http://heraldargus.com/archives/ha/display.php?id=372760
QUOTE
WESTVILLE -- Only about five community members showed up Saturday at Purdue North Central to hear state legislators talk about the ongoing General Assembly session.
With the floor virtually to themselves, State Sen. Vic Heinold, R-Kouts, and State Reps. Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, and Tom Dermody, R-La Porte, took the time to address full-day kindergarten and issues surrounding the proposed Illiana Expressway and the state budget.
At this point in the legislative session, “all the House bills are in the Senate and all the Senate bills are in the House,” Heinold said.
He and his fellow legislators took turns presenting first-half highlights of this legislative session:
The Illiana Expressway, a proposed 50-mile project that has created a lot of controversy, weighs heavily on the minds of the legislators.
Dermody said he wants to establish a committee that would give approval for any future road plans, instead of just letting the governor “run with it.”
Dermody also said more needs to be done to inform the public about this project and gauge their opinions.
“If the business community in La Porte is in favor of this, they can’t be the silent majority,” he said.
A feasibility study will be conducted in the near future.
Gov. Mitch Daniels’ plan to launch a three-year phase-in plan for full-day kindergarten was approved by the Senate.
If approved by the House, the plan, Heinold said, would fund full-day kindergarten for those most needing of the program, or students receiving free or reduced lunch, during the first year. It would then expand during its second year to cover entire schools with the most students receiving free or reduced lunch before becoming statewide in its third year.
Pelath gave an update on the progress of the state budget, which passed the House earlier in the session and would give generous spending increases to schools and higher education, and provide property tax relief. It also earmarks $1 million in architectural and engineering funds for a new student center at PNC.
“What passes one house is not the budget,” Pelath said about the bill’s future in the Senate. “It’s a version of the budget, a negotiating point.”
He said the Senate has yet to pass its own budget before the two houses will work out differences and craft some sort of compromise in April.
The Senate passed a bill that would give the governor the ability to outsource the state lottery for a minimum up-front payment of $1 billion. Heinold said this money would help to offset excise tax on license plates, fund retired teachers pensions, fund hiring and research at the university level and provide scholarships for college students willing to work in Indiana for three years after they graduate.
With the floor virtually to themselves, State Sen. Vic Heinold, R-Kouts, and State Reps. Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, and Tom Dermody, R-La Porte, took the time to address full-day kindergarten and issues surrounding the proposed Illiana Expressway and the state budget.
At this point in the legislative session, “all the House bills are in the Senate and all the Senate bills are in the House,” Heinold said.
He and his fellow legislators took turns presenting first-half highlights of this legislative session:
The Illiana Expressway, a proposed 50-mile project that has created a lot of controversy, weighs heavily on the minds of the legislators.
Dermody said he wants to establish a committee that would give approval for any future road plans, instead of just letting the governor “run with it.”
Dermody also said more needs to be done to inform the public about this project and gauge their opinions.
“If the business community in La Porte is in favor of this, they can’t be the silent majority,” he said.
A feasibility study will be conducted in the near future.
Gov. Mitch Daniels’ plan to launch a three-year phase-in plan for full-day kindergarten was approved by the Senate.
If approved by the House, the plan, Heinold said, would fund full-day kindergarten for those most needing of the program, or students receiving free or reduced lunch, during the first year. It would then expand during its second year to cover entire schools with the most students receiving free or reduced lunch before becoming statewide in its third year.
Pelath gave an update on the progress of the state budget, which passed the House earlier in the session and would give generous spending increases to schools and higher education, and provide property tax relief. It also earmarks $1 million in architectural and engineering funds for a new student center at PNC.
“What passes one house is not the budget,” Pelath said about the bill’s future in the Senate. “It’s a version of the budget, a negotiating point.”
He said the Senate has yet to pass its own budget before the two houses will work out differences and craft some sort of compromise in April.
The Senate passed a bill that would give the governor the ability to outsource the state lottery for a minimum up-front payment of $1 billion. Heinold said this money would help to offset excise tax on license plates, fund retired teachers pensions, fund hiring and research at the university level and provide scholarships for college students willing to work in Indiana for three years after they graduate.