Recap on session given by Davis

State Rep. Bill Davis recapped the 116th Indiana General Assembly session at the Jay County Chamber of Commerce networking luncheon Tuesday, highlighting three major accomplishments from the past two years.

"These two years have been about the budget, taxes and about protecting property owners," Davis (R-Portland) said.

The budget took extra sessions to complete in 2009, but Davis said as the economic situation in the state continued to decline, the extra discussion put in on the budget, "Turned out to be the right thing to do," he said.

Davis touted the efforts of the legislature for its efforts to call for a statewide referendum on whether property tax caps should be inserted into the Indiana constitution.

"It passed overwhelmingly," he said, noting that it received bi-partisan support with only a few dissenting votes in both senate and house.

The caps limit the amount of taxes an owner can pay on a property to a percentage of its assessed value, 1 percent for homes, 2 percent for rentals and 3 percent for businesses. Davis said taxpayers have saved about $400 million since the caps' inception.

If inserted into the state constitution, the caps would be more difficult to repeal or change in the future.

Davis also hailed the legislature for enacting no new additional taxes in the state during the 116th. Other financially straining measures, for example a $350 million increase in unemployment benefits paid by businesses that was supposed to take effect, was delayed until the economy recovers.

Davis highlighted unemployment during his speech, noting that the state currently owes about $1.6 billion to the federal government for money borrowed to pay out jobless benefits. That money will need to be repaid and the legislature will be looking for solutions in the next session.

"It's an obligation we have," he said. "One way or another, we have to come up with a better system (for state unemployment insurance)."

Unemployment itself was another topic that Davis said will need continued work during the next two years.

"It's still not where we want to be," he said of the state's near 10 percent jobless rate. "... We have to continue to find ways to put people to work."

Davis highlight other accomplishments during the session and informed attendees that although 2,036 bills were filed, only 298 were enacted and that most of those spawn from input from people throughout the state. He encouraged citizens to continue to identify and voice those issues in the future.

"A good number of this legislation comes from constituents who either had a problem or foresee a problem," he said. "All of the issues are important because they come from constituents."[[In-content Ad]]