STATEHOUSE (November 17, 2009) — House Republicans today unveiled their 2010 legislative agenda with a focus on three key areas: protecting taxpayers’ pocketbooks, growing and protecting jobs and enacting meaningful government reform.

“With Indiana facing some of the most difficult economic times witnessed in decades, the impending short session is the time for Indiana to continue to lead the nation in fiscal responsibility and job creation. No new taxes and no new spending must be the mantra for this General Assembly,” said Republican Leader Brian C. Bosma (R-Indianapolis).

The Taxpayer Protection Plan: Growing Jobs, Helping Hoosiers calls for permanent property tax caps along with growing and protecting Hoosier jobs. Representative Bosma, along with the House Republican caucus, hope that the plan will serve as the foundation for providing fiscal protection to every Hoosier taxpayer.

“Hardworking Hoosiers are fed up with the out of control spending going on at the federal level. House Republicans will not support policies or budgets that put Indiana in the red,” said Representative Bosma. “The single biggest way to protect Hoosier taxpayers is to pass constitutional property tax caps this year. In 2008, we made a promise to cut Hoosier property tax bills and cap them forever, and constitutional caps are the last piece of the puzzle. Hoosiers deserve to vote on this issue in 2010.”

House Republicans support three main goals that do not rely upon taxpayers as an unlimited resource for taxes and also protect their pocketbooks: (1) pass permanent property tax caps now; (2) no new tax increases; (3) live within our means.

Along with constitutional caps, it is imperative that Indiana continue to live within its means just like Hoosier families are doing. A big part of that is ensuring that we do not take the path of many other states around the country and raise taxes. It is imperative that Indiana have a thriving economy where Hoosier innovation and entrepreneurship can succeed. House Republicans propose four initiatives to protect and grow jobs:

First, House Republicans call upon the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) to delay sending 2010 tax bills to employers.

Second, we support the delay of the UI tax increase. House Republicans did not support the bill from last session for several reasons; the primary reason was that the bill punished employers with one of the largest tax increases in state history during an unprecedented economic downturn.

Third, House Republicans support reviewing all available job incentives so that we can pool the current incentive funding to allow IEDC to use the incentives in a way most likely to increase Hoosier employment. Finally, given the current state of the national economy, the competition among states for new jobs is extremely aggressive. While Indiana has been doing a great job over the years in attracting jobs, we cannot afford to stop coming up with new and innovative ideas to set ourselves apart from other states. Allowing new employers to phase in their income tax will be a great incentive that many states around the country will not be able to compete with.

The final portion of the Taxpayer Protection Plan will ensure the legislative process at all levels is open and transparent to Hoosier taxpayers by providing increased lobbyist and legislator disclosures, creating an independent redistricting commission and encouraging efficiencies for local governments. In addition, House Republicans will continue to support the protection of education reforms passed in 2009.

Over the last five years, House Republicans have been champions of government reform. Huge steps were taken in 2005 and 2006 by streaming legislative debates live over the Internet, instituting the unprecedented policy of having the state’s two-year budget available to the public 48 hours prior to passage, creating the Inspector General’s Office to combat fraud and waste in government, and stopping the process of proxy voting at committee meetings.

House Republicans will continue to focus on regulating lobbyist gift and expenditure reporting, enacting tougher lobbyist registration and disclosure standards, and increasing the transparency of legislator financial disclosure. In addition, we support legislation which would require that legislators upon leaving office must wait one year before they can register as a lobbyist.

Redistricting reform is not new to the House Republican Caucus. In 2006, we passed legislation calling for an independent redistricting commission. Our commission would be made up of 5 members with the Speaker, House Minority Leader, President Pro Tempore and Senate Minority Leader each having 1 appointment. The four members would appoint a fifth member to be the chair. If there is no consensus on the 5th member, the Chief Justice appoints the chair. The commission will conduct at least 1 public comment hearing in Northern, Central and Southern Indiana. The commission must develop maps for the Indiana General Assembly’s consideration based on the following standards: districts established on basis of population; only a 1% population deviation allowed; districts must be contiguous and compact to the extent practicable and shall not breach precinct boundaries; districts must coincide with boundaries of political subdivisions and minimize the number of counties and cities divided among more than 1 district; and political data may be used to the extent necessary to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act.

Finally, House Republicans feel it is imperative to protect the education reforms passed in 2009. Tremendous strides were made in 2009 to enhance the options available to parents and students in Indiana. Not only were House Republicans instrumental in the passage of the scholarship tax credit for underprivileged Hoosier students, but also stood firm on protecting our chances at millions of federal dollars in “Race to the Top” funds by rejecting calls to cap charter schools. House Republicans also championed important teacher protection legislation that gave teachers qualified immunity from frivolous lawsuits. These are just a few of the important steps taken in 2009 that will help Hoosier students for years to come.

“These proposals brought forward by House Republicans are common sense proposals that will allow Indiana to continue to lead the way out of the national recession,” Representative Bosma said. “We look forward to working with our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to quickly pass these important initiatives.”