Indiana legislature ends in chaos, finger-pointing and unintentional death of several bills

The 2018 legislative session ended in chaos early this morning when lawmakers failed to meet a midnight deadline, causing the unintentional death of a handful of bills and setting off a round of finger-pointing among legislative leaders.

The dramatic conclusion featured a mad dash to rush through half a dozen bills in the final minutes of the session and an unprecedented effort by Gov. Eric Holcomb to extend the deadline until 1 a.m.

Democrats questioned Holcomb's legal authority to make such a move, and Republican legislative leaders quickly backed down after a brief legal review, bringing the session to a close with five bills still pending on the House floor.

Last day at a glance: A quick look at the legislature's flurry of activity

School safety: Lawmakers fail to pass school safety legislation

The casualties included two of Holcomb's priorities: A funding boost for school security and a plan to encourage and regulate driver-less vehicles.

Two tax-related measures and a takeover plan for school districts in Muncie and Gary also failed because they were not called for a vote before the clock ran out.

In a 3:55 a.m. tweet, Holcomb said he will look at "administrative or legislative authority" to complete the legislature's unfinished business.

All five measures were favored by Republicans, who control both chambers with two-thirds "super majorities."

An early-morning blame game followed, with House Speaker Brian Bosma blaming Senate Republicans for working too slowly and Senate President Pro Tempore David Long accusing one House Republican of having a "meltdown."

“Our Senate colleagues were suggesting changes as late as 10:30 (p.m.),” Bosma said. "There was really no problem until the Senate went dark yesterday.”

The Senate stopped voting on bills at about 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday and spent much of Wednesday honoring retiring lawmakers. A resolution honoring Long, who is retiring in November, garnered speeches from 26 senators and lasted more than an hour.

“We were here all day yesterday when our Senate colleagues weren’t," Bosma said. "We were here all day today when they were doing honoring resolutions.”

Bosma, R-Indianapolis, also pointed to a behind-the-scenes battle to replace Long as leader of the Senate as a factor that caused delays.

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Long, R-Fort Wayne, said those characterizations were unfair and blamed egos in the House, noting that the Senate only left one bill on the table, while the House left five.

“The problem was there were some very difficult people to deal with today," he said. “The Senate was prepared to do its work. We could have finished today very easily, but for the fact that there was extremely difficult negotiations that delayed things right until the end.”

He went on to call out Rep. Ed Soliday, a Valparaiso Republican who had a hand in several down-to-the-wire bills including the driver-less vehicle measure.

“I will say there is one person in particular who made things difficult for the entire body today," Long said. "I don’t know why he had what appears to have been a meltdown in many of our people’s eyes on various issues, but he was involved in some key legislation.”

Soliday dismissed Long's accusation and said concerns about public safety drove his opposition to the Senate's version of the driver-less vehicle bill, which would have removed regulations from the House version.

“I don’t know how I was to blame when five hours of the day they were saluting him with a good-bye and nobody was available for anything, and then he winds up with all of these bills last minute," Soliday said.

"I just can’t trade a lifetime of commitment to data driven safety and throw it all away because some car manufacturers are going to bully me," he said.

Republicans from both chambers also pointed fingers at Democrats, who they accused of "slow walking" during the final hour of the session.

House Minority Leader Terry Goodin rejected those accusations, although he acknowledged Democrats opposed the Ball State University takeover of the Muncie school corporation and new restrictions on Gary's elected school board.

He blamed "complete and total mismanagement" by GOP leaders.

"Republicans control the whole process," he said. "How do you slow walk something when you're in the super minority? That's the biggest, lamest excuse I've ever heard in my life."

Both Long and Bosma said that while the end of session was disappointing, both chambers accomplished most of their goals.

Lawmakers closed a school funding gap, restored the ability of Dreamers to get professional job licenses and legalized cannabidiol, or CBD oil.

They also added $5 million for a job training program, authorized nine new drug addiction treatment centers and allowed parents to opt out of sexual education for their children.

Lawmakers began the session by reassuring schools that they would get every dollar promised by the state, even though higher-than-expected public school enrollment created a projected $22 million gap in the state's education budget.

Lawmakers voted Wednesday to allow the state budget agency to transfer up to $25 million from the tuition reserve fund this year and up to $75 million next year, when the gap is projected to reach nearly $60 million. The fund has about $350 million in it right now.

Another top priority for GOP lawmakers and Holcomb was to improve the state's job training programs, but the scope of those plans shrunk throughout the legislative session.

In addition to adding money for job training grants, lawmakers created a smaller and more powerful panel led by Holcomb to oversee the state's $1 billion in workforce development programs.

Still, Democrats, who had fought unsuccessfully for redistricting reforms and an investigation of the state's troubled foster care system, criticized Republicans for what they called a lack of substantive legislation this year prior to the chaotic end of session.

"This session seems like a Twinkie," Goodin said. "It fills you up, but there’s just nothing of real substance or value to it."

More than 900 bills were introduced when the legislative session began in January. More than 600 failed to advance out of at least one of the General Assembly's two chambers.

Holcomb has already signed into law several measures approved earlier in the legislative session, including a repeal of the state's ban on alcohol sales at stores on Sundays.

Other bills approved by the legislature are still awaiting action from the governor, including one that requires physicians to report abortion complications.

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Call IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

Call IndyStar education reporter Arika Herron at (317) 444-6077. Follow her on Twitter: @ArikaHerron.

Call IndyStar reporter Kaitlin Lange at (317) 432-9270. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.