Effort to end light rail ban in Central Indiana derailed

An effort to repeal a state ban on light rail projects in Central Indiana went off the tracks Monday after hitting a pothole-related snag.

Senate Republicans decided not to hear House Bill 1080, which would have removed a prohibition against public spending on light rail transit projects in Indianapolis and surrounding counties.

Sen. Jim Merritt, the legislation's sponsor, said he decided not to call the measure for amendments by Monday's deadline because it didn't have enough support among Senate Republicans.

The decision to pull the plug, made during a private Senate GOP meeting, came after Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, filed an amendment that would have required Indianapolis city officials to prove public transit money isn't needed to fill potholes.

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The amendment put Merritt, an Indianapolis Republican, in a difficult position. As Marion County Republican Party chairman, he has blasted Indianapolis's Democratic mayor, Joe Hogsett, for the city's road conditions.

Rep. Justin Moed, the Indianapolis Democrat who proposed the light rail measure, accused Senate Republicans of playing politics.

"I’m deeply disappointed the Senate chose not even to give it a vote and chose to turn the issue into a bit of partisan politics in regards to their fighting with the mayor," he said. "I think it’s political opportunism by folks who are running for re-election and looking for a reason to be relevant."

Supporters of this year's effort to repeal the light rail ban, including the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, argued the city needs all mass transit options on the table, especially if it is going to attract major new employers such as Amazon.

Until Delph's amendment, the proposal had been moving through the legislature at a brisk pace. It had already passed committees in both chambers and received overwhelming support in the GOP-dominated House, where the vote was 90-5.

But Merritt and President Pro Tempore David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said Delph's proposed pothole amendment played no role in the light rail bill's demise.

Merritt said Republicans didn't want to change how money from a 2016 public transit ballot initiative in Indianapolis could be used since voters at the time were under the impression it wouldn't be used for light rail.

"It was failing before Delph’s amendment," Merritt said.

Long agreed with that assessment and gave a different reason for the lack of support GOP senators.

"It feels a) like a boondoggle and b) like it’s just going to be a dinosaur technology in the very near future," he said. "It wasn’t anti-anybody. It wasn’t partisan."

The 2014 law banning light rail was part of a mass transit funding deal that gave Indianapolis and surrounding counties the ability to raise income taxes for public transit through a ballot initiative.

In 2016, Marion County residents voted in favor of increasing income taxes up to 25 cents for every $100 earned to pay for a 70 percent increase in Indianapolis bus service. The $56 million a year in new tax revenue also would help fund the Red Line, the first of three planned bus rapid transit routes.

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