INDIANA UPDATE
*Update from Gary Langston, IMTA President.
Sine Die!
Well, another session of the Indiana General Assembly has come and gone and we can once again say we have fared well. It was well after midnight last Friday, March 9th as the legislature pounded out the final details of what was at times one of the most contentious sessions ever.
The best news, however, is that the outcomes of the issues on which the IMTA was squarely focused are in favor of our industry. Here's a brief summary of the 2012 session;
SB- 257 turned out to be a real attention getter. That bill language proposed that all "specialty" license plates that were approved in 2011 for 2012 distribution would be discontinued at the end of this year. Having invested heavily into getting our "Trucks Move Indiana" plate up and running, we joined forces with the other specialty plate stakeholders to plead our case. Although the issue was deliberated two different times I'm happy to report that our plate remains intact. The final language establishes an interim study committee on special group recognition license plates. The results of that committee must be reported by December 1 of this year.
HB-1149 was the smoking ban bill. Our concern was that the language would include the cab of the truck in the definition of "place of employment". Always attempting to avoid mandates, we were successful in amending the language so "the term does not include a private vehicle". This will allow each of you to make your own decision about whether or not you want to allow smoking in the cab of your trucks.
SB-301 addressed a change in responsibility for the expansion of "extra heavy duty highways". The decision making authority has been moved from the legislature to the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT). More times than not, this issue surrounds an "indivisible load" and the need to expand a very short distance.
SB- 321 was focused on providing income tax credit for qualified expenditures related to transportation and logistics that would be made prior to the end of 2018. The bill started with good support but was bogged down by too many "ornaments being hung on the tree" from those also trying to get into the act. In addition, the legislature was also concerned that many of the projects already scheduled to be completed in the absence of an incentive would be subsidized and result in an unnecessary revenue loss to the state. Ultimately, the bill did not pass.
HB-1298 addressed the concern over the unsafe transportation of perishable foods. More specifically, under previous law, when the State Police would stop a carrier who was transporting perishable food and find that the refrigeration unit was not working or that the storage temperature was not proper or that there was cross contamination based on how the food was loaded, they were not allowed to stop the progress of the load or issue any kind of fines. They would have to call the State Board of Health who would hopefully be able to come to the scene and manage the situation. In the cases where the Board of Health was not available they would just have to release the load. The new language will allow the State Police to act in a manner that will better protect us all from dangerous food sources.
In addition to the above bills that were directly related to trucking, there were several others that are more general business related. The "right to work" bill received the most attention of any legislation discussed during this session. After numerous stand-offs by the Democrat minorities, the bill passed making Indiana the 23rd state to become a "right to work" state.
The inheritance tax is going away. The legislation phases it out incrementally over a nine- year period beginning in 2013, with elimination of the tax complete in 2022. It also expands the more favorably-treated Class A category of inheritors and raises the inheritance amount to $250,000 which is excluded from the tax. It was previously at $100,000. Both provisions take effect this year. It is expected that the new legislation will slow the migration out of Indiana from those wishing to avoid what was previously considered an onerous situation.
A couple of our members were focused on a "civil justice" bill that would have made it legal for a third party to provide a loan to a plaintiff in an action in exchange for the contingent right to receive a part of the potential proceeds of the action. Two things would have likely resulted from the passage of that bill. More lawsuits would have been filed due to the increased financial support of the third party and, suits that had been ongoing for several years could not be settled as easily due to the financial obligation to the third party that had been accrued by the plaintiff. The bill did not pass.
Finally, a bill was introduced regarding proof of medical bill costs in personal injury cases. If passed, the bill would have significantly increased the amounts defendants would be required to pay due to the removal of the requirement that the plaintiff provide evidence showing the difference between what was billed in medical expenses compared to what was actually paid. The bill did not pass.
This is just a sample of this year's session activity. Be sure to attend the April Board of Directors meeting to receive Kenny Cragen's full report.
R&S Dumpbody
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