Referendums for Indiana

Indiana has neither the recall nor the referendum. That lack surprises a lot of people. We would have had both if the Marshall constitution had not been shot down by the Indiana Supreme Court in 1912. The Republicans did not like the constitution proposed by the General Assembly. Now, we have a Republican Governor promoting referendums. So reports yesterday's Indianapolis Star: Referendums to allow vote on projects gain support.

The Star reports at length on the pros and cons of referendums, how a change may or may not affect schools, and is worth reading. A sidebar provides the particulars on the legislation:

How it would change:
Under a referendum, with 100 signatures in hand, opponents could force a public body to place a question on the ballot. Voters then decide whether to OK a bond issue for a big-ticket project (minimum of $7 million).


Bills to watch
• HB 1001: The bill, authored by Rep. Bill Crawford, D-Indianapolis, contains all the provisions of Gov. Mitch Daniels' property tax reform plan, including referendums for big-ticket local construction projects.
• SB 18: Legislation authored by Sen. Gary Dillon, R-Columbia City, contains several provisions dealing with local bond issues and how they are approved and administered.

What's next
HB 1001 has been approved by committee and will now be debated by the full House. SB 18 is ready to get a final vote in the Senate sometime this week.

If we could also get the recall, we would be catching up on 1912.