The annual session of the Indiana General Assembly is over. Members will convene again next year. But, do we need the legislature to meet every year?
There was a time, not too many years ago, when the lawmakers met only every other year. The pressure was on to conduct important business in a period of two months, adopt a budget for two years and make law or amend statutes where truly needed.
Someone convinced the legislators and the general public that every other year was not enough. Now the legislature meets every year. This year it met for what is called the “long” session, 61 days maximum. A creditable job was done thanks in part to the leadership of our Hamilton County senators and representatives.
Members did their job, adopted a balanced budget, enacted or amended several statutes dealing with veteran benefits, tougher drug penalties, pre-K funding and promoting technology among others.
That was fine, but is it necessary to convene again next year for 30 days in the so-called “short” session. That’s when it could get questionable. Meeting annually is also costly and probably discourages some people from running for the legislature.
The recent session was generally regarded as successful for Hamilton County and for the state. Our local school systems gained some ground in school funding, and a highway funding bill will mean millions more dollars for our roads and streets.
The cost of the highway funding will amount to another ten cents a gallon at the gas pump, and that’s probably worth it if we see more and better roads for our rapidly growing community. The additional $13 million to local schools will not add to current state taxes.
But, what are they going to do next year? It’s hard to tell. They won’t have to adopt a budget, they say they won’t need to take up gas taxes again, they won’t have to tinker with school aid. They really won’t HAVE to do anything. That’s when the unnecessary things come out.
What could happen? Legislators could fool around with social issues which would most likely lead to political and legal problems. They could kick the issue of cold beer in the gas station around again, or maybe adopt an official state insect.
Fact is, it’s too late to call off next year’s session. But, if it does not go well and is not productive, someone should have the political fortitude to call for sessions every other year. After all, if there was a true emergency, a special session could always be called.