Jasper County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 July 1920 — LEGISLATURE IS DEADLOCKED [ARTICLE]

LEGISLATURE IS DEADLOCKED

Over Measures to Correct Incompetency of Last Regular Session. The so-called “blue sky” bill passed both houses of the legislature last week and will no doubt be signed by the governor: The law is to take effect Aug. 1, and, while not entirely fool-proof, it Is expected that it will greatly assist In preventing the gullible Investors from buying stock in fake oil companies and other promotion schemes, as all companies must make a sworn statement of their business to the state officials that will pass muster before they are allowed to peddle their wares (stocks) in Indiana. The war memorial bill which passed the house, appropriating $2,000,000 and the grounds of the Indiana school for the blind and St. Clair park for a world war memorial building In Indianapolis, was amended in the senate to make the appropriation $3,000,000. The house baa asserted very positively that it will not; concur in this increase. Representative Wood is a member oM the house committee appointed to caucus on this bill, and he asserted herb Sunday that hl* committee would,stand pat on the $2,000,000 appropriation. The so-called Kertper tax curative bill as originally presented in the senate had many good points and seemed the most common-sense of any of the numerous bills to rectify the difficulties presented the unauthorized horizontal increases in assessments made by the state tax board and which were recently held void by the supreme court, and also the most equitable to taxpayers, but this bill has been amended to such an extent that most of the good features have been eliminated and by its passage the taxpayers who were affected by the increases held Illegal by the supreme court are going to get it in the neck good and hard, as it will cost them more to hire an attorney to get back the amounts they have or vHll overpay than the individual sums will amount to. This bill has been released by the senate to the house, yesterday’s papers stated, but the memorial, home rule and county unit measures were still in conference, pad it was not believed the session would be able to adjourn until the latter part of the week. In the meantime this second special session of Governor Goodrich’s to correct measures passed by what the governor termed “the best legislature in 50 years," is costing the taxpayers of Indiana $1,2’00"' per day, and the session started July 12, too.