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the Indiana General Assembly returns to the statehouse January 8th bill filing deadlines follow on Tuesday and Thursday in the Senate and the House.

>> Plus a joint session takes place Tuesday night when Governor Eric Holcomb delivers his final State of the state address.

>> But what lies ahead legislatively for Indiana lawmakers will discuss that question with our guests on this edition of PrimeTime.

>> And good evening.

I'm Bruce Haines.

With us today are Mike Wolf.

He is chair and professor of political science and acting director of the Mike Down Center for Indiana Politics at Purdue University.

Fort Wayne Fred McKissic is with us.

He's editorial page editor at the Journal Gazette and joining us to Mitch Harper, local attorney and former state representative.

>> And we're glad you're here to we welcome you to the broadcast as we widen out we say hello to everybody from my right on down.

>> There's Fred Mike, Mitch.

>> Happy New Year, gentlemen and happy New Year to you at home as well.

And with the New Year and the general election that's coming following up on the landmark legislation that's been passed by the legislature in recent years, GOP House Speaker Todd Houston said Republican leadership thought it would introduce fewer priority bills this session to signal that they're in kind of a less is more opinion right now.

Many other lawmakers in the region have been discussing this is that you'd like a quiet session.

So let me ask each view what kind of session are we going to have?& >> Right.

Well, I mean probably one of my favorite German phrases is a strawman drag storm and stress and we've had that a lot both as a state and as a country pretty much as a world.

So I was happy to hear that last session they were what 15 now 11 hundred bills filed and I think so far by this morning I think two hundred and seventy seven.

So it has the potential to be a more quiet session.

However, there are a couple of bills SB 32 which would essentially strip the libraries of their ability to access that act as a taxing unit and therefore pushing everything to county government or municipal governments.

That doesn't seem like a very quiet way of a for this session but I mean there are also some pretty smart ideas out there as well.

>> Mike, how about you?

Yeah, I think you know, normally agenda setting for political scientists are the is the big thing and you think there's nothing like a budget to set the agenda and this year since we don't have a full budget year, there's fewer things on the agenda.

But I don't I find I do think here's some things thatn find their way and certainly there's some things certainly and that organization day events that were around town about child care and some important things, more health things.

But I think the leadership has also said look, we passed so much last years you noted that we have to give it some time to see how the policies that are implemented actually work out.

So I think that we probably will see somewhat of a quiet, quiet year relatively but it is also an election year and some of the cultural issues, some of the issues that we might see in other states with professionalized legislatures and meet all the way year around they might have some innovations that get adopted, you know, as as the session goes on as well.

>> Mitch, what do you see?

>> Oh, I think I think Mike covered covered it well it's an election year and it's it's sort of a double election year for legislators because all the legislators, all of the House members are going to be up for election half the Senate.

But it's a new gubernatorial term.

It's an open seat.

No one knows who's going to win at least on the Republican side.

The nomination they're going to try to avoid controversy and and not only some of the other things I mean we've we've just had budget numbers released but interestingly there certainly were a lot of legislators with the water diversion project to Boone County over in Lafayette in the Wabash Valley.

I think there was going to be quite a bit of legislation introduced.

There is going to be legislation introduced looking at kind the opaque quality of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.

You've got two former heads of the IDC running for governor.

>> They've announced sort of a truce to kick it to this fall when the study's done well guess when that study is probably going to be done.

It will be post November election.

>> They want to avoid that topic.

Yeah, how about that idea too that with the election that there may be a desire among some current seated lawmakers to try to get themselves some additional editorial coverage, you know, on on a matter anything to be sure to cross the finish line in November?

Not necessarily a run but it is maybe if it I guess if it all fits you wear it but let me start with you on that one.

>> You've probably seen that somewhere but well unfortunately you know from my time in the General Assembly to now we see both on the congressional level and increasingly on the state levels that some legislators seem to engage in performance art.

It's controversy for controversy's sake.

The two parties their bases have gotten more distilled and and that's led some folks to to play to their respective base.

I disagree with it wholeheartedly, but I think you'll see a few members some the ones that have gained some notoriety in recent years.

>> They'll be back and they're always the workhorse show horse division.

These people are facing primaries and if they have a primary opponent who a culture warrior on either side that you know, making a name for yourself by getting behind cosponsoring something that might be or even as we mentioned the home rule when working.

What can Indianapolis control locally whether it's the Boone County and Tippecanoe situation or what prosecutors can do in a liberal city or you know, so-called liberal city?

You know, there's a lot of potential areas for people o get some free media au know, make sure that they're moving up the chain as well now that there's some open a few open seats around the state.

>> So we'll see.

I know this is a shorter session supposed to be non budgetary and yet nevertheless it is still one that puts a spotlight on some rather big topics without necessarily a lot of private time to contemplate.

>> But what do you see as some of the one or two top issues on your list that you've either heard or the legislature is wanting to take on or that maybe we'll see if this is the part B question what you think the legislature should take on but what do you hear is on the to do list?

>> Well, tomorrow in tomorrow's paper the Journal that we my co-writer has done a really good piece on some of the things that are coming up in the legislature this term.

Jeff Coveleski, he was in Kokomo for a number of years and just lived in Indiana.

I you graduate and has lots of good contacts and I think one of the pieces that I really thought was very interesting was from somebody that I wouldn't normally side with personally politically.

>> But a.D.A, he's got a great idea about allowing expected parents to claim an income tax exemption worth twenty five hundred dollars.

Now I know the leaders have said we don't really want to talk about money budgetary issues but it's a great idea because we have one of the highest infant mortality rates in the country.

We have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country and if this if we could get families ,women, husbands to go in and you know, talk to a doctor and really get in on pre natal care, we can help really drive that number down and it's one of those things that again I don't know too many people who would look at that and say, well, you know, let's not do that or let's not discuss it.

So I think it should get some sort of discussion or at least I hope it does like and like child care.

>> I think that's certainly been a big thing at the chamber put forward and we're coming out of covid where there was a lot of federal funding to help these kind of matters with inflation and the cost of child care and the inability to pay the specialists as much money as they deserve.

I think it's it could be a critical problem particularly for you know, economic growth, the ability to provide the up and coming people, you know, ability to have.

So it's certainly been noted around the state as an important thing, something I wish you know, my interest is higher education that's usually not been on the primary list when we talk about education K through 12 typically wins out.

But I'd like to focus on that.

I doubt it will happen obviously with the U.S.

I think things may calm down a little bit once they move past a primary election filing in February and things will be a little more maybe a little more settled.

But they're dealing with a lower revenue forecast the the revelation that there's a structural problem with Medicaid now they announced a very large number the other day but this is through twenty twenty five.

I've talked to legislators who indicate that, you know, that can be massaged through this budget cycle but if they don't do something about Medicaid, those costs are now baked in.

They've got to do something to rein in the costs or it will be an ongoing problem for years to come.

The the offset to that may be Indiana has made great strides in paying down the pre 1996 teachers' retirement debt.

I mean they've they've committed a billion dollars a year for several years to do that since 1996 teachers pensions have been fully funded.

They're getting close to the finish line and that will open up in a few years kind of a big amount of additional cash for the for the state it is is working less on the Medicaid side something that could proceed in a short session.

>> Usually the idea the budget doesn't get touched, fiscal things get deferred or is this a more natural to part process where you introduce the concept at Charboneau on Child Care was talking about introducing additional measures to increase staffing, increase contributions for families to be able to participate in the child care system fund pre-K even for that matter.

>> But you introduced the nugget and then you turn in the math 12 months from and I think they have to wait to see who will be helming the new administration and what they will permit.

So I think you're right there's there's going to be they're going to be needing the DOE this I don't want to use the word DOE but this session they'll bake it in the long station.

>> There we go.

There was a session held out the greater Fort Wayne brought the lawmakers together late in November for a post organization day precession sense of what was going to lie ahead and I was fascinated by the conversation regarding the need to convert U.S. Thirty from a highway to a freeway up to this point and this had started back in 2022 with in establishing propel to look at U.S. Thirty and look at U.S. thirty one.

>> We're now in sort of the the final public response phase feedback phase.

But I would throw this out to to each of you as to what you have heard on this point and why is that seen as an important item to not forget and for that matter to call the future governor in to bully pulpit it back to the legislative branch?

>> Right.

We've got my coauthor Jeff Coveleski actually done a couple of pieces about that and I clearly creating that quick route between, you know, Eastern I'm sorry northeastern Indiana to Chicago also you know, what do you have bisecting which would be the road from South Bend down to Indianapolis?

It makes and I think we've all taken thirty it is a nightmare.

I would really welcome that addition.

It would make us faster to Warsaw and and Fort Wayne .

It makes sense.

But again, who's going to buckle down and say yeah, let's just do this because you know, clearly it's going to be an expensive project but will be a worthwhile project over time I think.

>> Yes.

In the evolution Yeah, no, I think it's a vital one and I know people on one of our graduates is the partnership and an alumni event.

He was talking about this important with the medical device industry connecting Chicago everything Fred saying that it's a dangerous road and it's just time if you've seen what happened with twenty four and the magic to Ohio and to over to the the west side of the state, I think it's time and that but it does matter what the candidate that they're running for governor who will be the champion of that and kind of take it over as well as the you know the local legislative leaders here really need to put that one out there.

My concern is safety.

I am a former EMT.

We covered all of us twenty four and in Tulane twenty four and Tulane thirty to the Ohio line I I've stood at the scene of many, many terrific high speed auto accidents and so us thirty became reality and then I sponsored organized the first cross state meeting and we named the fourth support system.

Now it took decades for that to be done.

It really took Mitch Daniels the toll road lease to free up the money to do that even as Ohio and and compliments to Mark Souder to Joe Long for keeping that project going on the federal level.

But 30 is is dangerous.

You have a lot of grade crossing intersections.

You it'll immediately save lives as they as they continue to improve it, which is interesting because we're talking about the port to port my wife teaches at Defiance College.

She's on a tenure track there and you know it's a 50 minute drive.

It's a very simple drive for her to take and she's listened to a lot of books and great music.

But one of the things that we've talked about is it's so much more safer for her to drive in this even in the winter than what it was when we moved here 19 years ago.

So I can't begin to tell you.

Yeah, and having read so many accidents on that road, I could see I there just times when you go yes, it's going to be expensive but it's so much pworth it in the long run you have to think long term and at Sweetwater yeah.

>> And Amazon on you know it's a neat thing for sure.

>> Both sellers and how so do we get to vote.

Yeah the truly is before us and go to your favorite search engine and type in USA expansion or frankly there's an Internet site called Propelled Dot com that will fill in some gaps there and it helped flatten my learning curve but there's a lot more out there to happen.

House and Senate leadership also say by the way, we would like to still see something take place about improving literacy and education outcomes following significant setbacks from the pandemic.

There's concern about the grade three reading level and truancy related to that insofar as you have to be in school to learn how to read and are in our truancy rates are higher than before the pandemic.

>> What's your take on that?

I mean the truancy thing one of the complications is you know, does the Department of Education who do you get the sheriff and the prosecutor who are busy?

You are really worried about school safety.

How do we get that integrated and that's going to be the secret sauce of how you create a policy that you can have buy in at the local level to to not overly you know, put too much pressure on local law enforcement, local prosecutors.

But clearly I mean this was again one of the things that ranked through and organization day events was the need for the truancy and they also do testing you hold back, you know, somebody in third grade that they can't read and that's a tough thing to do too.

>> We we've always struggled with this as well and what to do about the class size that expansive a result that's what we've talked about is OK, it's going to cost classes is are going to increase.

It sounds good on paper.

I have read well on paper but it has to be there has to be more thoughtful and this is when I want our legislators to be thoughtful and not turn this into a you know, a you know, a referendum on public education in the same way that we've done public it really done in public education in state we wrote about graduation a graduation rates for twenty uh what was it e-filing university had one hundred percent.

Snyder was next.

Both Wayne and Northrup had some of the highest graduation rates in northeast Indiana.

Public education here particularly for community schools is really good.

>> So if we have a really good conversation, listen to what educators are talking about, listen to the analysis and come with a thought thoughtful ideas to help.

They'll be great.

I just don't want this to end up, you know, social and cultural war a warrior onsense, right.

>> That has plagued this for years.

>> Let me ask each of you and we start with you, sir aspirations for the short session if lawmakers were in studio with us and you had a moment to coach them or encourage them on certain points that maybe have not been in the common reportage, what would you suggest that these next ten weeks be about?

>> They've got a very narrow window and interesting numbers on what's been filed so far.

I'm sure there are a lot of legislators I've been in that position.

You're hoping the NSA attorneys get the bill drafts done so you can file them on time.

But I suspect pretty much for the two majority caucuses that the leadership said hold down, they may have actually given them a number of what they should be limited to because you'll find your other bills are going to be dead on arrival.

So I would urge the legislators concentrate on the committees that they're on, dig deeply into what is filed before them-r has decided to bring before the committee deal and make yourself a subject matter expert.

They're going to have new legislators coming in.

They're going to have a new administration and for a lot of those legislators there, the point of continuity on some of these matters of public policy when they're going to be a lot of new people coming into various of the administrative positions.

>> Yeah, like yeah, I agree with their entirely I'd like to see a repair of the legislative executive branch but you know, we've had a rough few years after covid and some you know, differences with the attorney general and the governor and the legislativ branch.

I'd like to see that cooled down a little bit and so that we can kind of move forward a little more smoothly.

Yeah.

Agree with what's been said here particularly like you said, cooling it down.

I've you know, as we look forward to, you know, the governor's race which is coming up and one of the things I thought we're going to bring up at least was Suzanne Crouch is you know, getting rid of income tax.

I wonder how much of this is going to be talked about baked in to some of the ideas in this session.

But yeah, as long as we can cool it down and not constantly have this uh you know, this animus that doesn't really need to be there, I think especially when you talk to politicians one on one on the phone, you know the you know, politics you know, has its drama there.

It has its theatrical moments.

But when you talk as people want them when they're not, it's completely different and I would like to see that face the more thoughtful face put on.

>> Speaking of drama, next Tuesday night Governor Holcomb's final State of the state address what would you like to hear or what would you expect to hear from the governor?

He had success in the past session particularly with an initiative to bring more health care funding to area counties.

That was one of several will there be a continuation of that or something new?

>> Mitch, what's he there's going to be I think a revival of a kind on Monday and then he has the full throated delivery seven o'clock which you can watch on PBS and by the way, on our thirty nine point four that's previous Fort Wayne explore seven o'clock Tuesday from promo back to program.

>> What do you think?

Well, one of the things that that's I think would be popularly received and I and I know it's something that interest Governor Holcomb would be for him to lay out somewhat of a program about natural resources, about state parks, about state forests, about what local communities can do for preserves and the building of trails and historic preservation.

I think he could I think he could hit one for the fences and it's one for saving things for posterity.

And as he's contemplating his final term, I think that's an appropriate topic.

>> Yeah.

And I think I agree entirely.

Last year one of the important things he did was talk about that people move to your state not just for economic development and the speed at which but for quality of life.

>> And I think that if he gets that tone again, it'll be very helpful.

Yeah, I would agree.

I think really nailed it on that one, particularly the idea of of saving the natural resources of a state that I think if you lived here long enough you realize just how beautiful it is.

I think the governor can hold his head up and say look, you know, we've got plenty of money in the bank.

I thought his leadership during the pandemic was, you know, nothing but of incredible.

So I think if we walk out with his you know, with his head up and you know, leave a legacy in a final bill that we have, what's the overunder on keeping the short session short?

Some lawmakers believe this could have a March 8th finish as opposed to a March 14th or 15th wrap up 14th I believe so will we have to get in get out and get on with it?

>> So what's your what's your take again?

Each of you gets 15 seconds.

What's the what is the great for the the NCAA tournament sometime in the middle of there?

I would be surprised if this went into April.

I really would be OK. Yeah I think it's going to be It depends on how you know the external races the gubernator race and the presidential race heats up a culture war thing gets thrown in there like a grenade.

>> Yeah, you get to break the tie.

>> Well, I think it'll be over early as well.

They're going to be seen as keeping their promise but they're not facing a tremendous they're facing some fiscal decisions but not a fiscal crisis and I think that should allow them to to exit early and you can take that guidance from a former state representative, Mr. Harper.

>> Thank you so much, sir.

Local attorney joining us along with Mike Wolf who was acting director of the Mike Down Center for Indiana Politics and Political Science Department at Purdue Fort Lee McKissic with the Journal Gazette read the editorials and join us back next week when Representative Dave Abbott and Senator a.D.A will join us right here as our legislative coverage gets underway on prime time for all of us with the program under ST's, thanks for watching.

We'll see you next week.

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