Indiana

When the Speaker Speaks

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

Indiana House Speaker Pat Bauer says education funding should be a separate issue from unemployment insurance and he’s asking Governor Mitch Daniels to get that message to his fellow Republicans.

Although lawmakers seem to agree on most of a plan to give schools more flexibility to solve their budget shortfalls and all parties seem to have agreed on a two-year delay of the increase in the unemployment insurance tax, they are still deadlocked.

One point of contention is the classification of some independent contractors and whether they should be labelled as full-time employees and thus union employees at some workplaces.

Bauer met with the Governor this afternoon.  He called the meeting positive.  Saying he hoped the Governor could convince his party to separate the issues so they could all move forward.

Meanwhile,  House Democrats and Republicans spent part of the afternoon agreeing that they agreed on education and unemployment  but no one could agree on what the delay was all about.

Bauer says he hopes lawmakers can adjourn by Friday.   The House will reconvene at 4 p.m.   You can hear the Speaker’s comments to the media below.

House Speaker Pat Bauer

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on March 10, 2010 (boomark / email).