INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -
Republicans control the governor’s office and hold supermajorities in both
chambers of the Indiana General Assembly. But their lack of consensus on
several issues looms large as lawmakers ready for the 2016 legislative
session, which kicks off Tuesday.
Likely to dominate
the 10-week session, lawmakers say, is finding a way to fund Indiana’s
poorly rated roads, determining whether LGBT civil rights protections should
be added into law and addressing the long-delayed release of student’s ISTEP
test scores while also easing the state’s teacher shortage.
Gov. Mike Pence has
proposed a $481 million increase in state highway spending, requested a $42
million boost for his Regional Cities initiative and wants a one-year pause
in using the latest ISTEP scores to determine teacher merit pay. Many of
those big ideas have received a withering welcome from GOP leaders in the
House, though Senate Republicans generally support his proposals and
everyone seems to agree something should be done about ISTEP.
Then there’s the
much-anticipated debate over the possibility of extending civil rights
protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people - an issue
many, including Pence, would rather avoid.
It’s driven a wedge
in the GOP base between the pro-gay rights Indiana Chamber of Commerce and
social conservatives, who oppose the idea on religious grounds.
Senate Republicans
have proposed a bill that would extend LGBT discrimination protections in
public accommodation, housing and employment while also including a long
list of religious exemptions. Pence has refused to say where he stands on
the matter, while House Speaker Brian Bosma has said doing nothing would be
the easiest choice for House Republicans in an election year.
“Just because
you’re in the supermajority doesn’t mean you’re going to move smoothly,”
said Andy Downs, director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
GOP tensions were
highlighted recently after Pence held a series of widely publicized news
conferences around the state, promising a $42 million increase in state
spending for Regional Cities, which pitted seven Indiana regions against
each other in a competition for funding that will pay for quality-of-life
improvements.
The problem? Bosma
says the Pence administration forgot to tell lawmakers, who must vote on the
increase Pence promised to the winning South Bend, Fort Wayne and Evansville
metro areas.
“The governor and
the administration have set it up so there will be disappointment if we
don’t do it,” Bosma said recently.
“A phone call
probably would have been in order from the administration on that.”
Another thing that
Pence has to run by the Senate and House but has already touted as
“accomplished” in a recent fundraising email is his plan to boost short-term
state highway spending starting in 2017. Pence wants to borrow $240 million
while siphoning $241 million from the state’s budget reserves.
Rep. Ed Soliday,
Republican chairman of the House Roads and Transportation committee, says
his own, competing proposal would help solve long-term road funding woes by
increasing the cost of cigarettes by $1 a pack while allowing the state’s
gas tax to keep pace with inflation. Pence, however, does not support a tax
increase.
Both Bosma and
Pence downplayed their differences.
In a statement,
Bosma said he has “great respect” for Pence, though the two “occasionally
disagree.” Pence spokesman Matt Lloyd struck a similar tone, saying “any
differences that exist on policy are normal differences that exist between
the Legislature and the executive branch.”
But Indianapolis
Rep. Dan Forestal, the ranking Democrat on the House roads committee,
offered a different word to describe the GOP divide: “messy.”