By VICKI URBANIK

A bill that would capture regional sales tax money in order to extend the South Shore commuter service to Valparaiso and Lowell cleared the Indiana House by a 55-41 vote Tuesday.

The bill, H.B. 1220, was amended to restrict ability of the members in Porter and Lake counties to opt out of the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, the bi-county agency expected to issue bonds to pay for the South Shore extension.

Under the amendment that passed Tuesday, the cities and counties could opt out of the RDA only once every 10 years and only with the approval of the RDA.

Further, if either county government or the cities of Hammond, East Chicago or Gary do opt out, they would be liable for a share of bond payments toward any RDA capital project in effect at the time they opt out.

Currently, each of the five RDA members pay $3.5 million a year toward the RDA. Porter County government’s share comes from the county income tax.

The bill, authored by Rep. Chet Dobis, D-Merrillville, divided lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle, as well as the Northwest Indiana delegation.

The Northwest Indiana House members who voted yes were Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso; Greg Simms, R-Valparaiso; Linda Lawson, D-Hammond; Candelaria Reardon, D-Munster; Tom Dermody, D-LaPorte; and Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City.

The Northwest Indiana members who voted no were Charlie Brown, D-Gary; Vernon Smith, D-East Chicago; Dan Stevenson, D-Highland; and Don Lehe, R-Brookston.

In all, 39 Democrats voted yes and 16 Republicans voted yes. Voting no were 10 Democrats and 31 Republicans. Two members were excused, and two others did not vote.

The two top leaders in the House – Speaker Pat Bauer, D-South Bend, and minority leader Brain Bosma, R-Indianapolis – both voted yes.

Soliday, whose 4th district includes the Duneland community, issued the following statement outlining his support for the bill.

“The population in northwest Indiana is growing, and I have no indication of when it will stop,” Soliday said. “People are moving to northwest Indiana and we have to provide them with a method of transportation. Our roads are already crowded, and we can’t continue putting more cars on the road. When you put mass transit in areas that are growing, the economic engine grows and so does the sales tax and so does the income tax, which in return will come back to the state general fund.”

The bill would capture roughly $30 million annually from the state sales tax paid in Lake and Porter counties. That money would be used toward bond payments, anticipated for 30 years, for the capital costs of the South Shore extension.

The total upfront cost is estimated at $1 billion, with half expected to come from federal funds, $150 million from the RDA, and the remaining $350 million from the sales tax mechanism in H.B. 1220.

H.B. 1220 has also been amended to include the sales tax mechanism for improvements on the existing South Shore line in Michigan City eastward to South Bend.

The bill now moves to the Senate.

Posted 1/30/2008