Banner Graphic, Volume 13, Number 113, Greencastle, Putnam County, 19 January 1983 — Page 3

Writing rights " Bad news for bad-check authors and inmate correspondence

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) A measure that would allow a 5 percent penalty on bad checks is on its way to the Indiana Senate, along with a bill to allow the Department of Correction to bar letter writing from one inmate to another. The measures cleared committee Tuesday. The Senate Agriculture and Small Business Committee voted 8-0 for the bad check bill. The committee took testimony but no vote on a measure that would lower interest charges on agricultural purchases made on credit. Committee chairman and bill sponsor Sen. Roger L. Jessup, R-Summitville, said he is considering whether to amend the credit bill to lift interest ceilings for all credit purchases. That would allow lenders to charge whatever interest rate they wish. If you write a bad check and later make it good, you could owe a 5 percent penalty under a bill sponsored by Sen. John M. Guy, R-Monticello. The bad-check bill would allow retailers or check holders to charge a penalty of $lO or 5 percent of the amount due, whichever is more. Current law allows retailers to charge up to $lO for a bad ■check if the customer agrees to make it good within 10 days. If ■the check remains uncovered, the check writer risks a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $5,000 fine. Guy said the $lO fee is “a deterrant for probably 99 percent of all bad checks that are issued.” He said the average bad check is S4O or $45. His bill is aimed at those who write checks in the thousands of dollars, knowing they won’t have enough money to cover it but still have 10 days to pay without substantial penalty. Guy originally suggested a penalty of $lO or 15 percent of the check, whichever is greater. Jessup, the committee chairman,

Nickel deposit on all drink containers sought

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Ending the day with a can of beer and a cigarette could get more expensive if two Republican legislators have their way. Rep. Lawrence L. Buell of Indianapolis and Sen. Edward Pease of Brazil have introduced separate bills to raise the state cigarette tax and impose a five-cent deposit on all beverage containers. The measures were among 110 bills filed Tuesday for consideration in the 1983 legislative session. Buell’s bill would raise the state’s cigarette tax by five cents a pack or 50 cents a carton. The revenue from the additional tax would go to the State Board of Health to finance local health boards. The state cigarette tax is 10.5 cents a pack now. Pease’s bill would require retailers to charge a five-cent deposit, beginning July 1, 1984, on each can or bottle of beer, mineral water or soft drink sold. The deposit would be refunded when the containers are returned. Anyone who violates the deposit law could face a maximum fine of SI,OOO. Every container sold in violation of the law would constitute a separate offense. Buell also introduced a bill that would create a local-option sales tax. Counties, cities and

'Heart of Indiana' campaign unveiled INDIANAPOLIS (AP) A SIOO,OOO program to publicize social services provided through state government includes a central information number for telephone queries, Gov. Robert D. Orr said. Orr on Tuesday unveiled a “Heart of Indiana” campaign, asking television stations to air free public service announcements advertising an information telephone number HEART. Orr said the federally funded program was meant to reassure Hoosiers “state government continues to meet its obligation to help people who, through no fault of their own, need our assistance” and to provide information about available services. Orr said the federal funds earmarked for the program were provided only for administrative costs, not for actual services. The Department on Aging and Community Services will answer the HEARTIine, with inquiries referred to the appropriate human services agency. “This is a single, coordinated point of contact for the entire range of hundreds of human services the state delivers,” Orr said. Human service agencies will display decals promoting the campaign and state employees in the agencies will wear lapel pins promoting the campaign, Orr said.

Noblesville firemen hurt

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (AP) - One firefighter was hospitalized in critical condition and another was listed in satisfactory condition Tuesday night after a wall collapsed on them while fighting a blaze that had engulfed a furniture store in downtown Noblesville, authorities said. Harold S. Lykes, 29, of Noblesville sustained head and internal injuries and was in critical condition, said spokeswoman Katherine Walsh-Miller for Methodist

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towns could enact a supplemental sales tax of between 1 and 1.5 percent. However, cities or towns could enact the tax only if the county hasn’t adopted it. Sen. Julia M. Carson, D-Indianapolis, filed a bill to prevent the Alcoholic Beverage Commission from issuing permits for the sale of liquor, beer or wine on the same premises where gasoline is sold. The measure would apply to permits issued or renewed after Aug. 31, 1983. Ms. Carson also wants to reduce the volume of business required for a restaurant to get a Sunday liquor sales permit. Currently, a restaurant must sell at least SIOO,OOO in food and beverages a year to qualify for a Sunday permit. Under Ms. Carson’s bill.

Hospital in Indianapolis where Lykes was taken by helicopter. Harold M. Butler, 38, of Noblesville was in satisfactory condition at Riverview Hospital in Noblesville suffering from smoke inhalation and a broken jaw, said Rose Begley, assistant director of nursing at Riverview. The fire began shortly after 8 p.m. after the Ruppert Furniture Store had closed and customers had gone home. The blaze was contained by about 10:30 p.m., fire officials said.

said 15 percent was too high. The committee voted to lower the maximum penalty to 5 percent of the check, or $lO, whichever is greater. Grant M. Monahan of the Indiana Retail Council said retailers face a severe problem coping with bad checks. No one testified against the bill. Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 8-2 for a bill allowing the Department of Correction to prohibit correspondence between jail or prison inmates or those in community corrections or work release programs. Cloid Shuler, deputy commissioner of the Department of Correction, said inmates currently can correspond with anyone. That makes it difficult to maintain protective custody over another inmate who might have cooperated with the correction department, he said, adding that the bill would help “avoid inmates putting contracts out on other inmates.” However, the bill doesn’t limit the correction department’s discretion to cases involving security. Under another bill, which cleared committee 9-0, offenders held by the county or correction department and charged with a new crime or with violating a departmental rule would temporarily stop earning “good time” while the second charge is investigated. Inmates earn one day of “good time” or time off for good behavior for each day they serve. Under the bill, if they face misconduct allegations, they could not be paroled or discharged until a disciplinary hearing was held. A person found innocent of the alleged misconduct would have all earned credit time restored. The judiciary committee voted 8-1 for a bill that would revise the rights of grandparents to visit their grandchildren.

state

Corporation raises nearly $lO million for development

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A who’s who of corporate Indiana has invested nearly $lO million in the Corporation for Innovation Development, a financial “midwife” for struggling new businesses. At a Statehouse news conference Tuesday, Gov. Robert D. Orr and Lt. Gov. John M. Mutz gave a status report on the corporation, authorized by the 1981 Legislature as an economic development tool. Mutz said 68 individuals and businesses have invested in the corporation, buying $9.5 million worth of stock in lots ranging from $50,000 to $500,000. “It is a project that is absolutely remarkable when you consider that these investments were made by Indiana people at a time when it was very difficult to raise that kind of money,” Mutz said. The investors include John Fisher, chairman of the board of the Corporation for Innovation Development and board chairman of Ball Corp.; Central Newspapers, Inc.; Indiana Bell Telephone Co.; General Motors Corp.; Eli Lilly & Co.; Northern Indiana Public Service Co.; and Public Service Indiana. Investors are eligible for state income tax credits and also are exempt from state income tax on the dividends they earn from the corporation. “Permanent jobs in the state

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restaurants which do $50,000 worth of business in food sales alone would be eligible for the special permit. The state would set aside $500,000 for a grant program to provide services to pregnant teenagers and young mothers under a bill introduced by Sens. Michael Gery, D-West Lafayette, and Richard Shank, R-Elkhart. The State Board of Health would administer the funds and award the grants to communitybased health agencies. Pease and Sen. Charles M. Bosma, R-Beech Grove, introduced a bill authorizing the creation of a non-profit corporation known as the Indiana Institute for New Business Ventures. The bill would appropriate $650,000 to the corporation, whose purpose would be to en-

of Indiana, and indeed our economic growth, is going to come from the private sector,” Orr said. “It is very important for government to do everything to facilitate this process, to stay out of the way as much as possible.” The governor noted that venture capital firms are becoming more prevalent in California, Texas, New York and Massachusetts, giving those states the power to lure businesses and jobs. “It is essential, we think, that Indiana not be left out of the scene,” he said. "We are now a part of this whole act.” The corporation, a profitmaking enterprise headed by president Marion Dietrich, has already invested in two small business investment corporations, which traditionally have been a source of venture capital to new businesses. “This offers opportunities to create jobs in Indiana and for Indiana inventors to profit from their efforts,” Fisher said. Among the industries targeted to receive loans from the corporation are telecommunications, robotics, agrigenetics, optic fiber products and medical manufacturers Dietrich, who is executive vice president of Cummins Engine Co., said the only limit on how much can be invested in any one project is “common sense.

Currently, grandparents are allowed to petition a court for rights to visit with their a grandchildren if the child’s parents are divorced or if one of the parents is dead. Sen. Edward Pease, R-Brazil, has introduced a bill that would permit grandparents to petition for visitation rights if the parents were divorced outside of Indiana, but the child is now living in Indiana and the out-of-state divorce decree doesn’t restrict the grandparents from visiting. Sen. William D. McCarty, D-Anderson, added an amendment preventing grandparents from seeking visitation rights if their child has custody of the grandchildren. “I do not feel we should pre-empt the custodial parent’s rights as to who the child should spend time with,” he said. A bill that allows Indiana courts to modify child custody and child support rulings made by foreign courts cleared commitee on a 10-0 vote. The bill applies to children who are American citizens and are currently in Indiana. The bills now move to the full Senate for further action. Meanwhile, the House Judiciary Committee voted 6-0 for a bill that would allow sheriffs to photograph, fingerprint and take other information from criminal suspects. The bill also makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a SSOO fine, for any suspect to give false information to the sheriff or to refuse to cooperate. “This gives the sheriff a little more authority to hold a man in jail long enough to find out what is going on,” said Rep. Thames Mauzy, R-Warsaw, the sponsor of the bill. Jim McConnaha of the Indiana Sheriffs Association said “We feel it’s needed to protect us in case there is a lawsuit.' “The federal courts ar full of these kids of lawsuits,” he said. The bill is headed for the full House for further action.

courage the development of new businesses, particularly those that are technologically oriented. Judges and county prosecutors would get a 10 percent pay raise under a bill introduced by Reps. Craig B. Campbell, D-Anderson, and John Donaldson, R-Lebanon. The measure would raise the salaries of judges on the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals to $51,968 a year. Rep. Jeffrey K. Espich, R-Uniondale, is behind a bill that would allow the Public Service Commission to change utility rates without a hearing, if consumers and other interested parties don’t object. Other bills introduced Tuesday would: -—Ask the Department of Highways to install vending machines at interstate highway rest areas. —Permit crime victims to address the court when a plea bargain is up for consideration. —Allow cities to impose user fees on property owned by the state or a state agency. —Authorize the operation of mctorvehicle license branches to be shifted to the county treasurer's office, if the county council approves. —Return to the old schedule for distributing property tax relief funds to local governments and schools.

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January 19,1983, The Putnam County Banner-Graphic

A proposal to give farmers a 3 percent break on interest rates under a Jessup bill garnered mixed reaction in the Senate Small Business and Agriculture Committee. Last year, the Legislature raised the consumer credit interest ceiling to 21 percent, up from 18 percent. Jessup’s bill would reinstate the 18 percent ceiling for credit sales “made primarily for agricultural purposes.” “We are particularly interested in the economic stability, economic climate of Indiana,” Jessup said, adding that agriculture is the No.l industry in Indiana and the “largest user of borrowed capital in the nation second only to the federal government.” “It is one industry that isn’t going to move out of the state of Indiana,” he said. Representatives of the Indiana Farm Bureau and Indiana Farmers Union said farmers needed help because they are in a capital-intensive industry in which they can’t incorporate business costs into the price of their products. Vaughn D. Story, president of the Indiana Consumer Finance Association, spoke against the bill, saying, “You’re unbalancing a law for a singular special interest group, namely agriculture.” Representatives of the Indiana Bankers Association, Indiana Grain and Feed Association, Farm Bureau Coop, Indiana Implement Dealers Association and Indiana Retailers Association also spoke against the bill. Jessup didn’t take a vote on the bill Tuesday. After the meeting, he said he was considering reevising it to lift the interest ceiling on all purchases. That would deregulate the credit industry.

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