Road, meth bills were key

Funding road improvements and dealing with the state’s methamphetamine problem where two of the prominent topics heading into Indiana’s 2016 legislative session.
Rep. Greg Beumer sees the legislation addressing those issues as two of the most important accomplishments among the 218 bills the General Assembly passed this year.
Beumer (R-Modoc), who represents all of Jay and Randolph counties and part of Delaware County, noted that roads are not just a key issue statewide, but locally as well.
“My emails, letters, phone calls clearly indicated that people in District 33 want their roads fixed,” he said. “They want their local roads fixed.”
To that end, the legislature passed House Bill 1001, which established the local road and bridge matching grant fund, transferred a portion of state reserves to the state highway fund and the local road and bridge matching grant fund, moved $100 million to the state highway fund to be used only to repair existing roads and bridges and created a task force to develop a long-term plan for Indiana’s roads. Beumer noted that the bill includes a provision requiring that half of the funding in the matching grant fund go to rural counties.
A House Republican proposal for an increase in the gas tax to provide a more permanent funding source for upkeep of roads did not make the final bill, but Beumer said he expects that issue to be back in 2017.
“Yes, the House Republicans wanted to take more of a long-range view,” he said. “That just wasn’t going to be in the cards for this session. I would say it’s definitely on the table when we look at increasing gas tax and possibly other taxes to provide more sustainable funding for road and bridge improvements next session.”
The meth measure allows pharmacists to limit the purchase of over-the-counter cold medicine that contains pseudoephedrine, which is an ingredient in manufacturing the illegal drug. An initial proposal would have required a prescription for any medication containing pseudoephedrine.
Gov. Mike Pence signed another bill that bans felons with meth-related convictions from buying such medications without a prescription, and the legislature created the Indiana Commission to Combat Drug Abuse.
“I am very proud of how our efforts came together to fight our growing meth and drug problem in East Central Indiana,” said Beumer. “All of this is a good start, but we will certainly need to continue to keep an eye on this problem.”
Beumer added that Senate Bill 308, which dealt with farm ground assessment, was a positive for local farmers. It shifts calculations for the base tax rate on farm ground to a two-year rolling average from the previous formula that used a four-year average. It also put a freeze on soil productivity rates.
Beumer called the passage of a bill dealing with abortion his biggest disappointment of the session, not because of his stance on the issue but because of the way it was passed.
The Senate added an amendment to the bill banning abortions sought because a fetus has a genetic abnormality, such as Down syndrome, on the second-to-last day of the session. It then went to the House floor for a vote without a committee hearing or public comment.
Some Indiana Republicans, including Beumer, expressed concern that the language in the bill is unconstitutional.
“That, many of us thought, did an injustice to the topic and its relevance to our society today,” said Beumer, who voted against the measure that passed 60-40. “It’s extremely important.”
A pair of bills authored by Beumer passed the General Assembly.
One of those — House Bill 1046 — eliminates the sales tax on the sale of bullion, such as gold and silver, and other currency. The goal, Beumer said, is to allow Hoosiers more freedom in purchasing those items as investments.
“Almost all financial advisers tell people you really should have a portion of your investment portfolio in intrinsic, tangible medals,” he said. “We were driving Hoosiers out of state to make those purchases.”
House Bill 1075, which has already been signed by Pence, exempts property owners outside of a municipality from being forced to connect to a municipal sewer system if that property has a sewage disposal system that is in working order.