Published: May 05, 2009 12:24 am      

Special session disappointing

THE ISSUE:The legislative session.

OUR VIEW:When it came to taxpayers, lawmakers came up short.

We were disappointed but not surprised that Indiana lawmakers failed to adopt a budget ahead of last week’s deadline. Almost from the outset, legislators seemed to struggle to do much of anything this year. In the end, though, they did manage a few accomplishments.

They approved a plan designed to fix the state’s bankrupt unemployment fund, which pays out millions of dollars more in benefits than it collects in taxes from employers. And to their credit, they managed to do it without cutting benefits for unemployed Hoosiers.

Lawmakers also approved a new law tightening restrictions on teenage drivers. Among other things, the measure would bar drivers younger than 18 from using cell phones and other telecommunications devices while behind the wheel.

And they succeeded in passing a bill to regulate large-scale dog breeding operations, a move that should help the state shed its image as a haven for so-called “puppy mills.”

But when it came to taxpayers, lawmakers came up short.

They failed to enact any of the measures put forward by local government reform advocates, and they failed to approve a proposal to make limits on property tax bills part of the Indiana Constitution.

Lawmakers did come close to approving a budget. The Republican-controlled Senate passed a two-year spending plan minutes before the midnight Wednesday deadline, but the Democrat-led House rejected the bill. House Republicans said the measure spent too much and would leave the state with a shortfall after two years.

Gov. Mitch Daniels agreed, saying that even if the measure had passed, he would have vetoed it. The lack of a budget means Daniels will be forced to call lawmakers back for a special session, but he hasn’t set a date for that.

He’s hoping a little time with constituents might put legislators in the frame of mind to come back and make quick work of reaching a compromise on the budget.

We wouldn’t be at all surprised.

Every day of a special session will cost taxpayers more than $12,000 in legislative per diem.

Add that to the Legislature’s inaction on property taxes and local government reform, and we’re guessing those calls and letters might already be coming in. If you haven’t yet weighed in, though, it’s not too late to join the chorus.

– Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, and Kokomo Tribune