Road funding, pre-K to drive debate at 2017 General Assembly

Indiana lawmakers start a new legislative session Tuesday with promises to increase funding for the state’s roads and bridges and preschool education.

In juggling those spending priorities, the Republican-dominated Indiana General Assembly will face two political tests as lawmakers write a new, two-year $31 billion spending plan:

• The potential need to hike gasoline taxes to support a long-term funding plan to maintain and expand Indiana’s highways and interstates.
• Determining how many more Hoosier 4-year-olds should benefit from state-supported prekindergarten education.

Those debates will come under a new governor, Republican Eric Holcomb, who has offered few details on how he’d prefer lawmakers to solve the most pressing issues they’ll face in 2017.

Lawmakers will return to the Indiana Statehouse amid a more conservative political climate, as Republicans scored big wins in the state in the 2016 election and now also control the U.S. presidency and Congress. Already a Republican lawmaker has proposed a total abortion ban. Holcomb has not commented on the proposal but previously has said he would support anti-abortion legislation if it landed on his desk.

Talk also has swirled around another hot-button social issue — whether transgender people should be permitted to use public bathrooms based on gender identity rather than their biological sex.

Here are the top issues to watch:

Road funding

Lawmakers have estimated the state needs an additional $900 million to $1.2 billion a year to maintain state and local roads and fund expansions. Potential projects include widening I-65 and I-70 to three lanes across the state.

So the question becomes, how do you raise that money?

A state task force recommended several funding options lawmakers should explore. Those include higher gasoline taxes, tolls on state highways and interstates and new fees at the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Legislative leaders say new revenue is needed because the state’s 18 cents-a-gallon gasoline tax has not been increased since 2003. Adjusting the tax for purchasing power lost since 2003 would result in an immediate increase of 8 to 10 cents per gallon, leading budget architect Sen. Luke Kenley has said. That could result in a tax increase of about $12 to $13 a month for the average Hoosier.

During the campaign, Holcomb said “all options” were on the table. He is expected to discuss roads funding Thursday, when he'll unveil his legislative priorities.

Debate over road funding comes as state revenue is expected to grow more than $1 billion during the next two years — and as many interests fight for a piece of those dollars.

More money for preschool

Republican leaders appear in agreement that the state needs to increase funding for prekindergarten.

But how far lawmakers will go in expanding the state’s current $10 million-a-year pilot program is up in the air. Talks are expected to focus on helping more low-income children, an approach Holcomb says he prefers over a universal expansion.

In November, House Speaker Brian Bosma said expanding the program to an additional 5,000 students would be reasonable, an increase from the 2,400 children currently accessing pre-K through state and Marion County funds. His Senate counterpart, Senate President Pro Tem David Long, has talked about doubling the program to 10 counties.

A statewide coalition of early childhood education advocates want lawmakers to raise income eligibility to 185 percent of the federal poverty level (about $44,900 per year for a family of four). More than 27,000 of the state’s 4-year-olds falling under those guidelines don’t have access to high-quality pre-K programs, according to a new report by the Early Learning Advisory Committee.

The coalition, whose membership includes the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the United Way, also wants lawmakers to provide funding to create more seats for low-income children. The state's pilot, which began in 2015, focuses on pre-K programs meeting certain academic and national accreditation standards. Of the more than 5,000 programs across the state, 21 percent are considered high quality, according to the report.

Doing away with gun permits?

Gun rights advocates are expected to push for a repeal of a state law that requires a license to carry handguns.

Rep. Jim Lucas, a Seymour Republican, told IndyStar he plans to file a bill to remove the requirement.

He and other advocates of the so-called "constitutional carry" — including the powerful National Rifle Association — see licensing requirements and fees as unnecessary impediments to the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. They want Indiana to join at least 11 other states that allow people to carry concealed handguns on their person or in their vehicles without a permit.

Abortion ban?

A Republican lawmaker plans to file a bill to outlaw and criminalize all forms of abortion in Indiana, but the bill received cold reception from a key GOP leader.

Rep. Curt Nisly said he will propose a so-called “Protection at Conception” bill. He wants all abortions to be a crime and for the state to allow prosecutors to file charges against those who participate in the procedure.

Bosma, an Indianapolis Republican, has not said whether lawmakers will hear the bill. However, when asked about the proposal in November, Bosma said: "I don't think we should buy a lawsuit, personally."

Many believe Nisly’s bill would almost certainly be ruled unconstitutional. The Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade ruling and subsequent decisions have established a woman’s right to an abortion before viability of the fetus. Indiana law currently bans most abortions after 20 weeks.

Last year, a federal judge suspended a law Vice President-elect Mike Pence signed that prohibits abortions based solely on fetal disability or gender.

Supporters of Nisly's plan say the composition of the U.S. Supreme Court could change under Trump, who has pledged to appoint anti-abortion judges.

A push for other social issues?

Proposals to limit transgender rights by requiring a person to use a public bathroom or locker room based on their biological sex died during last year's legislative session.

One of the bill's authors, Sen. Jim Tomes, a Wadesville Republican, declined to tell IndyStar if he would introduce similar restrictions this year.

In August, a panel of lawmakers met to discuss lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, and bathroom policies dominated the discussion. However, the panel's chair,  Rep. Greg Steuerwald, R-Avon, indicated he was wary of making legislative recommendations at the state level on a "very touchy" issue that is tangled up in federal courts.

A federal judge recently overturned the Obama administration's guidance for school districts on allowing transgender students to use the bathroom facilities corresponding with their gender identity. The issue seems likely to be taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Micah Clark, head of the socially-conservative American Family Association of Indiana, said he thinks lawmakers want a quieter session following heated gatherings over recent years.

"Most of us are kind of in a watch-and-see mode," Clark said.

Yet, Curt Smith, president of the Indiana Family Institute, sent a letter to supporters saying now is the time to "ignite an enduring cultural transformation" in the state. Given the election's outcome, conservative groups have a chance to "preserve 1st Amendment rights such as religious freedom and free speech for generations to come," Smith wrote in the letter.

Freedom Indiana, a LGBT rights group, is asking its members to prepare for anti-LGBT attacks.

"Sure, we’re hoping for the best — but we absolutely have to prepare for the worst," campaign manager Chris Paulsen told supporters.

New test for students

Lawmakers repealed the controversial ISTEP student test after this school year. But finding a replacement test has proven difficult.

A panel responsible for studying a new exam recommended Indiana limit standardized testing to once at the end of the school year.

To buy time, key lawmakers say they’re exploring extending the contract with Pearson Education, the state’s current ISTEP vendor, for up to two years.

Using an existing “off-the-shelf” test is favored by some lawmakers to save money and better compare Hoosier students with peers in other states. But some of those tests, including PARCC, might cause a political frenzy at the General Assembly for their links to the Common Core State Standards, national learning benchmarks the state dumped in 2014 over concerns with federal overreach.

Call IndyStar reporter Chelsea Schneider at (317) 444-6077. Follow her on Twitter: @IndyStarChelsea.

Indiana General Assembly

The 2017 legislative session kicks off this week, with the Senate meeting 1:30 p.m. Tuesday and the House returning at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

This year’s session is a budget year where lawmakers will write a new, two-year spending plan. Lawmakers are required to wrap up their work by April 29.

Another highlight of this week is Thursday when Gov.-elect Eric Holcomb is set to lay out his legislative priorities.