Time's running out -- or is it?

Mar 4, 2010 — The Indianapolis Star

Mary Beth Schneider and Bill Ruthhart

Mar. 4, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Lawmakers played legislative chicken Wednesday, with Democrats and Republicans waiting to see who will compromise on issues such as unemployment insurance and job creation by today's self-imposed deadline.

Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said the Senate is willing to stay longer -- until the March 14 cut-off date set in law -- if that's what it takes to craft a deal.

"The Senate's not going to leave town without doing our business," Long vowed.

But House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, who set today as the early deadline to finish the 2010 legislative session, questioned whether a few days would accomplish what two months of talk has not.

"If we haven't done this in two months, what hope is there we could do this beyond tomorrow?" Bauer said. "It's better to go home. It's better to say we did our best, and God bless you."

He had one word of advice for the Senate: "Concur."

The Senate, he said, could simply accept the House versions of bills, including one to stall an unemployment insurance premium increase enacted last year. That issue is of top importance to Republicans. Democrats' priority is a package of tax credits they think will spur up to 60,000 jobs.

The two issues, in separate bills, are now linked in negotiations.

If the Senate doesn't go along with the House versions of the unemployment insurance fix, the jobs package and a handful of other bills, Bauer said, then "they've made the choice not to do anything."

Long said a take-it-or-leave-it attitude is "not going to work for either side."

Emerging from a meeting in Bauer's office Wednesday evening, Long said they were making progress.

"Everyone has a few things they'd like to see in this," he said. "There aren't so many issues that we can't get it resolved."

Lobbyists for business groups and labor unions filled the Statehouse hallways Wednesday, waiting for word on whether any agreement had been reached on delaying a scheduled increase in unemployment insurance premiums for businesses, as lawmakers met behind locked doors.

"I'm still cautiously optimistic," said Indiana Chamber of Commerce President Kevin Brinegar. "There's no good reason for anyone to want an unnecessary $400 million a year tax increase to hit employers and their employees in May of this year."

That increase was passed by the legislature in 2009 to begin fixing Indiana's drained unemployment trust fund, now being sustained by billions in federal loans. But with the economy still struggling, legislators fear that the increase will only cause more layoffs and hiring freezes.

The Senate passed legislation to delay the increase for one year. The House amended the bill to repeal the tax increase and other unemployment changes enacted with it last year. Democrats also added provisions to adjust benefits for inflation and to make it harder for companies to avoid paying unemployment premiums by misclassifying workers as independent contractors.

Rep. David Niezgodski, D-South Bend, said Democrats made it clear at those negotiations that something will have to be done for job creation.

Delaying or repealing the premium increase "might save some workers from losing their jobs now," he said. "But we have no knowledge whatsoever that it will gain any new jobs. For the 300,000-plus people who are out of work, it's not going to do much for them. We have to do something that gives them some hope."

Other issues still being negotiated:

Education funding: Both the House and Senate have passed measures to let schools tap other funds to cover their operating expenses as districts cope with budget cuts.

But Senate Republicans, in their version of House Bill 1367, want to give that flexibility only to schools that don't increase salaries, including for teachers.

Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, said that although no agreement had been reached, "I don't think the differences are that great."

Statewide smoking ban: Two versions have passed the House but failed to receive a vote in the Senate.

Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, who's pushed the ban for years, placed the proposal in two bills being considered by House and Senate negotiators.

Brown's latest proposal would ban smoking in public places, with exemptions for casinos, horse tracks, fraternal organizations and smoking shops. And this time he added a twist: It wouldn't become law until July 1, 2011.

Brown said he made that change after Long, the Senate president, said the issue should wait a year, citing the current poor economic conditions for businesses.

But Long declared the proposal dead late Wednesday, saying he wasn't open to a ban in 2011.

"It's just not something we're going to discuss in the Senate," he said. "We're not going to do it in the last 12 hours of the session."

Guns at work: Negotiators appeared close to striking a deal on House Bill 1065, which would allow workers to take their guns with them to work, as long as they keep them in a locked car, out of sight from passers-by.

The proposal has drawn opposition from businesses, who argue that it deprives them of their right to set policies needed to protect their employees and facilities.

The bill would give exemptions to some groups, including schools, universities, child-care facilities and domestic violence shelters. Wednesday's negotiations centered on whether other groups also should be exempt.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0095-42583714