Twitter feeds of Mike Murphy and Jackie Walorski announced HB1001, the ethics “reform” package, passed the House 97-2.

Representatives Tim Brown (R-41) and Dave Wolkins (R-18) voted no on final passage of the bill. Dennie Oxley (D-73) was absent, due to his illness.

The story of Dennie Oxley, one time middling State Rep who recently was a “special advisor to Pat “the Hair” Bauer continues to ge worse.  According to Frugal Hoosiers, Oxley is currently on the lam, after an warrant was issued for his arrest this afternoon.  This was after Oxley had promised to turn himself in by 1:00 today.

But we have been able to get a copy of the police report along with his probable cause affidavit.

(Images are clickable)(Read the rest after the leap)

There are certain words that Speaker Pat “The Hair” Bauer couldn’t spell if his life depended on it; that’s one of them.

The guys over at Frugal Hoosiers have written a great post on the continuing obstruction to Indiana’s economic bowel that is Pat Bauer.  Remember, this is the guy who passed through the House, on a party line vote, a budget that only covers Indiana for one year.  His budget didn’t even cover funding for child care or education.  He’s also kicked government consolidation to the curb and so far, is pushing off property tax caps until the next session saying we need a year to see how it all plays out.

Frankly, I don’t think I need to remind our savvy HA readers that the first half of any two party legislative session is dedicated to the budget.  That’s why it’s longer than the short session.  But “The Hair” wants to revisit the budget again next year for year two of the Democrats budget.  This is also the same guy who said that “Major Moves” was too big to consider in a short session back in 2006!

Via FH via a 2006 Mike Smith AP article:

House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, said he opposed higher fees Daniels plans to impose on his own next spring on the Indiana Toll Road. He also questioned whether the rest of the governor’s highway plan had “enough meat that we would want to spend a lot of time on it.”

As for an “aggressive” session on other initiatives by Daniels and majority Republicans, Bauer said he would have see them in detail first. Short sessions, he said, were supposed to be for dealing with emergencies.

So, Major Moves was too much for Bauer in 2006, but doing another budget, voting on tax caps (which he supported in 2008 (oh wait, that was an election year) while Government Reform is pursued again (the Governor, rightfully, won’t let it die so easily) will be simple enough to handle in a three month (not even that) short session?  Does Bauer have his piece on too tight?

Varvel does it again.

By now, you’re probably noticing the count down clock on the right on several conservative blogs all across the state.  It’s the very same clock the Indiana House Republicans are using against Pat “The Hair” Bauer and House Democrats on their insistence to deny property tax payers permanent relief.  Does that surprise you?  This is the same group that decided to pass, in a partisan vote, a one year budget proposal that was devoid of funding for education and child welfare, typically seen as Democrat issues.  They also kicked township consolidation to the curb, because we all know that townships have been brilliant with taxpayer money over the years.

But there is one thing left “The Hair” and his merry Democrats could do, especially in these turbulent economic times.  And that’s push for final passage of the Constitutional Amendment to cap property taxes.  Remember when Bauer wouldn’t let anything else be discussed last year because property taxes were the issue du jour?  Well, now it’s the economy and property taxes are directly tied into the economy.

So call Pat Bauer and the House Democrats and tell them that it’s time to act!  1-800-382-9842 or 317-232-9600

“This clock, ticking away, along with the actions of the House Democrat majority are graphic reminders of how much Hoosier taxpayers really mean to them. Each number flipping over is time lost toward keeping the promise representatives of both parties made last year when they voted for the constitutional caps. – House Republican Leader Brian Bosma

By: Brian Sikma

When the Indiana House-and primarily Speaker Pat Bauer and Rules Committee Chairman Scott Pelath- failed to pass SJR 7 (the proposed amendment to the Indiana Constitution defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman) last year, they effectively reset the entire effort to protect marriage in Indiana.  The process of placing the definition of marriage in the state constitution starts anew this year with this session.

Since 2004 the Senate has passed a marriage amendment 4 times (2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008) and this year a new face is carrying the proposal forward.   Freshman Senator Marlin Stutzman (R-Howe) is the original author of SJR 15, a slightly revised version of past proposed amendments.  The language was revised to be nearly identical with that of Kentucky’s marriage amendment, which voters placed in that state’s constitution in 2004.  The tested wording of the Kentucky amendment should help overcome concerns that some had about all the implications contained in the language of SJR 7.

With the state facing a slumping economy that is not only causing high unemployment but also creating a decline in government revenues forcing tough budget decisions, some may question whether or not it is appropriate to consider a social issue this session.  Indeed, economic issues should be a first-priority item for the General Assembly.  But there is nothing to limit the legislature’s focus to only one first-priority item. Even as he works to manage the size of the state budget and carefully cut wasteful spending and maximize the funding that will be appropriated this year, Governor Mitch Daniels is moving ahead with advancing his property tax caps in the constitution plan (I am not necessarily endorsing this plan-I am emphasizing leadership).  He understands that leadership demands that more than one important issue be dealt with at one time, and the members of the General Assembly would do well to take note of this.

(Read More Below the Fold)

I’ll be the first to admit I was a bit ticked when I tried to read the ranking and found that I needed a subscription, just seemed “old world” paradigm to me.  I’ve tried to interact with Howey a couple times, but he seems to favor a few of you guys in Indy over hyper local reporting from the Region.  When we posted a series of three articles on the Gary Distressed Unit Board filing, with a writer in the room posting live, he seemed to find the Indy Star reporting 24 hours later better.

Oh well, I don’t think they picked up the lead when the residents against the bailout for Gary met the firefighters in the hallway with “we’ll back you guys if you help us take down Rudy.”

Now, what the scoop on this article by Advance Indiana and peppering Howey with ridicule for his Power 50 list?  I’m sure there’s a back story, love to hear it.  How about a Hoosier Access poll on most influential people in Indiana Josh?  My nominations:  Mitch Daniels, Pat Bauer, Pete Visclosky, Mike Pence, G’wood Mayor Henderson for huge annex grab, Chair of Distressed Unit Board Kitchel, CEO of Mittal Steel, Todd Rokita (where’s he going next?) … Just thinking out loud.

Is it raining yet? Speaker Pat Bauer thinks it is.

The Indiana General Assembly kicked things off today at the Capitol. And boy, you can tell this session is going to get fun to watch.

To start things off, Gov. Mitch Daniels is proposing cuts and doesn’t want to tap into the state’s savings account. We’ve got a decent amount of money pout away to use in case of an emergency.

And (future Speaker of the House) House Minority Leader Brian Bosma outlined priorities for the GOP caucus, including taxpayer protection, job creation and education reform. Bosma wants the legislature to take the next step in enacting the property tax caps to give Hoosiers the chance to make the limits constitutional with a vote in 2010.

Speaker of the House Pat Bauer has a different opinion.

(Read more after the leap)