Latest news with #MikeGaskill
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Our View: Hoosiers must vote through confusion
There are two reasons, likely more, that Hoosier voters might seem confused about coming elections. Voters should be determined to register and then perform their civic duty at the polls despite any such bewilderment. Now, the reasons for confusion. Senate Enrolled Act 10 requires county voter registration offices to conduct voter list maintenance programs identifying those who have not cast a ballot in the two most recent general elections. If you miss two general elections, the county office will send a notice to the address you have on file, which means a resident who has moved, even inside the same precinct, may never see the notice. The maintenance program is expected to cost about $500,000 statewide. That same law, however, prohibits voters from being removed from the rolls if they haven't cast a ballot. So which is correct? This will have to do for an answer: Just go to the polls regularly so that you aren't removed from the voter list. Also under the new law, students at state colleges cannot use university-issued IDs to vote. That provision perhaps makes sense to prohibit voting by an out-of-state resident who goes to an Indiana college and tries to vote in two states. However, no study was conducted to see how many double-dippers are out there. Instead, the Legislature erred on the side of discouraging voting among college students. But there's yet more reason to be confused. Think your school board is too liberal or too conservative? Well, now you'll know. Maybe. Senate Enrolled Act 287 dictates that school board candidates must: • Declare a political party affiliation ... • Or declare to be an independent ... • Or elect not to disclose any affiliation or independence. To claim a party affiliation, school board candidates must have voted in that party in each of the two previous primaries. If not, the candidate can obtain written certification from a county party chairman verifying they are a member of the party. Clear as mud? Indiana joins four states mandating partisan school boards, according to Ballotpedia. The partisan election will effectively eliminate candidate-by-candidate voting based on stated positions and experience. Instead, many Hoosier voters, rather than doing their homework, will merely choose candidates based on party affiliation. The legislative session saw numerous bills — many controlled by Sen. Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton — touted to insure integrity in the election process. But voter fraud in this state has been negligible. The far larger problem is voter apathy. The May 2024 primary saw a scant 17% voter turnout, rising to 62% for the Trump-Harris showdown last November. We'll have to see if the new laws scare away more Hoosiers, particularly those who have been unfairly removed from voter rolls. Or those who don't even know they've been purged.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ken de la Bastide column: How will legislation impact Hoosiers?
Now that the Indiana Legislature has concluded the 2025 session, it will be interesting to see how their actions will impact Hoosiers. One bill that will have long-range implications enables school board candidates to declare a political party. Heretofore, school board elections have always been non-partisan in Indiana. It certainly appears that the Republican Party majority at the legislature is attempting to give school board candidates that declare the GOP label an advantage. In the past, voters would have to research the political leanings of school board candidates. Now a voter can just cast a ballot based on the political party declared by school board candidates. Will this take some interest away from school issues? Also, will it affect potential funding for school systems, sending more money to schools with boards controlled by the party in power at the Statehouse? It's similar to legislation that was proposed by local lawmaker Sen. Mike Gaskill to move municipal elections to the same year as elections for state and federal offices. Gaskill's proposal was assigned to a study committee that will make a recommendation to lawmakers in 2026. If the change is eventually adopted, it will take the focus away from local issues in municipal elections, instead encouraging voters to cast ballots based on state and national concerns. Lawmakers were also informed that Indiana is expecting to see a decrease of $2.4 billion in state revenues over the next few years. The two-year budget passed for 2026-27 is $45 billion, with funding reductions in several areas, including the Indiana Economic Development Corp. and local health departments. Spending for public health was cut from $100 million annually to $40 million. Lawmakers also approved a $2 increase in the state's cigarette tax to $2.99 per pack starting July 1. The anticipated $800 million in additional revenue will be used to help cover the state's Medicaid costs. I suspect many people will consider kicking the smoking habit when a pack of cigarettes will cost close to $12. At least for a brief time, cigarette companies will probably offer discounts on the price in an effort to keep people purchasing their products. The good news from the General Assembly is that lawmakers defeated an effort to criminalize homelessness by making it illegal to camp on public grounds. Although the intention of the bill was to help the homeless get needed services, the reality is that it would not have been effective. Over the next weeks and months, local residents will learn of the impact new legislation will have on county and city government operations.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate sends vote center study, student ID voting ban, income tax cuts to governor
Sen. Mike Gaskill defends the election-related study legislation he is sponsoring on Monday, April 7, 2025. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle) Twenty-eight lines instructing embattled Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales to analyze vote center and municipal election year changes ensnarled the Senate for almost 40 minutes Monday — but, after a 35-13 vote, the bill heads to the Gov. Mike Braun's desk. So do measures disallowing student identification cards as proof of identity and cutting income taxes. Across the Statehouse, the House approved towing regulations after months of strife within the Republican supermajority. 'In the amount of time that we spent debating it, I could have read it word-for-word about 20 times. I'm just flabbergasted,' said Sen. Mike Gaskill of the bipartisan pushback to House Bill 1633. Gaskill, R-Pendleton, was the legislation's sponsor. It would direct Morales to estimate any cost savings reaped if Indiana were to require that all counties move from traditional precinct-based voting to a vote center model, which allows voters to cast ballots at any location within their county of residence on Election Day. He'd do the same for municipal election changes, comparing the current schedule — odd-numbered years before presidential elections — to even-numbered presidential and midterm years. Morales would also have to study potential impacts on voter turnout, conduct at least one public meeting in each of the three specified regions and report the results to lawmakers by November. House Bill 1633 goes into effect upon passage. At the microphone, Democrats and Republicans revealed distrust of Morales. Questionable spending and other missteps have prompted, in recent weeks, greater scrutiny of the state's chief elections officer's fiscal management. 'I'm sorry. I just cannot give Secretary Morales any more after he has demonstrated — about catering meals, a Hungary trip, an India trip, no-bid contracts, hiring family, (spot) bonuses to his staff, a $90,000 car,' said Sen. J.D. Ford, D-Indianapolis. 'I just can't support giving him any more of this.' 'I'm not opposed to studying elections … (but) I do have a problem with the secretary of state getting on a traveling road show … just like I object to gold whistles and notebooks and lanyards in an election year,' said Sen. Sue Glick, R-LaGrange. 'We only have so much money in this state. I think this is a waste of time and money.' Ford, Glick and others also took issue with the study's format. They noted that the Legislature usually studies desired public policy changes through interim study committees. Those bodies feature representation from both parties, both chambers and, sometimes, agencies or industry. The chamber additionally concurred with House edits to Senate bills. Sen. Blake Doriot, R-Goshen, reported two sets of changes to his Senate Bill 10. The legislation would no longer allow students at Indiana's public colleges and universities to use their institutional IDs as proof of identity at the polls. One Republican-authored amendment altered voter list maintenance and data-sharing language — requiring county voter registration offices to perform voter list maintenance within just 48 hours of receiving certain information — while a Democratic one added consular reports of births abroad to a list of documents proving U.S. citizenship. Democrats maintained strong opposition to the measure, which goes to the governor on a 39-9 vote. 'We are told that this bill is about election integrity, but let's ask ourselves the hard question: where is the fraud? … Where is the abuse of student IDs in our elections?' Senate Minority Leader Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, asked. Legislation paring down Indiana's individual income tax also made the cut, on a 48-0 vote. Senate Bill 451 would drop the rate by 0.05% beginning in 2030, if state general fund revenue collections exceed 3.5% growth in each of the four preceding fiscal years. The next year's revenue forecast also must be at least 3.5%. The House bumped the baseline requirement up. The reductions would continue in every even-numbered year through 2040. Current law is already phasing Indiana's flat income tax rate down from 3.05% in 2024 to: 3.0% in 2025, 2.95% in 2026, and 2.9% in 2027 and years thereafter. Each 0.05 percentage point reduction of tax rate would result in a decline of income tax revenues between $150 million to $200 million annually, according to a fiscal analysis for the legislation. After months of wrangling fellow Republicans, House lawmakers approved an overhauled utility trailer sales bill that now addresses 'predatory' towing practices — and seeks to ban advertising of marijuana and other drugs. It advances back to the Senate for that chamber's consent to the changes. There was no discussion before the 75-13 tally on Senate Bill 73, but nearly all of the 'no' votes came from members of the majority caucus: Reps. Beau Baird, R-Greencastle; Martin Carbaugh, R-Fort Wayne; Lori Goss-Reaves, R-Marion; Craig Haggard, R-Mooresville; Andrew Ireland, R-Indianapolis; Chris Jeter, R-Fishers; Chris Judy, R-Fort Wayne; Ethan Manning, R-Logansport; Bob Morris, R-Fort Wayne; Zach Payne R-Charlestown; Kyle Pierce, R-Anderson; and Jake Teshka, R-North Liberty. Rep. Kyle Miller, of Fort Wayne, was the only Democrat in opposition. Under Rep. Jim Pressel's watchful eye, a Senate committee last month inserted an outdoor marijuana advertising ban and towing provisions into an Indiana Department of Motor Vehicles agency bill. They came out last week, when Senate Appropriations Committee chair Sen. Ryan Mishler dubbed them non-germane. But Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie, had already taken over Senate Bill 73 for the expanded advertising ban and towing changes. Towing regulations previously tripped up House Republicans for more than two weeks during the first half of the legislative session, before meeting a deadline-induced death. Another take on the regulations died even earlier, in committee. Senior Reporter Casey Smith contributed. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate approves scaled-back bill swapping town election years
Legislation from Sen. Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton, saw big changes Wednesday. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle) Town elections would be held during presidential election years under downsized legislation that left the Senate Thursday in a tight vote, but without discussion. Municipal elections — from mayors down to town councils — are currently held in the odd-numbered years before presidential elections. Sen. Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton, originally hoped to shift all municipal elections to the same even-numbered years as presidential elections. But he pared it back to focus on less-populous towns in a significant amendment accepted by the Senate Wednesday. 'The thought behind the bill is to try to address extremely low turnout in these small-town elections and to reduce the significant cost to run them,' Gaskill told his colleagues Thursday. Now, his Senate Bill 355 would move only town election years. Municipal officials elected in 2022 would serve a fifth year to close the gap created by the shift. Councils representing towns of more than 10,000 residents could vote to opt out of the change, while city councils could vote to opt in. An exception for the 200-person town of Vernon would let the historic district continue operating elections under its unique 1851 charter. The legislation would also let voters stay in the booth for seven minutes, up from the current four-minute maximum. No other lawmakers rose to speak. But the 29-20 vote split Republicans, with almost a dozen voting against their colleague's measure. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
