Sandy's Last Report from the
2008 House Session
I made every effort to 'hit the ground running' here this session. I spent the long hours required to learn the ropes and how this process works. This was a daunting challenge and an awesome opportunity.
I sponsored several bills and two have been signed by the Governor. I am proud of that. The truancy bill will provide parents and schools with additional tools to protect our children and to see that they are successful in school. The bill I sponsored and had signed by the Governor strengthens attendance laws without adversely affecting those who receive quality home-schooling.
Motorists will soon be able to purchase snow tires with retractable stud cleats. Those tires will be legal all year round. We will not have to change tires with the seasons, not a huge thing, not an issue that most people lose sleep about, but it makes common sense and gives all of us greater personal freedom and individual choice.
I also sponsored a bill for the library services authority which would allow library members all over the state greater freedom over their own operations by allowing them to merge with another library system or non-profit organization. The bill did not receive final committee approval due to unresolved funding issues. It will be back and we will get those issues resolved.
When this session adjourned, there were a lot of important questions left unanswered. We spent the majority of our time, and most of our energy on the property tax bill. We reached an agreement and passed a bill that provides immediate property tax relief. It is not a perfect bill. It is not local government or school friendly, but it is a start. We can, I believe, do better.
I have talked with some of my friends across the aisle about doing more for those people most in need. I have promised them, and you, that I will join with them in an effort to eliminate ALL PROPERTY TAXES on property owned by senior citizens, people living on social security and pensions. I want to fight that battle. I believe that our senior citizens must be respected for their contributions and protected from a system that causes them economic harm. I believe we can and must do better.
We were not able to address health care for the working poor, our elderly, and our children. No person in this great state should have to make a choice between buying food and paying for the medicine they need to stay alive. Not one person in our state should be reduced to eating dog food or cat food because of a tax system or health care system that forces them to make such inhumane choices.
Our part of the state, this place where we live and raise our families, has unique problems, problems that have been neglected by both parties for far too long. We need jobs that provide opportunity and a good wage, with health care insurance and a good pension plan. We need jobs that will make it possible for our friends to raise, educate, and maintain their families. We need opportunities for our children, so they do not have to leave their homes to find employment.
We must have help for families in Greene County as they search for ways to replace the lost opportunities of the coal industry. There must be help for the folks in Martin County as they look for ways to diversify their economy and provide for their families. Lawrence County has factories and industrial facilities sitting empty and idle; help is all they ask. Orange County has a tourism and recreational industry that is being reborn. We need help in making it grow. One man, one family cannot do it alone. We need help.
I do not believe that government has all the answers. I think that often the answers provided by government are far too intrusive and sometimes just flat wrong.
When I say that our district needs help, I am not suggesting a handout. I am not asking for charity. What I am proposing is that the state recognize the needs of our area and provide us with the attention and the tools we need to help ourselves. We deserve that and I will continue to fight that battle.
This session is now closed; the last bill has been passed. I have been your voice to the House of Representatives. I have grown to appreciate the very difficult task that faces our district. I thank Jerry Denbo for his insight and encouragement during this most trying time. Jerry's friends here in the House have accepted me and made me welcome. They also impress upon me what a dedicated and devoted Representative he was for our district.
It is now time to look to the future; it is time to think of better days. Hopefully, I will meet many of you in the days to come before the next session. I appreciate and gratefully accept your prayers and encouragement. I am only one voice, a small vessel, a work-in-progress. I have listened to your concerns; I have done my best to listen to a Power greater than myself.
I have looked at things as they are and I have asked why - I dream of things that could be better and I ask, why not? (Paraphrase of Robert Kennedy).
May the blessings of Liberty and the grace of God be with you and keep you until we meet.
God bless America and keep the State of Indiana and all of us safe and secure.
