Latest news with #HouseBill1427
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Indiana Senate committee turns 4 local tax bills into 1, prompting bipartisan pushback
Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, introduces the Senate Republican plan for property tax relief on Feb. 11, 2025. (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle) A jam-packed agency bill became even more behemoth and wide-reaching on Tuesday after a Senate committee crammed in dozens of other provisions that largely deal with local taxes. The move drew a range of questions from Democrats, all of whom voted against the merge. Some Republicans were also hesitant — and a GOP budget leader was opposed altogether. House Bill 1427, now more than 150 pages in length, was originally focused on Department of Local Government and Finance (DLGF) matters. Embedded in the underlying legislation was language around DLGF rule-making, as well as administrative policy changes for various local taxes and assessments. But a massive amendment approved by the Senate tax committee wrapped in all or parts of three other bills: House Bill 1080 and Senate Bill 304, dealing with innkeeper's and food and beverage taxes, and Senate Bill 290, which mostly addresses local property tax levies. Multiple other new changes and provisions — like for professional sports and convention center developments — were additionally included. The amended bill advanced 8-5 to the full chamber, despite unfavorable votes from Democrats and top Republican Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Mishawaka. Sen. Eric Bassler, R-Washington, one of the bill's Senate sponsors, discussed the amendment before the tax committee and expressed concerns, too. Because he is not a member of the committee, the senator did not participate in Tuesday's vote. 'I'm always a little bit leery to have substantive policy changes for the state in agency bills. If the state is going to make a policy change, I'd rather those bills kind of be standalone language,' Bassler said. 'I think that's even more so in this bill, because this is a 117-page amendment to a 79-page bill, and it deals with literally dozens and dozens of dozens of issues,' he continued. 'I think we need to be very careful when we're starting to change state policy in such a complicated bill.' Democratic Sen. Andrea Hunley, of Indianapolis, raised questions about a child care facility portion of the amendment that would create a partial property tax exemption for employers who provide child care for their employees on company property. Hunley worried that the tax benefit would do little to increase services for parents, given it only applies to care for children under the age of six. Child care facilities that do not have a formal agreement with a business also would not qualify. 'To me, it's not really solving the child care issue that we have … but it's really about subsidizing businesses to provide a service to their own employees,' Hunley said. 'There's so much in here dealing with taxes that are going to impact our local communities. And that has been a theme this session, in a variety of ways, and in a variety of pieces of legislation,' she added. 'We have to think about — not just these pieces of legislation in isolation — but the myriad of ways that we are impacting locals with these policy changes.' Mishler further took issue with a section on 'professional sports development areas,' or PSDAs. Those areas can already capture millions of dollars per year in tax revenue from sports facilities, hotels and other commercial properties fund infrastructure improvements and new sports-related developments. Under the bill, cities that are located in a county with at least four cities — each with a population of at least 40,000 — would additionally be able to create special sports-related tax districts. Up to $2 million collected each year from the tax area could be invested in city-owned facilities that are used for 'practice or competitive sporting events.' 'The PSDAs in here — those are usually budget discussions, because they reduce revenue,' Mishler said. 'So, I'm a little irritated because I've been working with these groups on the investments that they're bringing in there, and I feel like they just circumvented the system, went around, and just threw it in a bill.' Bill author Rep. Craig Snow, R-Warsaw, told Mishler in response that he would be 'happy to take anything out of this bill that you would like, because it's kind of unwieldy.' Mishler, the Senate Republican budget leader, foreshadowed possible changes to that language but did not provide details. Also in contention was a piece of the amendment that sets criteria for continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs), small house health facilities and residential care facilities' to qualify for tax exemptions. Bartholomew County Assessor Ginny Whipple maintained that CCRCs should not qualify for exemptions 'without going through the normal channels' already in place for properties. Such senior living communities offer a range of services and care levels, from independent living apartments to assisted living and skilled nursing facilities, all under one roof. Currently, CCRCs can file for tax exemptions with the local property tax assessment board, whose members 'vet their information and decide, on a local basis, who pays more taxes and who pays less' Whipple explained. She held that CCRC exemptions 'should be a local matter, decided on the merits of each case.' It's a step too far, in my estimation, for county assessors to take policy decisions as their purview. – Senate tax committee chairman Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle 'I think each of these CCRCs are unique and individual. One size does not fit all. This bill would give them a free ride, while other folks over 65, paying their fair share, would not have that same advantage,' Whipple emphasized. 'It would increase the taxes for those elders — because any time you carve out a special interest group, then you increase taxes for other taxpayers.' Committee chairman Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, gave a cold reply. 'I think there are two roles for elected officials: some elected officials are in the administrative, policy-setting role, and others are ministerial. The problem I have with assessors dipping their toe into policy issues — as I see assessors as ministerial functions in counties — yours is merely to execute the law as it's presented to you,' Holdman said. 'We appreciate your position, but you are not a policymaker in the county, according to my rules. … It's a step too far, in my estimation, for county assessors to take policy decisions as their purview.' Sen. Chris Garten, also on the tax committee, doubled down. 'I feel like we have a lot of assessors who are flippant. … Part of the issue we're seeing is we've got elected assessors statewide — that when taxpayers call them to try to have a pragmatic conversation about property tax assessments — they flippantly respond and say, 'Property taxes aren't our issue. Call your state legislators,' Garten said. 'The majority of assessors … should be focused on the administrative functions of the job, and not policy.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bills to improve Arkansas maternal health, change ballot initiative process head to Sanders' desk
Sen. Jimmy Hickey (left), R-Texarkana, votes present on House Bill 1427, cosponsored by Sen. Missy Irvin (center), R-Mountain View, on the Arkansas Senate floor on Tuesday, February 18, 2025. At right is Sen. Ricky Hill, R-Cabot. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) Legislation that Arkansas lawmakers and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders have said will improve the state's maternal health care landscape moved closer to becoming law Tuesday. Sanders also has the opportunity to sign into law two bills that would alter the citizen-led ballot initiative process after the Senate approved both despite bipartisan opposition. On Feb. 6, Sanders announced that the Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act would improve low-income Arkansans' access to health care during pregnancy and childbirth. Much of the legislation would alter the state's Medicaid program by establishing presumptive Medicaid eligibility for pregnant Arkansans, offering reimbursements for doulas and community health workers, and establishing pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage for specific treatments. Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville, and Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, are sponsoring identical bills to create the policy: House Bill 1427 and Senate Bill 213. HB 1427 passed the Senate with 24 votes for it and none against it Tuesday and will go to Sanders' desk. SB 213 passed the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee Tuesday, and the House is expected to give the bill final approval Wednesday. The legislation has advanced with little dissent but occasionally with much debate over a clause on the final page that would make a child's fifth birthday the statute of limitations for any actions against alleged medical injuries during birth. Current law, which the two bills would amend, allows a minor or his or her legal guardian to 'commence an action' on an alleged medical injury by the child's 11th birthday or two years after the injury occurred, depending on which is later. While no senators voted against either bill, six House Republicans voted against HB 1427, with some expressing concern about the statute of limitations. Little Rock attorneys Paul Byrd and Lamar Porter spoke against this clause before legislative committees voted to pass HB 1427. Byrd, a personal injury attorney, told House members last week that it would be difficult to determine any neurological damage to a child at all, let alone what caused it, before the age of five. Porter is a medical malpractice attorney who has handled birth injury cases. He told the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee on Monday that HB 1427 should not include the section with the statute of limitations. 'It is ironic to me that a bill designed to promote the health of moms and their babies has added to it a provision that potentially harms the legal rights of moms and babies,' Porter said. He mentioned that the legislation does not specify whether the window for acceptable birth injury claims opens at the start of labor, the point of a pregnant individual's admission to a hospital, or at another point in the 'complicated process' of giving birth. Only 34 hospitals in 23 of Arkansas' 75 counties have labor and delivery units, and five maternity wards have closed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, most recently in Newport. The medical malpractice insurance required to cover the existing 11-year statute of limitations 'completely contributes to those labor and delivery units being closed' and fosters the state's difficulty recruiting and retaining obstetrician-gynecologists, Irvin said. Arkansas has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation, and the third-highest infant mortality rate, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. Despite concerns about the statute of limitations from some committee members, including Sen. John Payton, R-Wilburn, HB 1427 passed the Senate committee with no audible dissent. 'I'm going to vote for this bill because I feel like it's a treatment and it's not the cure,' Payton said. 'I would hope that somebody, maybe in [the Committee on] Insurance and Commerce, would work on the cure. I think it's a sad state of affairs that we have to restrict the injured parties' opportunity for recovery because the insurance companies are involved.' Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, voted present on both HB 1427 and SB 213 on the Senate floor. SB 213 passed the Senate with 30 votes for it, including all six Senate Democrats, and none against it. Six House Republicans voted present on HB 1427 last week, while all 19 House Democrats and 67 House Republicans voted for it. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX All six Senate Democrats, plus Republican Sen. Bryan King of Green Forest, voted against House Bill 1221 and House Bill 1222, which next go to Sanders' desk. HB 1221 would clarify that the certification of ballot titles for initiatives, referenda and constitutional amendments as well as the signatures collected for those measures would only be valid for the next general election. HB 1222 would expand the attorney general's existing authority to reject a proposal if it conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or federal statutes. It would also prevent a sponsor from submitting more than one conflicting petition at the same time. The bills' Republican sponsors, Sen. Kim Hammer of Benton and Rep. David Ray of Maumelle, said HB 1222 is a response to supporters of proposed 2024 ballot measures submitting multiple petition language options for Attorney General Tim Griffin to approve or reject. Direct democracy bills stir passion, hours of discussion in Arkansas House committee The supporters in question, Arkansas Citizens for Transparency, were among many groups that tried and failed to put changes to state law and the state Constitution on November's ballot. Arkansas is one of 24 states that allows for citizen-led initiatives, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Hickey voted against HB 1221, and Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, voted against HB 1222. No senators voted present on either bill. Hammer is also sponsoring a fleet of Senate bills that opponents have called attacks on direct democracy last week and this week. Two of those bills passed the Senate last week but did not receive the two-thirds majority vote necessary to pass their emergency clauses, which would allow them to go into effect immediately upon Sanders' signature. The Senate subsequently passed motions to expunge the votes on the emergency clauses. Senate Bill 209 would disqualify signatures collected by canvassers if the secretary of state finds 'by a preponderance of evidence' that they violated state law collecting the signatures. Senate Bill 210 would require potential signers to read the ballot title of a petition or have it read aloud to them in the presence of a canvasser. It would also make it a misdemeanor for a canvasser to accept a signature from people who have not read the ballot title or had it read aloud to them in the presence of a canvasser. Hammer said Tuesday that he will bring the two emergency clauses back to the Senate floor Monday since some senators are likely to be absent from the chamber this week due to inclement weather. Emergency clauses need 24 votes to pass the Senate; HB 1221 has an emergency clause and received 25 votes. HB 1222 also received 25 votes but has no emergency clause. Arkansas' elections are overseen by the secretary of state, a position Hammer is seeking in 2026. Current Secretary of State Cole Jester, who was appointed by Sanders and cannot run for the position, expressed support Monday for changes to the initiative petition process after claiming to have found 'thousands of fraudulent signatures' in an election security review.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Arkansas House advances maternal health bill despite concerns about statute of limitations
Rep. Julie Mayberry (center), R-Hensley, explains her concerns about a portion of the Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act, sponsored by Rep. Aaron Pilkington (right), R-Knoxville, on the House floor on Wednesday, February 12, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) The Arkansas House of Representatives approved a bill Wednesday that supporters lauded as necessary to improve the state's maternal health care landscape, despite a handful of lawmakers expressing concerns about a section regarding alleged medical injuries during childbirth. House Bill 1427 is the Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act, sponsored by Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced the initiative last week, calling it a 'comprehensive, collaborative approach' to improving low-income Arkansans' access to health care during pregnancy and childbirth. Much of the legislation would alter the state's Medicaid program by establishing presumptive Medicaid eligibility for pregnant Arkansans, offering reimbursements for doulas and community health workers and establishing pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage for specific treatments. Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, is the bill's lead Senate sponsor and is also sponsoring the identical Senate Bill 213, which the Senate approved Wednesday. The Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies policy package will cost the state $45 million per year, with $13 million set aside in Sanders' proposed fiscal year 2026 state budget and the rest coming from federal funds, Pilkington told the House on Wednesday. Only 34 hospitals in 23 of Arkansas' 75 counties have labor and delivery units, and five maternity wards have closed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, most recently in Newport. Pilkington mentioned the Newport closure while urging his colleagues to vote for the bill. 'We're just trying to make it a little less expensive to operate a labor and delivery unit here in the state of Arkansas,' he said. 'We have to stop the bleeding.' Arkansas has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation, and the third-highest infant mortality rate, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. There are things in this bill that are probably not as palatable as others, but if we're going to move this needle, this is the first step to moving that needle. – Rep. Jeff Wardlaw, R-Hermitage Four House Republicans said they supported most of the bill but could not vote for it because of a clause on the final page that would make a child's fifth birthday the statute of limitations for any actions against alleged medical injuries during birth. Little Rock attorney Paul Byrd spoke against the bill in Wednesday's House Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor meeting for the same reason. Byrd said it would be difficult to determine any neurological damage to a child at all, let alone what caused it, before the age of five. Current law, which HB 1427 would amend, allows a minor or his or her legal guardian to 'commence an action' on an alleged medical injury by the child's 11th birthday or two years after the injury occurred, depending on which is later. Rep. Jimmy Gazaway, R-Paragould, called the bill's statute of limitations section a 'poison pill' that 'doesn't belong' with the rest of the policy package. 'This could be sent back to committee, that portion could be taken out, and we could pass this bill with 100% [of the] vote,' Gazaway said. Pilkington said childbirth is 'a very small window' that the five-year statute of limitations would cover, and he added that the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association is neutral on the legislation. Gazaway and five other Republicans voted present on the bill, while two more did not vote. Reps. Jack Ladyman of Jonesboro, Julie Mayberry of Hensley and Jim Wooten of Beebe also spoke against the final clause of the bill, and all three voted against it, along with fellow Republicans Hope Duke of Gravette, James Eaton of Huntsville and David Ray of Maumelle. State lawmakers aim to tackle Arkansas' maternal health crisis with new legislation Ladyman also spoke against and voted against the bill during Wednesday's committee meeting. All 19 House Democrats and the remaining 67 House Republicans voted for HB 1427. Five Republicans spoke in favor of the bill, including Reps. Mary Bentley of Perryville and Jeff Wardlaw of Hermitage, who are cosponsoring the legislation. 'There are things in this bill that are probably not as palatable as others, but if we're going to move this needle [on maternal health], this is the first step to moving that needle,' Wardlaw said. Rep. Ashley Hudson, D-Little Rock, is the bill's sole Democratic sponsor. More than half of births in Arkansas are covered by Medicaid, according to Arkansas Department of Human Services officials. HB 1427 would not expand Medicaid coverage for postpartum mothers from 60 days to 12 months after birth, a federal option that all other states have adopted to some extent. Pilkington is sponsoring a separate bill to create this policy, House Bill 1004. House Minority Leader Andrew Collins, D-Little Rock, has filed the similar House Bill 1008. Both bills have yet to be heard in committee. The Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor will be next to consider HB 1427.
