Banner Graphic, Volume 13, Number 117, Greencastle, Putnam County, 24 January 1983 — Page 3

45 proposals filed thus far

Legislature fueled by utility-related bills

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Today is the official deadline for filing bills for the 1983 Indiana General Assembly and enough utility-related legislation has been introduced to power some significant change. The odds are that the legislative process will pull the plug on most of the more than 45 utilityoriented bills introduced so far, although some may become law. Although today is the deadline for filing bills, lawmakers still can revive or introduce a new topic during the amendment stage or in conference committee. The interest in utility legislation may have been boosted by the $Bl million rate increase granted last week to the state’s largest electric utility, Public Service Indiana. The increase was less than the $124.7 the utility requested, but the Public Service Commission decision will raise overall rates by about 12 percent and residential rates by about 15 percent. “Any time there’s a rate increase authorized by this commission when the General Assembly is in session, it probably has an effect,” said Larry Wallace, chairman of the PSC. “I think it will add a lot of fuel to the fire in the processing of legislation,” said Parvin Price, the state’s utility consumer counselor, who represents the public in rate cases. “People simply are tired of seeing their utility bills go up every time they turn around, which is their perception.” David Culp, an organizer for the Citizens Action Coalition, a consumer group, predicted the PSI rate increase would heighten interest in

Hoosier 'lnfant Doe' bill set for hearing this week

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - One of the most emotional issues of the 1983 legislative session will come before the Senate Health. Welfare and Aging Committee this week when the panel hears the “Infant Doe” bill. The measure, sponsored by Sen. James Butcher. RKokomo, was prompted by the death last April of a physically handicapped and mentally retarded baby in Bloomington. The newborn child, who was afflicted with Down’s Syndrome and multiple internal defects, died after a Monroe County judge ruled that the parents had the right to withhold food and medical treatment. The Indiana Supreme Court refused to intervene in the case. In making his ruling. Monroe Superior Court Judge John Baker denied the county prosecutor’s request to have Infant Doe, as the boy was known, declared a child in need of services. Indiana’s juvenile code defines a child in need of services, in part, as one whose physical condition is seriously impaired or endangered by a parent’s refusal to provide medical care. The law permits

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1883 bills that deal directly with the commission. “You are going to see more people talking about an elected Public Service Commission,” Culp said of the utility regulating panel. Several bills deal with adding members to the three-member PSC or letting voters choose the commissioners, a task that now falls to the governor. “I think an elected commission would be ridiculous," Wallace said. “It would be injecting partisan politics into a thing that should not be political.” Price agreed that an elected commission was unnecessary. “I don't think it would resolve any of the problems that have existed or are perceived,” he said. “If they’re going to do anything to the commission, the Legislature should probably increase the pay to some of the staff.” Commissioners “should not owe any favors io anybody other than the general public,”

the judge to take the child into protective custody and to order medical care for him. Baker specifically found that Infant Doe was not a child in need of services and therefore refused to order food or medical treatment for him. Butcher’s bill would amend the juvenile law to spell out that a handicapped child whose life is threatened by being deprived of nutrition or medical treatment is a child in need of services. If enacted, it would take effect June 1. “The purpose of the bill is to make it crystal clear as much as we can, within the law when a juvenile court can obtain jurisdiction over a minor who is being discriminated against,” the senator explained. Butcher, a lawyer who is active in the anti-abortion movement, said the thrust of the bill is that “if you would not withhold medical treatment for a normal child, then you cannot withhold medical services or nutrition from a handicapped child.” Butcher conceded the state’s juvenile law gave Baker the power to act in the Infant Doe

state

case, but he chose not to. Even with the changes Butcher wants to make in the law, a judge conceivably could refuse to intervene. “It’s not a perfect piece of legislation. But a lot of time has been spent on it,’’ he said. “The machinery would be there. It would be much clearer to the reviewing court, to the local authorities, with the guidelines we set for when a child is in need of services.” The senator said he considered using a Louisiana bill as a model for possible legislation in Indiana. But the Louisiana bill was more complex and detailed, he said, and may interfere with doctors’ rights to practice medicine. Butcher said he took a different approach “because there comes a time when the state has an overriding interest in the child.” The bill is scheduled for hearing at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Senate chambers. Among the witnesses Butcher plans to call is the Bloomington pediatrician who sought in vain to save the child’s life.

Wallace said. Referenduins on whether to elect commissions are becoming more popular, but the elected commissions aren’t, Wallace said. Florida has shifted from elected to appointed commissioners, and five states that held referendums rejected elected commissions, he said. Several bills would add one or two members to the commission. “I call those cosmetic changes, to make you think you’re doing something, even though you’re not,” Wallace said. Price said more commissioners might help consumers because the commissioners might become more actively involved in each case. One particularly controversial bill involves whether utilities should be allowed to charge ratepayers for construction work in progress, known as GWIP Under current law. utilities may not recover construction costs through higher rates until the new plant is in service.

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Utilities say by charging for construction work in progress, the consumer would pay less in the long run since the utility would not have to pay interest on money borrowed for construction. Consumers argue rates would jump drastically if utilities were permitted to charge for uncompleted construction. Consumers also say the bill might encourage companies to build unneccessary power plants and would allow utilities to avoid using good management to recover costs. “CWIP is a tough issue. We have not totally made up our mind,” said Price. If the bill were to pass, PSI could more easily recover the cost of its $5 billion Marble Hill nuclear power plant now under construction. “In light of the economy we’re presently in, we w'ould oppose it now, even if CWIP were theoretically good.” Price said. Wallace said what will happen to that bill is “anybody’s guess,” but it is serving as a catalyst for other utility legislation. Price and Wallace agree the issue won’t go away, even if it fades this session. Gov. Robert D. Orr, in his “State of the State" message, indicated he would favor a law requiring utilities to get PSC permission to build new power plants if they eventually want to charge ratepayers for it. “The one thing there seems to be bipartisan support for is prior approval (of plant construction),” said Wallace. “That’s an idea whose time has come,” agreed Culp.

January 24,1983, The Putnam County Banner-Graphic

What's up, doc? Bunny burgers latest craze in Lafayette WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) A company that has been growing rabbits for fur opens a new phase of its business today hoping southern-fried bunny proves tasty to the consumer. Richard Stewart says he thinks people will enjoy the menu at what he believes is the nation’s first fast-food rabbit restaurant. “Although we have no precedent for such a restaurant, we are certain there are a lot of people out there who will enjoy what we have to offer,” says Stewart, president of the Rex Rabbit Corp. of Lafayette. “As far as I can determine, there are no other places like this. ” The restaurant is called Hop Scotch, with “Hop” referring to rabbits and “Scotch” to the cost of the product. If the business here proves successful, Stewart says he will franchise the operation. The Rex Rabbit Corp., which has been in Lafayette since last fall, supplies the fur industry with pelts. It has 42 ranches in the Lafayette area that raise Rex rabbits, known for their excellent fur. Stewart came up with the restaurant idea as a way to use the rabbits' meat as a by-product of the fur business. But until business picks up in this Purdue University community, he says Hop Scotch will buy meat from other suppliers. Stewart says he’s anxious to see if the fast-food rabbit business will catch on. “We are specifically gearing our first restaurant to the college community, hoping that if they like it, they will take the memory with them after graduation and. hopefully, encourage us to expand our restaurant concept,” he says. Although he admits other restaurants serve rabbit, Stewart says they serve it only as one of a number of entrees.

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