Lawmakers eye executive order costs in bill on its way to governor

The financial impact of each of an Indiana governor’s executive orders would be calculated in a week under heavily revised legislation headed to Gov. Mike Braun’s desk.

A conference committee report on Senate Bill 4 directs the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency to analyze the fiscal impacts on state and local governments for all executive orders — not just when a governor uses one to declare a disaster emergency.

Analyzes would be expected within 7 days. Braun has issued more than 80 executive orders since taking office in January of last year.

Both chambers unanimously approved the finalized proposal Friday morning, by a vote of 91-0 in the House and 50-0 in the Senate.

This is despite some resentment over the removal of more than 80 pages of amended provisions in the bill on tax matters by House members. Their additions — addressing economic development reports, tax credit reviews, public library budgets and more — were deemed irrelevant by the Senate and largely moved to another bill.

“When the Senate told you that these House provisions were not relevant, did it occur to you to explain to them that we are an equal chamber in this General Assembly and we don’t particularly care what they think is relevant? asked Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, during a Rules Committee meeting Thursday evening.

“It seems to me that the House is tipping over and falling apart,” Pierce added. “We might want to have a bigger backbone on this side of the Capitol building, and maybe see if we can control them a little bit.”

Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, justified the deletions.

“As someone known for calling out relevance violations throughout the session, I appreciate sticking to the letter of the law and trying to be as relevant as possible,” he said.

The measure, now largely returned to its Senate-passed form, also lowers the implementation cost and compliance threshold that must be noted in agencies’ regulatory analyses. The current $1 million for impacts on local governments, businesses and individuals – over a two-year period – would be cut in half, to $500,000.

Braun’s administration would also be allowed to withdraw from the Fiscal Responsibility and Opportunity Growth Fund to bolster the ailing Child Care and Development Fund program, which provides vouchers to low-income families. The State Budget Committee, dominated by lawmakers, would have to approve any injection into the program.

CCDF has been closed to new children for over a year due to financial constraints and is not expected to reopen registrations until next year. The waiting list for vouchers has topped 30,000.

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