|
|
Indiana Section American Water Works Association
2002 Special Session Background Information
For your background, we have pulled together several key pieces of information which may prove helpful during the course of the Special Session, which convened on May 14.
Letter to the General Assembly: Enhanced Funding Needed
for IDEM's Drinking Water Branch
Your 2002-03 Chair Jim Williams and Water Utility Council Chair John Stancati have written to the members of the Indiana General Assembly on behalf of the Indiana Section, regarding legislative priorities for the coming Special Session. To read their letter, click here.
Budget/Tax Restructuring
The Indiana General Assembly met briefly on May 14-15. The Senate acted on several vetoes issued at he end of the regular (short) session earlier this year, and Ways and Means Chairman Pat Bauer has introduced House Bill 1001 (Special Session). It is now available on the Web (it is 220+ pages long, in case you are contemplating downloading it).
Click here to go to information on the bill.
To download only those sections relating to IDEM and of greatest interest to the drinking water industry, click here.
For now, the House Ways and Means Committee will be working solo and holding public hearings, with the full General Assembly not reconvening until June 3. As it stands now, the bill again calls for half of the funds raised through the proposed new levy to be allocated to the General Fund. As HB 1004 was introduced and passed the House earlier this year, all funds were allocated to IDEM; the new bill reflects provisions of HB 1004 as revised in the House after a modified version of that Bill had passed the Senate.
What Others are Saying
For information on what other organizations are saying about HB1001(SS), click here.
Tax Restructuring/Regular (Short) Session
The primary if not the sole subjects of the 2002 Special Session will be (1) tax restructuring, and (2) tax increases to cover the shortfall in the current biennial budget. As originally proposed during the regular short session earlier this year, two separate bills were introduced – HB 1003 and HB 1004.
For a legislative history of the bill(s) during the regular session, click here.
Key Decisionmakers
The single most important decision makers in any restructuring deliberations will be the House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Patrick Bauer and the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Sen. Lawrence Borst. To visit the Web sites of those two individuals, click on their names/links.
For information on the members serving on the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, click on links and scroll down to find the appropriate committees.
Impact on the Drinking Water Industry
For a discussion about funding issues which emerged toward the end of the regular short session earlier this year, click here.
To review a general statement regarding legislative priorities for 2002, click here.
Importance of Drinking Water
Recently, in a copyrighted analysis, the Gallup News Service reported that water-related issues, particularly pollution of drinking water, rank as the highest priority and greatest environmental concern of the American people.
The Gallup organization, in its annual Earth Day poll released on April 19, asked those surveyed to assess their level of concern about a total of ten specific environmental problems.
"Pollution of drinking water ranks at the top of the list, with 57% of adults saying they worry a great deal about this issue....half of all Americans express a great deal of concern aobut maintaining the nation's supply of fresh water for household needs, an issue of particular concerrn this year because of widespread drought conditions across the country." |
Updated: June 27th, 2006
|
|