I saw a story in the Journal & Courier about Evan Bayh gearing up for a Presidential bid. I don’t have any particular problem with the guy but he strikes me as far too bland to capture the popular imagination enough to capture a nomination or the election. Blandness wouldn’t be as big a problem if he were some sort of genius at policy, but I haven’t gotten that sense either. As far as I can tell, he got elected as the boy-Governor because he was Birch Bayh’s son. He did an adequate job as Governor and got elected Senator. Now the Senate seat is probably his as long as he wants it, and he’s doing an acceptable job. But, I don’t see him as being a compelling Presidential candidate. Certainly, I don’t think the Democrats want to run another Senator’s son if they want to push a middle/working-class message.
HB 1002 – Inspector General
Since it has been cited as one of the main reasons for the Democratic walkout last week that killed a gross of bills (give or take), I thought I’d take a look at the inspector general portion of House Bill 1002.
As written, the Inspector General (IG) would be an attorney appointed by the Governor and serve entirely at his pleasure. The salary of the IG would be set by the Governor and approved by the budget agency, but could not be reduced while a particular IG was in office. He would be responsible for addressing fraud, waste, abuse, and wrongdoing in agencies; would be required to initiate, supervise, and coordinate investigations (presumably with regard to waste in the agencies of state government, but no limitation is specified) and recommend policies and carry out activities designed to “eradicate” fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement, and misconduct in state government. He would also be required to receive complaints concerning the code of ethics he is required to create as well as complaints concerning bribery, official misconduct, conflict of interest, profiteering from public service, or violating executive branch rules or purchasing rules. (Again, one presumes that his purview would be limited to state government, but no such limitation is contained in that section of the statute.)
In the course of an investigation, he can take testimony, issue subpoenas and issue requests for production of documents. There is no indication as to whether these powers are limited by the Indiana Trial Rules as I believe most other subpoena power is — though the IG’s remedy is to apply to a court for a contempt citation if someone fails to comply with a subpoena. I don’t know if a recipient of a subpoena would be entitled to apply to the court for the subpoena to be quashed in appropriate circumstances (say, if the information is privileged or the request is unduly burdensome) or if the IG would be required to reimburse the recipient of the subpoena for the costs of complying with the subpoena.
If the IG decides, in his ultimate wisdom, that there has been a violation of the Code of Ethics he creates, he is supposed to file a complaint with the ethics commission. He can then either prosecute the ethics violation before the commission (for whom the IG provides rooms and staff, incidentally) or negotiate a settlement and apply to the ethics commission to rubber stamp its approval.
If the IG decides that there has been misconduct that has resulted in financial loss to the state or unlawful benefit for an individual in the conduct of state business, the IG can file a report with the Attorney General. If, after 180 days have passed, the Attorney General decides not to file a civil suit, then he is required to refer the matter back to the IG who gets a second crack at filing the civil suit himself. (Interestingly enough, the way the statute is written, if the Attorney General recovers the lost money without ever filing a civil suit, the IG is still permitted to proceed with suit. Obviously, the defendant would have a pretty good shot of prevailing in that circumstance.)
If the IG decides there has been criminal activity, he is required to file a report with “the appropriate prosecuting attorney.” I don’t see that the IG’s prosecutorial powers are limited to misconduct by state employees. I think public misconduct at the local level can be prosecuted by this appointee of the governor. If the prosecuting attorney decides to proceed with criminal charges, he can have the IG prosecute the case. If the elected prosecutor exercises his discretion and decides not to prosecute the case, the IG can then go to the governor and ask to be appointed as special prosecutor. If the governor agrees, he asks the Supreme Court to appoint an appellate court judge foreign to the district in which the crime was allegedly committed. The prosecuting attorney to whom the case was originally submitted must file a response either for or against the IG’s appointment as special prosecutor. The prosecutor is apparently not permitted to take no position on the issue. The appellate court judge is then required to determine whether the IG should be appointed as special prosecutor. The IG is required to get a grand jury indictment to bring charges. An attorney in the IG’s office can serve as a deputy prosecutor on the case. The identity of the person who files an accusation with the IG is required to be kept secret, even from the person being charged with wrongdoing.
The term “law enforcement agency” as used in parts of the Indiana Code is amended to include the IG’s office.
Just a thought, and I’m probably wrong, but I wonder if the IG’s prosecutorial powers are even Constitutional. Article 3, Section 1, specifies that the powers of government are divided into executive, legislative, and judicial and that no person charged with duties of one department shall exercise any of the functions of the others except as the Constitution specifically provides. Near as I can see, the prosecutorial function of government is set forth in the judicial section of the Constitution. (Article 7, Section 17 – 18.) The IG is very clearly a creature of the executive branch.
SB 423 – Forfeiture of public pensions for misconduct
Senate Bill 0423 Forfeiture of public pensions for misconduct. Provides in certain circumstances for the forfeiture of all or a portion of a pension benefit from the state excise police and conservation enforcement officers’ retirement fund, the public employees’ retirement fund, and the state police benefit system. Failed 24-24.
SB 327 – Property Tax
Senate Bill 0327 Passed 48 – 0. (I’m not even pretending to analyze this one.)
Delays the next general reassessment of real property by two years and requires general reassessments every five years thereafter. Delays until 2006 implementation of annual adjustments of real property tax assessments. Amends the factors to be included in the annual adjustment rule of the department of local government finance (DLGF). Allows assessors to employ professional appraisers to assist with annual adjustments. Requires the DLGF to: (1) review and certify annual adjustments; (2) establish local deadlines in the determination of annual adjustments; (3) provide training to assessors and county auditors in the verification of sales; (4) approve a determination by assessors to not employ a professional appraiser for a general reassessment; and (5) adopt rules for the establishment of a statewide integrated property tax management system. Allows the DLGF to take over local assessment, reassessment, or annual adjustment activities if it determines that the activities are not being performed properly. Allows the filing of an assessment registration notice with the county assessor or the area plan commission. Renames the assessment training fund as the assessment training and administration fund, extends for four years the $10 sales disclosure form filing fee, requires deposit of 40% of the revenue from the fee in that fund instead of the state general fund, and allows the Indiana board of tax review to use money in the fund to conduct appeal activities. Eliminates the county property tax reassessment fund and provides for funding of assessment activities through the general fund. Directs the department of state revenue to withhold state property tax replacement fund distributions to counties for various reasons. Prohibits an appraiser or a technical advisor that serves a township or county from representing taxpayers in the county. Authorizes a refund of property taxes paid by an exempt sorority that meets certain criteria.
SB 324 – Geologist licensing
Senate Bill 0324 Geologist licensing. Squeaker – passed 27-21.
Allows geologists to form professional corporations. Redefines “geology” and “public practice of geology” in the geologist licensing statute. Provides that failure to pay a renewal fee for a licensed professional geologist results in suspension of the license. Makes conforming changes. Repeals a statute defining “survey” as the geological survey.
SB 171 – Personal Property Tax & Repossessions
Senate Bill 0171 – Personal Property Taxes. Requires a creditor that acquires and transfers personal property on which the creditor holds a lien and on which personal property taxes have been adjudicated delinquent to pay all or part of the delinquency from the proceeds of the transfer according to a formula that apportions the proceeds between the lien amount and the delinquency amount. Allows a creditor to deduct from the proceeds of the transfer any direct, out-of-pocket expenses that the creditor incurs for the repossession, maintenance and disposition of the personal property before applying the formula and paying the delinquent personal property taxes. (Sale*tax/(tax+lien)) Passed 38-10.
Less than a Day or a Week?
My memory is faulty and I’m having trouble figuring out how long House Republicans boycotted the House last year when they were in the minority. According to this article they were out for a week:
Near the end of the 2004 session, Republicans boycotted the House for a week, killing dozens of pieces of legislation, because Democrats refused to let them debate a gay marriage ban proposal.
(According to news reports earlier in the week their walkout killed about 80 bills.)
According to Rep. Tom Saunders, quoted here by Rebecca Helmes in the Palladium-Item, the Republicans weren’t gone for even a day:
“There was a real difference here,” Saunders said. “We never stayed gone for an entire day. Basically, we’ve wasted two months.”
I’d be much obliged to anyone who can reconcile the statements for me, or at least tell me when the Republicans were gone last year and whether the House was in session those days (and, if not in session, whether the House didn’t convene solely because the Republicans were gone.)
(And the Republicans are spouting nonsense when they say that their boycott was different because they were trying to force consideration of a bill whereas the Democrats were trying to stop consideration of a bill. By this logic, the Democrats would be justified in walking out any time a committee chair declines to hear a bill. And that, seems to me, makes for a ridiculous distinction. Either they’re both deserving of praise or both deserving of condemnation, and in approximately equal amounts. Less legislation doesn’t bother me. Hypocrisy does.)
Minor adjustment
This page was loading slowly for me for the past couple of days. My best guess is that it has something to do with the number of entries being displayed. So, I cut it back to displaying entries for the past 15 days. Prior entries are available in the archives, month-by-month. We’ll see if this helps any.
Daniels RV Manufacturer to Lay Off Workers
Apparently the company that donated Mitch Daniels’ RV should have been saving its money. Monaco Coach is laying off between 135 and 270 workers in Elkhart County.
Other Opinions on Democratic Boycott
The Journal & Courier found itself in the interesting position of not being able to reach a consensus on writing an editorial regarding the House Democrats refusing to be present for the House quorum call. Uncertainty seems more representative of my view than the strident, morally righteous tone adopted by the Indianapolis Star editorial board. The J&C said:
Facing a deadline for today’s editorial about the Indiana House of Representatives’ partisan meltdown Tuesday that stranded scores of bills and other business, our editorial board could agree on neither the content nor the process for writing our view, so we just bagged it. But don’t worry, we here on the Journal and Courier editorial board still believe we’re doing “the people’s business.” And don’t worry, either, about our board members; they were still paid for the efforts you see here.
The Muncie Star Press was about as indignant as the Indianapolis Star was. I just can’t get past the vague reasons for why it was o.k. for the Republicans to walk out last year and not o.k. for the Democrats to do the same thing this year. They say that “the GOP delays did not have the same huge impact on new legislation.” Previous reports have mentioned that the GOP killed about 80 bills (in a short session, it should be noted) when they pulled a similar stunt. The Democrats this year killed 130 bills. I’m just not sure why the Muncie Star Press puts such a premium on 50 extra bills.
The Muncie Star Press says:
If Bauer thinks that Indiana voters will have sympathy for House Democrats who stand for election in less than two years, he is sadly mistaken. Citizens expect lawmakers to vote up or down on important legislation, not engage in blocking tactics that serve only petty political ends.
Indeed. Just as Hoosiers punished the House Republicans for their walkout last year. Oh, wait. The Republicans were rewarded for their behavior. Let’s face it, the average Hoosier has little to no idea what’s going on in the State House in Indianapolis. To think they’re going to remember that the Democrats killed an Inspector General bill two years from now really overestimates the interest of the average citizen in state politics. And all the handwringing about “the people’s time” and “the people’s money” being wasted? Please. My guess is that the fewer laws the legislature passes, the more money we save.
The Evansville Courier Press, in a news story, makes the terrorism analogy explicit. “The day after 131 bills died because House Democrats walked out on the legislative session, Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels compared their actions to terrorists and Republicans made no effort to smooth over the rift.” I also note from this article that Governor Daniels seems to be comparing House Democrats to Nazis: “”It’s harder to understand why not one House Democrat had the courage or the conscience to stay at work when (Bauer) told them to walk off the job,” Daniels said. “I guess they were just following orders.”” (Besides the Nazi allusion, I believe the statement is factually incorrect. If news reports were to be believed, the Democrats left one or two members on the floor to monitor the Republicans.) The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette also describes Governor Daniels as “using terrorist buzzwords.”
Going back to the Evansville Courier Press’s news article, I’m really amused by Representative Van Haaften’s response to Speaker Bosma’s pronouncement that “the public is not pleased.”:
Mount Vernon Democrat Trent Van Haaften said that’s not the message he’s getting from constituents back home. He said he has mostly heard from people about funding cuts to education, not the issues of the day Tuesday – voter identification and the inspector general.
“Down here in the corner of our state, we don’t have a problem with voter fraud that they allege there in Indianapolis,” he said. “That issue doesn’t resonate as much here. The inspector general bill is the same thing. We’ve got prosecutors around here that do their job.”
The Evansville Courier Press’s editorial on the subject, seems very sensible. Their take generally is that the Democrats killed the Republicans’ momentum, there is still time to resurrect some of the initiatives, Senator Garton runs a tight ship and won’t allow a lot of monkey business with amendments – particularly with Daylight Saving Time. The editorial suggests that a lot of legislators might be just as happy that DST not come up for a vote given the potential for constituent backlash. It points out that the boycott probably could have been avoided had leaders on both sides been willing to compromise. They suggest that the inspector general post doesn’t need prosecutorial powers because there is no evidence that county prosecutors are not doing their job. They suggest that opposing the voter ID bill probably doesn’t do Democrats much good because the sorts of people unwilling or unable to produce ID probably don’t vote much. So, a logrolling deal probably could have been reached where Republicans give up state inspector prosecution and Democrats allow voter ID. They note the potential for Republicans to use the walkout as an issue but then note that the Republicans did the same thing last year. And yet last year, life went on. And so it will this year.
The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette is a bit more balanced in its assessment than were other anti-boycott editorials, but it ultimately concludes that the Democrats were wrong to boycott the final two days of session. They use the specious rhetoric about legislators being paid but not working. Do you think the outrage would subside if the legislators agreed to waive their pay for those two days? Of course not. But, they point out that the Democrats could have handled things better. No doubt. The Journal Gazette is spot-on with this analysis though:
Republicans are not entirely without blame. They pulled their own walkout in the waning days of last year’s legislative session, when they were in the minority, over the Democrats’ refusal to vote on a gay marriage amendment. As a result, a number of bills failed to come to a vote.
Republicans tried in vain Tuesday to argue the issues are different, that Republicans wanted to be heard in 2004 and want Democrats to speak in 2005. But the two walkouts were motivated by the same overarching political imbalance: Each party didn’t get its way.
Nor has Daniels helped with his vitriolic condemnation that Democrats “car-bombed†Indiana’s drive for progress. Suggesting the walkout is equivalent to the Iraq insurgency was over the top.
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