Kathy Heuer, spoke to a room full of political, business and civic leaders this morning at the Warsaw/Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce Mid-Session Legislative Update.
The event, at the Kosciusko Community Hospital Health and Wellness Center, was a chance for the legislators to give updates on what bills have come out of committee, have passed the House or Senate or have failed to do either.
Heuer was a last-minute replacement for Rep. Rebecca Kubacki who, due to a snow day two weeks ago, was in committee meetings all day today.
Rep. Dave Wolkins was also in committee meetings and unable to attend.
Mishler said one of the things he was working on was to create more equity in what schools are given per student in the state.
Currently, some schools receive as little as $5,000 a student while others receive upwards of $12,000.
He also referenced Senate Bill 575, which reforms collective bargaining in the state.
Mishler said he wanted to see local school boards have more control in determining how much they can pay their good teachers.
Tuesday, Mishler said, will be the midway point of this legislative session.
Mishler stated that the state is facing a billion dollar shortfall and the state's biggest expenses come from education and Medicaid.
He said 500,000 more people will be on Medicaid because of new health care legislation.
One thing that Mishler said disturbed him was that funding was being cut for people with special needs and disabilities like Cardinal Services.
Another cost the state is facing is an $80 million interest payment for the state's unemployment fund.
Indiana borrowed $2 billion from the federal government to fund unemployment insurance.
Mishler said there are signs things are getting better. Indiana's unemployment rate has dropped to 9.5 percent, which he said is the lowest in the Great Lakes Region.
Heuer later said she was working on loosening restrictions for businesses to allow for more places where they could operate. That includes older buildings in the state.
Banks reiterated many of the things he had said when he was in Warsaw Saturday for another legislative session.
Banks said the collective bargaining bill will be the most significant piece of education reform the legislature will pass this session.
During a question-and-answer session, Warsaw Community Schools Superintendent Dr. Craig Hintz said he heard there was an amendment in place to use a third party as an arbitrator between the schools and teachers when it comes to salary issues.
Banks said he voted against the amendment, and Mishler said the idea by some was to not take all the power from the teachers and put it into the hands of the school districts but rather level it with a third party.
Hintz said he believed that the school districts should be responsible and not a third party.
Plain Township Trustee Jerry Kammerer asked if there was any legislation to eliminate townships or trustees or streamline local government.
All three legislators said they were against such reforms and believed that local government, especially for rural counties, should remain in tact.
Mishler, responding to another question, said there was nothing coming through in terms of eliminating county commissioners in exchange for a county manager or executive.
United Way Community Impact Coordinator Mary Gerard asked what the status was for legislation regarding the sale of pseudoephedrine products, which are used in the manufacture of meth.
Banks said a bill that would schedule PSEs is dead, and that instead a senate bill, which would track sales of the products, was looking to pass.
Chamber President Mark Dobson said the chamber has a couple of events on the horizon.
They will have a legislative bus trip March 16 that leaves at 8:30 a.m.
On April 15, they will host a meet-the-candidates forum for local offices.
For more information, call the chamber at 574-267-6311.
