INDIANAPOLIS
(AP) — Gov.-elect Mike Pence will include tort reform in a first-year
legislative agenda that is slowly taking shape.
Pence has
declined to release the details of his legislative agenda before he is
sworn in Monday. But Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, told The Associated
Press on Thursday that he filed Pence's proposal to make losers in
lawsuits pay all the legal fees.
Delph also
is leading a group of senators who will push Pence's proposal for a 10
percent cut in the personal income tax.
The tort
reform measure has long been a priority among conservatives nationwide
and would change Indiana's law to require the losers pay all the fees
for civil lawsuits. Judges now have discretion over who decides.
Pence never
mentioned tort reform while running for governor but he pushed the issue
while serving in Congress. Pence spokeswoman Christy Denault did not
immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday.
Pence has
said that he plans to meet with legislative leaders shortly after his
inauguration next week to discuss his agenda. He also said he will
submit his first budget next week.
Senate
Education Chairman Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, plans to push a Pence
proposal to create workforce councils around the state. The councils
would be run through the Indiana Education Roundtable and try to match
high school students with open jobs around the state.
Pence and
the Legislature's top Republicans have said they want to spend 2013
finding ways to train students in the skills needed for new
manufacturing jobs.
The tax cut
and workforce development proposals were talked about in Pence's
campaign "roadmap." But the specifics of how Pence would accomplish many
of those campaign promises has remained a question that many expect to
be answered once drafted as legislation.
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