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Sunday, January 18, 2009
Ind. Law - This week at the General Assembly - Week 2
Now that the 2009 session is under way, the Evansville Courier & Press is resuming its weekly "Legislative Notebook" column that will normally appear on Sundays. A few quotes from Bryan Corbin's report:
Starting with ceremonial grandeur and ending with partisan bickering, the second week of the Indiana General Assembly's session could be a foretaste of what's ahead at the Statehouse.Sworn into a second term Monday, Gov. Mitch Daniels laid out his legislative agenda Tuesday during his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature. Daniels urged lawmakers considering his two-year state budget proposal to pass a budget without dipping into $1.3 billion in reserves or raising taxes.
House Speaker Patrick Bauer, the overall leader of majority Indiana House Democrats, criticized what he called "applause lines" in the speech, saying the governor did not spell out a jobs program. It was an early salvo in a series of escalating exchanges during the week between the Democratic House leadership and the Republican administration. * * *
The Legislature's session began Jan. 7 and must adjourn by April 29, and several Statehouse media outlets have commented that the partisanship level seems heightened for this early in the session.
"I don't find anything new," Daniels said when asked if there was a new level of partisanship. "We've been under attack and criticism with no positive answers for the past four years. ... We take it in stride."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 18, 2009 10:22 AM
Posted to Indiana Law