Indiana General Assembly

Infobox Legislature
name = Indiana General Assembly
coa_pic = Indiana state seal.png coa-pic =
session_room = Indiana State House 2.jpg
house_type = Bicameral
houses = Senate
House of Representatives
leader1_type = President of the Senate
leader1 = Becky Skillman
party1 = (R)
election1 = January 10, 2005
leader2_type = Speaker of the House
leader2 = B. Patrick Bauer
party2 = (D)
election2 = November 7, 2006
members = 150
p_groups = Democratic Party
Republican Party
election3 = November 7, 2006
meeting_place = Indiana State House, Indianapolis
website = http://www.in.gov/legislative/The Indiana General Assembly is the state legislature, or legislative branch, of the state of Indiana. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Indiana House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Indiana Senate. The General Assembly meets annually at the Indiana State House in Indianapolis.

Members of the General Assembly are elected from districts that are realigned every ten years. Representatives serve terms of two years and senators serve terms of four years. Both houses can create bills, but bills must pass both houses before it can be submitted to the governor and enacted into law.

tructure

The Indiana General Assembly is made up of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. [http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/inconst/art-4.html Indiana Constitution Article 4, Section 8] ] Indiana has a part-time legislature, that does not meet year-round. The General Assembly convenes on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January. During odd-numbered years the legislature meets for 61 days (not necessarily consecutively) and must be adjourned by April 30. During even-numbered years the legislature meets for 30 days (not necessarily consecutively) and must be adjourned by March 15. The General Assembly may not adjourn for more than three days without a resolution approving adjournment being passed in both houses. [http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/inconst/art-4.html Indiana Constitution Article 4, Section 9] ] The governor has the authority to call on the General Assembly to convene a special session if legislators are unable to complete necessary work within time alloted by the regular sessions. [http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/inconst/art-4.html Indiana Constitution Article 4, Section 9] ] [ICC, p. 7] Special sessions of the General Assembly were rarely called in the state's early history, but have become more commonplace in modern times.

The General Assembly delegates are elected from districts. Every ten years the districts are realigned by the General Assembly using information from the US Census Bureau to ensure that each district is roughly equal in population. [ [http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/inconst/art-4.html Indiana Constitution Article 4, Section 5] ] The districting is maintained to comply with the United States Supreme Court ruling in Reynolds v. Sims. [cite web|url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=377&invol=533| title=Reynolds v. Sims| publisher=CaseLaw.com|accessdate=2008-06-18]

The Senate and House of Representatives each have several committees that are charged with overseeing certain areas of the state. Committees vary in size, with between three and eleven members. The committees are chaired by senior members of the majority party. Senators and Representatives can be members of multiple committees. Most legislation begins within the committees who have responsibility for the area the bill will affect. Once approved by a committee, a bill can be entered into the agenda for debate and vote in the full chamber.cite web|url=http://www.in.gov/apps/lsa/session/billwatch/billinfo?request=getCommitteeList| title=Standing Committees| publisher=IN.gov|accessdate=2008-06-09] Although not common, bills can be voted on by the full house without going through the committee process. [cite web|url=http://www.in.gov/legislative/session/houserules.pdf|title= House Operating Rules|pages=11|author=Indiana General Assembly|publisher=IN.gov|accessdate=2008-06-18] [cite web|url=http://www.in.gov/legislative/session/senate1.pdf| title= Senate Operating Rules|pages=16-17|publisher=IN.gov|author=Indiana General Assembly|accessdate=2008-06-18]

Terms and qualifications

Article 4, Section 7, of the Constitution of Indiana states the qualifications to become a Senator or Representative. The candidate must have been a United States Citizen for a minimum of two years prior to his candidacy and must have been resident of the district which he seeks to represent for one year. Senators must be at least twenty-five years of age and Representatives twenty-one when sworn into office. The candidate cannot hold any other public office in the state or federal government during their term. The candidate must also be a registered voter within the district they seek to represent.ICC, p. 9] Candidates are required to file papers stating their economic interests. [Indiana Code 2-2.1-3-2)]

Article 4, Section 3, of the constitution of Indiana places several limitation on the size and composition of the General Assembly. The Senate can contain no more than fifty members, and the senators serve for term of four years. The House of Representatives can contain no more than one hundred members, and the representatives serve terms of two years. There is no limit to how many terms a Senator or Representative may serve.

Checks and balances

There are several checks and balances built into the Constitution of Indiana that limit the power of the General Assembly. Other clauses allow the General Assembly to balance and limit the authority of the other branches of the government.ICC, p. 17] Among these checks and balances is the Governor's authority to veto any bill passed by the General Assembly. The General Assembly may in turn override his veto by a passing the bill with a super majority, two thirds of the members of each house. Bills passed by a super majority automatically become law without requiring the signature of the Governor. Once the bill is made law, it can be challenged in the state courts which may rule the law to be unconstitutional, effectively repealing the law. The General Assembly could then override the court's decision by amending the state constitution to include the law.

Powers

The authority and powers of the Indiana General Assembly are established in the Constitution of Indiana. The General Assembly has sole legislative power within the state government. Each house can initiate legislation, with the exception that the Senate is not permitted to initiate legislation that will affect revenue. Bills are debated and passed separately in each house, but must be passed by both houses before they can submitted to the Governor. [http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/inconst/art-4.html Indiana Constitution Article 4] ] Each law passed by the General Assembly must be applied uniformly to the entire state; the General Assembly has no authority to create legislation that targets only a particular community.ICC, p. 11]

The General Assembly is empowered to regulate the state's judiciary system by setting the size of the courts and the bounds of their districts. The body also has the authority to monitor the activities of the executive branch of the state government, has limited power to regulate the county governments within the state, and has sole power to initiate the process to amend the state constitution. [ICC, p. 14]

Under Indiana law, legislators cannot be arrested while the General Assembly is in session unless the crime they commit is treason, a felony, or breach of the peace. [ [http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/inconst/art-4.html Indiana Constitution, Article 4, Section 8] ]

Indiana Senate

The Indiana State Senate consists of 50 members elected to four-year terms. The Lieutenant Governor, who is Becky Skillman in 2008, presides over the Senate while it is in session and casts the deciding vote in the event of a tie. [ICC, p. 12] [http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/inconst/art-4.html Indiana Constitution Article 4, section 10] ] The 2008 Senate Pro Tempore is Senator David Long of Fort Wayne.cite web|url=http://www.in.gov/legislative/senate_republicans/leadership.htm|title=Senate Republican Leadership |publisher=IN.gov |accessdate=2008-06-11] The 2008 Senate had a Republican super-majority. [cite web|url=http://www.in.gov/legislative/legislators/senate_district.html| title=Legislators|publisher=IN.gov|accessdate=2008-06-18] The Senate offices are located in the west wing of the second floor of the Indiana Statehouse, and the Senate chambers are on the west wing of the third floor.cite web|url=http://www.in.gov/idoa/2571.htm|title=A Clear Arrangement|author=Indiana Historical Bureau| publisher=IN.gov|accessdate=2008-06-18]

Indiana House of Representatives

The Indiana House of Representatives consists of 100 members elected to two-year terms. In 2008 the Speaker of the House is B. Patrick Bauer. In 2008 the House of Representatives has a Democratic majority with 51 Democratic representatives and 49 Republican representatives. [cite web|url=http://www.in.gov/legislative/legislators/house_district.html| title=Legislators|publisher-IN.gov|accessdate=2008-06-18] The House offices are located in the east wing of the second floor of the Indiana Statehouse, and the House Chambers are on the third floor.

History

1816 Constitution

Indiana's original constitution was ratified on June 10, 1816, and the election of the first General Assembly took place on August 5 of that year. [Dunn, p. 377] They convened in the original three room statehouse located in Corydon. The body consisted of ten senators and twenty-nine representatives, sixteen of whom had been signers of the Indiana state constitution. There, the General Assembly began its development into the institution it is today. [Dunn, p. 388] [cite web|url=http://www.centerforhistory.org/indiana_history_main3.html|publisher=Indiana Center For History|title="Indiana History Chapter three"|accessdate=2008-05-17] The original constitution provided that representatives served terms of one year and senators served terms of three years, and permitted an annual meeting of the assembly from December until March.

At first, there was only one political party of any consequence in Indiana, the Democratic-Republicans. The party was, however, broken into three divisions that would later split off into their own parties. The divisions were mainly over the issue of slavery, but they would develop more differences in later years.Dunn, p. 334] The Jennings party, made up of abolitionists, was dominant in the beginning. The Noble party was in favor of slavery, and the Hendricks party was generally neutral, although Hendricks himself was openly anti-slavery. In 1818, the Noble party tried to impeach Governor Jennings over his role in the negotiations of the Treaty of St. Mary's. After two months of debate in the House, and Jennings having destroyed the evidence of his role, the House of Representatives dropped the investigation and issued a resolution that confirmed Jennings in his position as governor. [Dunn, p. 378]

In its first two decades, the General Assembly laid the foundation of the state. They created the framework for the state's public school system, began construction on the State Seminary and of roads in the southern part of the state. Initially, the General Assembly was faced with low tax revenues. In response to the problem, they created the Bank of Indiana and sold nine million acres (36,000 km²) of public lands to finance their projects. The General Assembly relocated the capitol to Indianapolis in 1824, and in 1831 they authorized the construction of the first dedicated statehouse. [cite web|url=http://www.centerforhistory.org/indiana_history_main3.html|publisher=Indiana Center For History|title="Indiana History Chapter three"|accessdate=2008-05-17] [cite web|url=http://www.in.gov/idoa/2550.htm|title="The State House Story"|publisher=IN.gov|author=Indiana Historical Bureau|accessdate=2008-05-17]

In the 1830s, the Whigs split from the Democratic-Republicans in response to national policies. The Whigs held a strong majority in the General Assembly in that decade. [Dunn, pp. 373—374] In 1843, the remnants of the old slavery party had strengthened into the Democratic Party and swept into power, the Whigs never regained their majority and the Democrats maintained power until the middle of the American Civil War. In the 1830s and 1840s, the General Assembly set plans into motion to modernize the state. The wilderness of northern and central Indiana was slowly developed as the General Assembly approved the construction of roads, canals, railroads, and numerous other infrastructure projects. This led the state to near bankruptcy in the late 1830s, but it was avoided when the General Assembly spun off the failing canals, and half of their debts, to private companies in 1841. The failure of the projects was the main factor in the Whig's loss of power. [cite book|title= An Illustrated History of the State of Indiana |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=YDIUAAAAYAAJ |author=Goodrich, De Witt C. & Tuttle, Charles Richard |pages=189–192|publisher=R. S. Peale & co.|year=1875]

The old constitution had come under considerable criticism beginning in the 1840s because it allowed most government positions to be filled by appointment. The problem with this method of filling positions did not manifest itself until the advent of the state's political parties. Once in power, a party could stack the government with its own members, making it difficult for the minority to regain power. Another problem was that the authority for many trivial issues were not delegated to other authorities, for example, if a man was to divorce his wife, the divorce bill had to be approved by the General Assembly before he or she could legally remarry. [Dunn p. 443]

1851 Constitution

In 1851, a new state constitution was created and ratified. Among the constitution's new clauses was an extension of the terms of representatives to two years and senators to four years. It also made many of the previously appointed positions open to public election. [ [http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/inconst/art-4.html Constitution of Indiana, Article 4, Section 2] ] The new constitution delegated many minor tasks to newly created elected offices. With its workload considerably decreased, instead of meeting annually, the General Assembly only convened a session every two years. The new constitution also placed new limits on the General Assembly's power to create local laws, the General Assembly had become notorious for creating state level laws that were only applied to one town or county.1816 Constitution of Indiana, Article 3, Section 4-5] [cite web |url=http://www.in.gov/history/6230.htm|title=The 1851 Indiana Constitution|author= David G. Vanderstel|publisher=IN.gov|accessdate=2008-06-18] [Dunn, pp. 443—447]

The new constitution led to the gradual erosion of the Democratic majority. In 1854, the Republican Party was established and drew in many of the former Whigs. That year the General Assembly was split with no party attaining a majority. The Democrats held the most seats, but the Whigs and Republicans caucused to form a majority and control the assembly. The result was deadlock on most issues because Republicans and Whigs could not agree on most major issues. [Dunn, pp. 521—524] By 1858, the Whigs were almost completely disempowered and the Republicans gained enough seats to become the largest party, but not enough to form a majority on their own. That year Governor Ashbel P. Willard called the first special session of the General Assembly because they had been unable to pass an appropriations bill. Democrats regained a small majority by gaining the votes of the disaffected Whigs in the 1860 election. cite web|url=http://www2.indystar.com/articles/1/207993-2051-P.html|title=A historic look back at the Statehouse|publisher=The Indianapolis Star|year=Jan. 9, 2005|accessdate=2008-06-18 ]

During the 1860s and the American Civil War, the legislature was the scene of intense debate. At the beginning of the war, the General Assembly was controlled by the southern sympathetic Democrats.cite book|title="Indiana in the Civil War Era: 1850-1880"|author=Thornbrough, Emma |year=1991|isbn=0871950502|publisher=Indiana Historical Society|pages=140–156] Governor Oliver Morton and the Republican minority were able to prevent the General Assembly from meeting in 1862 and 1863 by denying the body quorum. Morton even had some members of the body arrested or detained on suspicions of disloyalty. The lack of funding created by this crisis again led to the near bankruptcy of the state. In 1864, the Republicans gained a majority and convened the General Assembly to remedy the state's funding problems.

During the 1880s and 1890s, Indiana industry began to grow rapidly leading to the creation of many labor unions and a return to Democratic control of the General Assembly. During those decades, the General Assembly enacted a series of laws to protect the rights of workers and encourage more industrial growth. The women's suffrage movement also began in the state and rallies were held in Indianapolis to support the female suffrage legislation that was ultimately voted down in the General Assembly. [Gray, p. 193]

During 1907, the General Assembly made Indiana the first state to enact eugenics legislation, and the law remained in effect until 1921. The law led to the forced sterilization of thousands of criminals until it was ruled unconstitutional by the Indiana Supreme Court in 1921. ["Williams v. Smith", 131 NE 2 (Ind.), 1921, text at [http://www.bioethics.iupui.edu/Eugenics/SMith%20vs%20Williams.pdf] ] Scandal erupted in 1925 when it was discovered that the Klu Klux Klan controlled over half the seats in the General Assembly. During the session, Grand Dragon D. C. Stephenson boasted "I am the law in Indiana". [cite web|url=http://www.centerforhistory.org/indiana_history_main7.html| title=Indiana History Chapter Seven| Publisher= Indiana Center for History|accessdate=2008-06-23] During the next two years, the federal government intervened, Stephenson was convicted of murder. After the Governor refused to pardon him, Stephenson indicted his co-conspirators, leading to many of the state government being charged with various crimes and removing much of the Klan's power. [cite book|author=Lutholtz, M. William|year=199| title=Grand Dragon: D. C. Stephenson and the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana| location=West Lafayette, Indiana|publisher= Purdue University Press|isbn=1557530467|pages=43,89]

In the 1930s, the General Assembly established the state's first general welfare programs to help the poor affected by the Great Depression. The General Assembly passed the nation's first DUI laws in 1939, establishing a blood alcohol level of .15 as the legal limit. The 1940s led to the first African American being elected to the senate and legislation that desegregated the public schools in 1949.

The General Assembly established the state's first sales tax at two percent in 1962. The revenues from the tax led to a host of new projects across the state. The General Assembly also passed the Indiana Civil Rights bill in 1963 granting equal protection to minorities in seeking employment. [Gray, pp. 391—392] In 1970 a series of constitutional amendments were passed. Among them was one that authorized the General Assembly to meet annually instead of biennially.

During the 1988 session, the Indiana House of Representatives was split evenly between both parties for the first time in Indiana's history. After a period of negotiations, both parties agreed to share majority powers, alternating which party controlled the position of speaker each day. The same General Assembly legalized horse racing in the state in 1989.

A special session of the General Assembly was called in 1992 by Governor Evan Bayh because no budget had been passed in the regular session. During the special session, the General Assembly passed the budget and also legalized the operation of riverboat casinos in the state, overriding the governor's veto to prevent it. The General Assembly passed property tax reform legislation in 2008, capping property taxes at one percent, making Indiana one of the lowest property tax locations in the nation. [cite web |url=http://www.in.gov/gov/files/031908_Governor_signs_property_tax_relief_and_reform_bill.pdf |title= Governor Signs Property Tax Reform |publisher=IN.gov |accessdate=2008-06-05]

ee also

*Government of Indiana
*Constitution of Indiana

References

ources

*cite book|author=Dunn, Jacob Paitt|title=Indiana and Indianans|year=1919|publisher=American Historical Society|location=New York and Chicago
*cite book|title="Indiana History: A Book of Readings"|author=Gray, Ralph D. |isbn=025332629X|publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1995 |location=Indiana |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=SlKbSuBQL-AC
*cite book|title=Here is Your Indiana Government|year=2005, last revision|publisher=Indiana Chamber of Commerce|location=Indianapolis|author=ICC A new edition is published biennially.

External links

* [http://www.in.gov/legislative/ Official Indiana General Assembly web site]