Banner Graphic, Volume 15, Number 193, Greencastle, Putnam County, 13 April 1985 — Page 4

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The Putnam County Banner-Graphic, April 13,1985

Midnight stalemate: Orr mediates last-day scheduling squabble

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The Indiana Legislature will meet Monday for the final day of its 1985 session, a date reached after Gov. Robert D. Orr mediated a midnight stalemate between House and Senate leaders. “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing,” Orr said, describing his reaction when he learned that the two chambers had agreed to reconvene on different days with only one day left in the 61day session. Under Indiana law, when one legislative chamber meets to conduct business, that uses up a session day even if the other chamber is in recess. The bizarre circumstances began to unfold late Friday night, when the Senate approved a motion to reconvene at 10 a.m.

Personal tax exemption to be SI,OOO INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A S4O million bill that gives modest state income tax breaks to Hoosier families is on its way to Gov. Robert D. Orr along with legislation to crack down on tax dodgers. The House concurred with Senate changes in House Bills 1082 and 1674 Friday, the final step in the long legislative road toward enactment. H.B. 1082, retroactive to Jan. 1, raises the SSOO personal exemption for taxpayers, spouses and dependents to SI,OOO. The bill eliminates the second SSOO exemption that can be claimed by taxpayers and spouses who have at least SSOO in income each year. With Indiana’s 3 percent income tax, each SSOO increase in the exemption is worth a sls tax savings. Exemptions for the elderly will remain at $1,500. But the bill raises the state tax credit for the elderly, which now goes to people over age 64 with adjusted gross incomes of SIO,OOO or less. Social Security payments and certain pensions aren’t counted as income for purposes of the elderly tax credit. The credits currently range from $25 to $65 for single taxpayers over 64 and from SSO to S9O for married couples over 64. H.B. 1082 raises them to S4O to SIOO for single taxpayers and SBO to $l4O for married couples. The exemption section of the bill benefits families with a non-working spouse and children over single taxpayers and married couples where both spouses work. For example, a family of four with one spouse working can now claim $2,500 in exemptions: SSOO for each family member and an extra SSOO for the income-earner. Under H.B. 1082, the exemptions would total $4,000 ber. But in a household where both spouses work and there are no children, there would be no benefit from the exemption change. Currently, that household can claim SSOO for each taxpayer and another SSOO apiece for each income-earner. Under the bill, each spouse would get a SI,OOO exemption and no extra tax break as an in-come-earner. The House concurred with the Senate version on a voice vote. The tax compliance bill, H.B. 1674, cleared the House 84-13. The bill is designed to give the Department of Revenue more leverage in collecting more than SIBO million in delinquent taxes by requiring tax clearance before occupational licenses can be issued or renewed. It also would prevent people with outstanding tax warrants against them from winning state contracts or from being paid on contracts already awarded to them.

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today. The House rejected that motion and voted to return to the Statehouse Monday. Both House Speaker J. Roberts Dailey, R-Muncie, and Senate President Pro Tern Robert D. Garton, R-Columbus, had set Friday as the target date for adjournment. But as the date drew near, compromises still hadn’t been reached on the session’s major issues, including the $15.2 billion budget, school funding, a gasoline tax increase and utility reform. The Senate was insistent about wanting to adjourn this week. The House wanted to take more time to print and proof-read the final versions of the bills. As Friday night wore on, there were rumors that the reason why Garton was insisting on a Saturday session was because he had made vacation plans for Sunday. Garton vehemently denied

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Four seniors at North Putnam High School recently assisted members of the Indiana House of Representatives when they were appointed pages by Rep. John Thomas (R-Brazil). Shown at the speaker's podium with Thomas are (from left) Jamie Smith, Denise Hatcher,

Revised Project Primetime bill boosts class size, state funds

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Gov. Robert D. Orr will soon receive a bill to expand one of his favorite educational programs, Project Primetime. The House and the Senate approved revised versions of a bill Friday that would expand the program, designed to reduce class sizes in the early grades of public schools. The measure was one of several approved as the first session of the 104th General Assembly moved toward adjournment. House Bill 1805 would expand the program to second grade in 1985-86 and would give school districts the option of implementing Primetime in either third grade or kindergarten in 1986-87, picking up the omitted grade the following year. Primetime currently is operating statewide with a limit of 18 pupils per teacher. In hardship cases, school corporations can have one teacher and one teacher’s aide in 24-pupil classes. The bill, as revised by a conference committee, would permit second and third grades to have 20 pupils to qualify for Primetime state reimbursement of $19,500 per year, a $1,500 increase over current levels. Rep. Stanley G. Jones, D-West Lafayette, and Sen. William D. McCarty, DAnderson, criticized the measure because it would permit larger Primetime classrooms, with 20 rather than 18 students. But Republicans, including Sen. Thomas D. Hession, R-Shelbyville, said the larger

Kellie Smith and Stephen Spencer. During their day as pages, the students delivered messages for lawmakers and assisted the House staff by distributing bills, committee reports and schedules throughout the Statehouse.

class size would make it easier for many school corporations with little room for extra classes to participate in the program. In other action, the House approved a bill to ban happy hour promotions. The House voted 64-33 to accept Senate changes in the bill and send it on to Gov. Orr. Under the bill, bars, restaurants and private clubs couldn’t sell alcoholic beverages at reduced prices during part of the day, furnish two or more drinks when a customer orders one or require that two servings be purchased for a single price. Supporters said the measure is designed to stop promotions that encourage people to drink large quantities of alcohol in a short period of time, normally at the end of the working day. They said the bill, which would take effect in September, would also help reduce drunken driving. Senate changes approved by the House extend the measure to private clubs and include a section to give bar and restaurant owners protection from lawsuits for refusing to serve intoxicated customers. Both chambers also approved a measure that would give the Public Service Commission instructions on deregulating the telecommunications industry. The Senate voted 36-11 and the House 6533 to approve a revised version of Senate Bill 530. The measure, which now goes to the governor, instructs the PSC to move toward deregulation of the telephone industry in areas or services where there is advancing competition. The bill also includes a provision stating

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that after leaving Orr’s office after la.m. today. “You’re kidding. I had no plans for a vacation. In fact, I canceled a business trip to St. Louis for the Council of State Governments’ Midwestern Conference,” Garton said. Asked why the House was determined to have the last day next week, Dailey replied, “I think they were tired and wanted to get home and get their 1040’s filed,” a reference to federal income tax forms due Monday. Shortly after midnight, the House met secretly in the Ways and Means Committee room under the guise of having joint caucus of Republicans and Democrats a highly unusual move to decide what to do next. As doors were slammed on reporters seeking to cover the session, lawmakers contended that

that, if deregulation is permitted, telephone companies shouldn’t be allowed to raise residential rates in order to hold prices down on business service. In other action: —The House voted 88-8 for a revised version of H.B. 1861, which would establish an Indiana tax court with one judge who would hear appeals of determinations by the state Department of Revenue and the State Board of Tax Commissioners. The conference committee report was approved Wednesday by the Senate, and the bill now goes to the governor. —Both houses approved a revised version of H.B. 1322, which would require the state to pay for the mandated 40 hours of training a county jail officer must have within the first year on the job. The conference committee report, approved 40-0 in the Senate and 88-8 in the House, removed Senate-added language that would have set up a fund to pay counties to house their own misdemeanor offenders rather than send them to state institutions. —The Senate voted 27-17 to accept House changes in S B. 248, which requires a voter to transfer registration after moving within a precinct. The House relaxed the requirements so that a voter could perform the transfer at a polling place on election day—Both chambers approved a revised version of H.B. 1300, which addresses a variety of alcoholic-beverage issues. The conference committee removed from the bill a provision that would have required drug stores to maintain separate areas for the display, storage and sale of alcoholic beverages.

they are exempt from the open door law which they passed to ensure that the public’s business is conducted in public. Orr brought the legislative leaders down to his office for a closed-door conference on the situation. “I think probably I served the purpose of bringing the parties together,” the governor said. He attributed the disagreement to the fact that “they’re tired. They’re emotionally exhausted.” Orr said he was optimistic that House and Senate conferees could reach an agreement on a highway funding bill. “I believe there’s a means by which they can bring this thing together,” Orr said. “There seems to be an attitude on the part of the leaders to make the thing work.”

Deadlock broken on license branch reform

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Licensebranch legislation, stalled in a political showdown all week, is moving again in the General Assembly. Senate President Pro Tern Robert D. Garton, R-Columbus, broke the deadlock late Friday night when he removed Sen. Wayne Townsend, D-Hartford City, from a conference committee considering a licen-se-branch measure. Townsend, who criticized the politically controlled license-branch system repeatedly during his unsuccessful campaign for governor last year, had refused to sign a committee report proposed by Rep. William L. Soards, R-Indianapolis. Garton appointed Sen. Thomas D. Hession, R-Shelbyville, to the committee, and Hession said he would sign the conference report. The report already has been signed by Soards, the committee chairman; Sen. Joseph W. Harrison, R-Attica, and Rep. William C. Cochran, D-New Albany. Cochran earlier replaced Rep. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, on the committee. Once the report is signed by four conferees, it becomes eligible for passage in the House and Senate. Garton said the proposal “is worth a vote.” “Wayne told me that I could do what I had to do, and he would do what he had to do,” said Garton. Soards said he asked Garton to remove Townsend. “I’m not convinced Senator Townsend wants the issue resolved,” said Soards. “I don’t think at this point that you could have any conference committee report he would sign.” Townsend said the measure the conference committee will recommend won’t bring true reform. “There’s nothing there that’s real licen-se-branch reform,” he said. “It’s the same thing we have now.” The committee proposal calls for the commissioner of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to name the manager of license branches in each of Indiana’s 92 counties. The measure would ban political contributions from license branch managers,

Multi-county banking bill signals new era

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The long legislative battle over multi-county banking has ended with passage of a bill supporters and opponents agree would usher in a new era in Indiana banking. The Indiana House and Senate approved a revised version of a bill Friday that would allow banks to expand across county lines and would permit Indiana bank holding companies to purchase other Hoosier banks. Sen. Morris H. Mills, R-Indianapolis, said the bill represents a compromise acceptable to representatives of small and large banks. “It’s been a long fight. It’s been at least 17 years that I’ve been associated with it, and I hope at last that we can put it to rest,” said Mills, the longtime sponsor of the measure. Sen. Joseph W. Harrison, R-Attica, said he supported the measure after years of opposition. “I’ve been in this General Assembly 19 years, and I’ve voted against this 16 times,” said Harrison, the Senate majority leader. “Finally, after being pulled each way, I’m going to vote yes.” Senate Bill 1 now goes to Gov. Robert D. Orr, who said Thursday he supports the measure. The Senate voted 41-7 for the bill as revised by a House-Senate conference committee. The House approved the report 88-10. The conference committee version of the bill would permit bank holding companies to acquire more than one bank across county lines. The bill, which would take effect in July, would limit the size of multi-bank holding companies initially to 10 percent of the state’s bank deposits. The limit would rise to 11 percent after July 1, 1986, and to 12 percent a year later. Under the bill, a bank would also be allowed to establish branches in five counties adjacent to its home county. The bill also includes a “reciprocity” provision that would allow banks from neighboring states to acquire Indiana banks if an Indiana bank could do the same

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SEN. WAYNE TOWNSEND 'No true reform'

and require reports on branch finances to be sent to the State Board of Accounts. Townsend said he wants competitive bidding for the branch contracts, a tighter ban on political contributions and a more detailed, public accounting system. The current license branch system, in place more than 50 years, is controlled by the party of the governor. The county chairman of that party appoints a licensebranch manager, and some of the fees from the branches are contributed to the party. The committee proposal would keep intact the distribution of revenue from the sale of personalized license plates to both major political parties. Soards said the proposal is the ninth draft he’s had drawn up since the conference committee began to meet early in the week. The Senate previously passed a bill calling for the state to take over the operation of the system. That measure died in the House, which had approved a measure calling for a commission to study the issue.

with a banking reciprocity law. The conference committee also inclur' a provision that would allow a Hoc bank to avoid takeovers by another -.e or out-of-state bank until July 1. . A bank would have to declare • the Department of Financial Institutions by July 1 this year the bank’s intention to opt out of the bill’s takeover and reciprocity provisions. Sen. William D. McCarty, D-Anderson, a co-sponsor of the measure, said the bill is “a very positive, productive solution that is acceptable to the widest number of citizens.” He said the bill would enhance the state’s economic development efforts and would bring a new competitiveness among banks that eventually will benefit consumers. However, Sen. Lindel O. Hume, DOakland City, said that during negotiations on the banking bill, “we’ve lost sight of who the banking laws in this state were meant to protect, and that’s the people.” Hume said small communities could conceivably lose their small, local banks if they were purchased by larger banks. Sen. Roger Jessup, R-Summitville, suggested that farmers and small businessmen might find it more difficult to borrow money if their local banks are taken over by larger banks in urban areas. Hume and Sen. John Bushemi, D-Gary, also claimed that the bill could lead to a dangerous concentration of wealth. “We’ve gotten ourselves as legislators into a mindset that big is better,” said Bushemi. “But big is not always better. “The power to control credit in our society and the power to control economic resources is important in our society and could lead eventually to the ability to control the political process,” he said. Hume said, “It will be a very short time when we have the wealth of this nation concentrated in the hands of a very few, and if they make an error in judgment, we could have a major crisis.”