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Legislative Update 1/20/10

Wednesday, 20 January 2010
HB 1181 (Chairman Crawford, author) passed out of the House on January 14th with a vote of 55 Yeas to 44 Nays. HB1181 will go to the Senate where Senator Kenley will be the sponsor. HB1181, as it passed the House, provides that townships will stand for a referendum vote this November as to whether or not to retain township government in each township. If the vote fails, the duties of the township will transfer to the county. HB1181 was amended to eliminate nepotism at the township level. Current employees would be able to continue in their jobs until December 31, 2011. An attempt to amend HB1181 with language to eliminate township boards failed in the House with a vote of 22 Yeas to 77 Nays. The ITA testified in committee in opposition to this bill. However, we stated that if the General Assembly feels the need to do anything against township government, then giving citizens a voice in the process is the only way to do it. SB 240 (Senator Lawson, author) will likely be heard for second reading on Thursday, January 21. SB240 calls for the elimination of township boards and transfers the duties to the county. The Indiana Township Association opposes this action. We believe that since township boards are elected in each township, they bring a high level of accountability to the taxpayers at a very inexpensive cost. Township Boards are positioned to react quickly in an emergency and can focus their attention locally. SB240 also has several other provisions including anti-nepotism for townships. The ITA testified against SB240 in committee last week. It passed on a party line vote out of committee. Senator Jean Leising will on Thursday offer an amendment to SB240 to remove the language that abolishes township boards. SB225 (Senator Merritt, author) will be heard on second reading in committee today – amendments only, no testimony. This is a Marion County-only consolidation bill. The ITA testified in committee last week in opposition to SB225.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 16 March 2010 )

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