2008 Legislative Wrap

The 2008 Indiana General Assembly is now in the history books and will certainly go down as a session that delivered some major wins for taxpayers. Especially the 30-40% immediate property tax cut for Elkhart and St. Joseph County homeowners. Let me tell you, those wins didn’t come easily. It was a fight all along the way with those who felt they knew how to spend your money better than you. Not only that, it was a battle to convince them that no Hoosier should ever lose their home because of high taxes. I still firmly believe that until we actually “eliminate” the property tax it will be a source of many court battles and fights between local and state governments. But faced with limited options, this tax plan was the only one that I felt brought some immediate relief to Hoosiers this year. As relieved as I am for homeowners, I am grieved by the many important things that did NOT happen this year under the control of the Democratic House. With Pat Bauer as Speaker and a slim Democratic majority of 51-49 here’s what we got (or didn’t get)!:

• The Democratic Speaker single-handedly killed the Protection of Marriage Amendment;
  


• The Democratic Speaker allowed not even ONE piece of pro-life legislation;
  


• The Democratic Speaker again allowed another expansion of gaming in more than 16,000 new facilities, bars and restaurants across the State.
  


• The Democratic Speaker also allowed St. Joseph County’s debt to remain outside the Constitutional caps on homeowner’s property taxes, and passing the burden to already over-burdened tax payers!
  


• The Democratic Speaker killed every bill that I filed on behalf of District 21 that was “pro-gun owner” or “pro-2nd Amendment”.

As you can see, many family and socially conservative issues have been ignored by the folks in control these past 2 years. They have basically told us that our views don’t matter!I realize these issues do not matter to every Hoosier but they DO matter to the majority of Hoosiers, as expressed in many statewide polls and surveys.It’s time to look forward to the upcoming 8 months where we will have the opportunity, once again, to regain control of the Indiana House by electing 51 Republicans and by electing a Republican Speaker. The differences between our two parties are vast and we will certainly be in for a battle. Whoever controls the Indiana House controls every piece of legislation filed for the next 2 years.

Please go to my website www.jackiewalorski.com and sign up today and join in the momentum that is moving our State forward!

Jackie

From Jackie's Desk...

For those of you interested in reshaping and reforming local government, make sure you read the Kernan/Shepard Commission report. This report has a vast array of information about every area of local government and how it can become more efficient. It is important for you, as voters and taxpayers, to read this report and decide for yourself and your family if you agree with the suggested changes or not. This issue is an issue of "the people" and should be decide by "the people". Please take the time to see what is out there and ask questions of your elected officials, let them know how you feel about it and what you would like to see changed. This is the kind of issue that is so dramatic it should be allowed to be a referendum vote. I will post the link to this report as soon as it becomes available.
Jackie

Representative Walorski on the Harvest Show!

See Jackie today on the Harvest show as she speaks about the Prayer Ban Victory in Indiana!
Click here to view

Thanks to all of you who attended the "Repeal Property Tax" rally on Friday night..it was great! For those of you who didn't let me reiterate one point that is critical to remember on this issue. There is ONE person who stands between 6.2 million Hoosiers and true property tax reform OR repeal and that is House Speaker Patrick Bauer. If he doesn't hear these extremely important bills, there will be no votes. You might want to call or email him to urge him to MOVE on this issue in January.

Also: please remember to vote on Tuesday...VOTE FOR JUAN MANIGAULT, JEFF REA & JIM PETTIT!!! We CANNOT lose these important Mayoral races! If you know someone that lives in the city limits of these three cities of South Bend, Mishawaka or Elkhart....call them and encourage them to vote for these guys. In addition, offer to pick them up, drive them to vote, take a friend, etc. EVERY VOTE will count this year so it is critical. YOU will make the difference.

Hope to see you at the celebration parties Tuesday night!!
Jackie

Thank you...

Well, today was a major victory for us and a major defeat to the ACLU! The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in our favor and reversed the prayer ban in Indiana! Yeah for us, for freedom of speech and religious expression. It is amazing to think that a liberal court would actually uphold the Constitution and vote AGAINST the ACLU!! Wow....justice prevailed. Thanks to all of you who have been praying about getting this ridiculous ruling reversed. The Indiana House can now pray with uncensored prayers again, when we convene in January, as has been the tradition in our State for nearly 190 years!
Jackie

Huge Victory in Indiana!!

Today, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the ACLU lawsuit regarding praying in Jesus name in the Indiana House of Representatives. The District Court ruling was a landmark decision marking the first time a federal court had attempted to dictate the specific content of prayer in a state or federal legislative body.

Representative Jackie Walorski said, "This is a great day of victory in the State of Indiana and for the United States as well, that the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of uncensored prayers at the Indiana Statehouse. I am thankful to the thousands of people in our State that have fervently prayed for this ruling to be overturned and today, we are thankful
that we can again openly pray in Jesus' name in our State. In our culture today, it is critical to protect individual freedom and freedom of expression, and this is a major victory!"

For nearly 190 years, it has been the tradition of the Indiana House to allow clerics from many faiths to offer prayer before the House begins its business for the day. This tradition is also followed by Congress for over 200 years. This freedom, for individuals to offer prayers freely and in accordance with their own religious beliefs has been protected for generations as a free expression of speech and freedom of religious expression. The District Court that originally banned prayer ignored this tradition and sought to require the House Speaker to censor prayers.
The Court of Appeals returned the case to the District Court with instructions to dismiss for want for jurisdiction.

Property Tax Reform

"I have consistently said that Indiana only has a chance at real property tax reform under this Governor. Gov. Daniels has displayed courage and political will to take on a broken system. I am very pleased that the Governor has heard the pleas of thousands of Hoosiers and is leading the charge to take action. This bold plan gives the legislature a starting point to begin the process of bringing much needed property tax relief in 2008. I look forward to the debate and the details of how this plan will effect my district. I will be holding town hall meetings for the next 8 weeks to see what my constituents think of the plan and how it will effect them."
Jackie