Indiana General Assembly
Encyclopedia
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.
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.
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. 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. The districting is maintained to comply with the United States Supreme Court ruling in Reynolds v. Sims
.
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. Although not common, bills can be voted on by the full house without going through the committee process.
Indiana legislators make a base annual salary of $22,616, plus $155 for each day in session or at a committee hearing and $62 in expense pay every other day.
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. Candidates are required to file papers stating their economic interests.
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.
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. 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 simple majority vote in both houses (thus in practice making the veto useless). 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. The General Assembly has historically been the most powerful branch of the state government, dominating a weak governors office. Although the governor has gained more power in the past fifty years, the General Assembly still retains the power to remove much of that authority.
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.
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.
, the Lieutenant Governor of Indiana
, presides over the Senate while it is in session and casts the deciding vote in the event of a tie. The Senate President Pro Tempore
is Senator David C. Long
of Fort Wayne
. The 2011-2012 Senate has a Republican
super-majority. 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.
for the 2010-2012 term is Representative Brian C. Bosma. Following the 2010 general election, the House of Representatives has a Republican
majority of 60 seats, while the Democrats have 40 seats. 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.
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. 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. 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. 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.
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.
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. 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 passed the Mammoth Internal Improvement Act
and set plans into motion to modernize the state's infrastructure
. The wilderness of northern and central Indiana was slowly developed as the General Assembly approved the construction of roads, canal
s, 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.
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.
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. 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.
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. 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 because of the Indiana Gas Boom
, leading to the creation of many labor unions and a return to Democratic control of the General Assembly. One of the events to occur during the period was the Black Day of the General Assembly
, a situation arising from Governor Isaac P. Gray
's desire to be elected to the United States Senate
. Beginning with the state senate's refusal to seat a new Lieutenant Governor, fighting broke out in the chamber and spread throughout the statehouse. Shots were fired, and Democrats and Republicans threatened to kill each other before police could bring the situation under control. A second bout of violence broke out in the 1894 regular session when Republicans locked the doors of the House chambers preventing Governor Claude Matthews
from delivering a veto of a bill that repealed over a decade of Democratic legislation. The governor personally led fellow party members in beating down the door and unsuccessfully attempting to fight their way to the podium to deliver the vetoed bill; one newspaper said Democrats and Republicans "fought like beasts of the forest." 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.
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. Scandal erupted in 1925 when it was discovered that the Indiana Branch
of the Ku 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". 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.
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. 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.
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Indiana House of Representatives
Indiana House of Representatives
The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House members serve two-year terms without term limits...
, and an upper house, the Indiana Senate
Indiana Senate
The Indiana Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. Senators serve four-year terms without term limits...
. The General Assembly meets annually at the Indiana State House
Indiana State House
The Indiana Statehouse is the state capitol building of the U.S. state of Indiana. Housing the Indiana General Assembly, the office of the Governor of Indiana, the Supreme Court of Indiana, and other state officials, it is located in the state capital Indianapolis at 200 West Washington Street...
in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
.
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.
Structure
The Indiana General Assembly is made up of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. IndianaIndiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
has a part-time legislature
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
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.
The governor
Governor of Indiana
The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
has the authority to call on the General Assembly to convene a special session
Special session
In a legislature, a special session is a period when the body convenes outside of the normal legislative session. This most frequently occurs in order to complete unfinished tasks for the year , such as outlining the government's budget for the next fiscal year, biennium, or other period...
if legislators are unable to complete necessary work within time alloted by the regular sessions. 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. The districting is maintained to comply with the United States Supreme Court ruling in Reynolds v. Sims
Reynolds v. Sims
Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 was a United States Supreme Court case that ruled that state legislature districts had to be roughly equal in population.-Facts:...
.
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
Seniority
Seniority is the concept of a person or group of people being in charge or in command of another person or group. This control is often granted to the senior person due to experience or length of service in a given position, but it is not uncommon for a senior person to have less experience or...
members of the majority party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
. 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. Although not common, bills can be voted on by the full house without going through the committee process.
Indiana legislators make a base annual salary of $22,616, plus $155 for each day in session or at a committee hearing and $62 in expense pay every other day.
Terms and qualifications
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 IndianaConstitution of Indiana
There have been two Constitutions of the State of Indiana. The first constitution was created when the Territory of Indiana sent forty-three delegates to a constitutional convention on June 10, 1816 to establish a constitution for the proposed State of Indiana after the United States Congress had...
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. Among these checks and balances is the Governor's authority to veto
Veto
A veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...
any bill passed by the General Assembly. The General Assembly may in turn override his veto by simple majority vote in both houses (thus in practice making the veto useless). 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. The General Assembly has historically been the most powerful branch of the state government, dominating a weak governors office. Although the governor has gained more power in the past fifty years, the General Assembly still retains the power to remove much of that authority.
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. 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.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.
Under Indiana law, legislators cannot be arrested while the General Assembly is in session unless the crime they commit is treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
, a felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
, or breach of the peace.
Indiana Senate
The Indiana State Senate consists of 50 members elected to four-year terms. Becky SkillmanBecky Skillman
Rebecca S. "Becky" Skillman is the 49th and current Lieutenant Governor of the State of Indiana. She is a member of the Republican Party. She was sworn in on January 10, 2005.-Early life and career:...
, the Lieutenant Governor of Indiana
Lieutenant Governor of Indiana
The Lieutenant Governor of Indiana is a constitutional office in the US State of Indiana. Republican Becky Skillman, whose term expires in January 2013, is the incumbent...
, presides over the Senate while it is in session and casts the deciding vote in the event of a tie. The Senate President Pro Tempore
President pro tempore
A President pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer...
is Senator David C. Long
David C. Long
David C. Long is a Republican member of the Indiana State Senate representing the 16th district.He serves as the President Pro Tempore of the Indiana State Senate....
of Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
. The 2011-2012 Senate has a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
super-majority. 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.
| Position | Name | Party |
|---|---|---|
| President of the Senate President of the Senate The President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate, and is the speaker of other assemblies.The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for example, the President of the Senate of Nigeria is second in line... /Lieutenant Governor Lieutenant Governor of Indiana The Lieutenant Governor of Indiana is a constitutional office in the US State of Indiana. Republican Becky Skillman, whose term expires in January 2013, is the incumbent... |
Becky Skillman Becky Skillman Rebecca S. "Becky" Skillman is the 49th and current Lieutenant Governor of the State of Indiana. She is a member of the Republican Party. She was sworn in on January 10, 2005.-Early life and career:... |
Republican |
| President Pro Tempore President pro tempore A President pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer... |
David C. Long David C. Long David C. Long is a Republican member of the Indiana State Senate representing the 16th district.He serves as the President Pro Tempore of the Indiana State Senate.... |
Republican |
| Majority Leader Majority leader In U.S. politics, the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.In the federal Congress, the role differs slightly in the two houses. In the House of Representatives, which chooses its own presiding officer, the leader of the majority party is elected the Speaker of the... |
Connie Lawson Connie Lawson Connie Lawson is a Republican member of the Indiana Senate, representing the 24th District since 1996. She has been the Majority Floor Leader of the State Senate since 1996.-External links:* official Indiana State Legislature site... |
Republican |
| Majority Whip Whip (politics) A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy... |
Brandt Hershman Brandt Hershman Brandt Hershman is a from Indiana. Hershman currently serves as the in the Indiana State Senate and represents Senate District 7 which includes parts of White, Tippecanoe, Jasper, Clinton, Carroll and Howard Counties. He has served in the Indiana State Senate since 2000. Hershman serves as the... |
Republican |
| Minority Leader Minority leader In U.S. politics, the minority leader is the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative body. Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the minority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat, with their counterpart being of the opposite party. The position... |
Vi Simpson Vi Simpson Vi Simpson is a Democratic member of the Indiana Senate, representing the 40th District since 1984. She is the current minority leader of the Indiana Senate.-Political career:... |
Democrat |
| Minority Whip Whip (politics) A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy... |
Earline Rogers | Democrat |
Indiana House of Representatives
The Indiana House of Representatives consists of 100 members elected to two-year terms. The Speaker of the HouseSpeaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
for the 2010-2012 term is Representative Brian C. Bosma. Following the 2010 general election, the House of Representatives has a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
majority of 60 seats, while the Democrats have 40 seats. 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.
| Position | Name | Party |
|---|---|---|
| Speaker of the House Speaker (politics) The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the... |
Brian C. Bosma | Republican |
| Majority Leader Majority leader In U.S. politics, the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.In the federal Congress, the role differs slightly in the two houses. In the House of Representatives, which chooses its own presiding officer, the leader of the majority party is elected the Speaker of the... |
Bill Friend Bill Friend Bill Friend has served as a Indiana State Representative since 1992. He is currently Majority Leader of the State House.-Education:Friend graduated from North Miami High School in 1967. He has a B.A... |
Republican |
| Minority Leader Minority leader In U.S. politics, the minority leader is the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative body. Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the minority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat, with their counterpart being of the opposite party. The position... |
B. Patrick Bauer B. Patrick Bauer B. Patrick Bauer is a Democratic member of the Indiana House of Representatives, representing the 6th House District since 1970. His district consists primarily of the city of South Bend in St. Joseph County in northern Indiana.... |
Democrat |
1816 Constitution
Corydon Historic District
The Corydon Historic District of Corydon, Indiana, United States, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also known as Indiana's First State Capital and as Historic Corydon...
located in Corydon
Corydon, Indiana
Corydon is a town in Harrison Township, Harrison County, Indiana, United States, founded in 1808, and is known as Indiana's First State Capital. After Vincennes, Corydon was the second capital of the Indiana Territory from May 1, 1813, until December 11, 1816. After statehood, the town was the...
. 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. 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. The Jennings
Jonathan Jennings
Jonathan Jennings was the first Governor of Indiana and a nine-term congressman from Indiana. Born in Readington, New Jersey, he studied law with his brother before immigrating to Indiana in 1806 where he took part in land speculation...
party, made up of abolitionists, was dominant in the beginning. The Noble
James Noble
James Noble was the first U.S. Senator from the U.S. state of Indiana.Noble was born near Berryville, Virginia and moved with his parents to Campbell County, Kentucky when he was 10...
party was in favor of slavery, and the Hendricks
William Hendricks
William Hendricks was a Democratic-Republican member of the House of Representatives from 1816 to 1822, the third Governor of Indiana from 1822 to 1825, and an Anti-Jacksonian member of the U.S. Senate from 1825 to 1837. He led much of his family into politics and founded one of the largest...
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
Treaty of St. Mary's
The Treaty of St. Mary's was signed on October 6, 1818 at Saint Mary's, Ohio between representatives of the United States and the Miami tribe and others living in their territory. The accord contained seven articles. Based on the terms of the accord, the Miami ceded to the United States...
. 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.
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
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
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
Bank of Indiana
The state Bank of Indiana was a government chartered banking institution established in 1833 in response to the state's shortage of capital caused by the closure of the Second Bank of the United States by the administration of President Andrew Jackson...
and sold nine million acres (36,000 km²) of public lands to finance their projects. The General Assembly relocated the capitol to Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
in 1824, and in 1831 they authorized the construction of the first dedicated statehouse.
In the 1830s, the Whigs
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
split from the Democratic-Republicans in response to national policies. The Whigs held a strong majority in the General Assembly in that decade. 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
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. In the 1830s and 1840s, the General Assembly passed the Mammoth Internal Improvement Act
Indiana Mammoth Internal Improvement Act
The Indiana Mammoth Internal Improvement Act was a bipartisan law passed by the Indiana General Assembly and signed by Whig Governor Noah Noble in 1836 that greatly expanded the state's program of internal improvements. It added an additional $10 million to spending and funded several projects,...
and set plans into motion to modernize the state's infrastructure
Internal improvements
Internal improvements is the term used historically in the United States for public works from the end of the American Revolution through much of the 19th century, mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure: roads, turnpikes, canals, harbors and navigation improvements...
. The wilderness of northern and central Indiana was slowly developed as the General Assembly approved the construction of roads, canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
s, railroads, and numerous other infrastructure projects. This led the state to near bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
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.
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.
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. 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.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. 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
Ashbel P. Willard
Ashbel Parsons Willard was state senator, the 12th Lieutenant Governor, and the 11th Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana. His terms in office were marked by increasingly severe partisanship leading to the breakup of the state Democratic Party in the years leading up to the American Civil War...
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.
During the 1860s and the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the legislature was the scene of intense debate. At the beginning of the war, the General Assembly was controlled by the southern sympathetic
Copperheads (politics)
The Copperheads were a vocal group of Democrats in the Northern United States who opposed the American Civil War, wanting an immediate peace settlement with the Confederates. Republicans started calling anti-war Democrats "Copperheads," likening them to the venomous snake...
Democrats. Governor
Governor of Indiana
The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
Oliver Morton and the Republican minority were able to prevent the General Assembly from meeting in 1862 and 1863 by denying the body quorum
Quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group...
. 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 because of the Indiana Gas Boom
Indiana Gas Boom
The Indiana Gas Boom was a period of active drilling and production of natural gas in the Trenton Gas Field, in the US state of Indiana and the adjacent northwest part of Ohio The boom began in the early 1880s and lasted into the early twentieth century....
, leading to the creation of many labor unions and a return to Democratic control of the General Assembly. One of the events to occur during the period was the Black Day of the General Assembly
Black Day of the Indiana General Assembly
The Black Day of the General Assembly was February 24, 1887, on which date the Indiana General Assembly dissolved into legislative violence. The event began as an attempt by Governor Isaac P. Gray to be elected to the United States Senate and his own party’s attempt to thwart him...
, a situation arising from Governor Isaac P. Gray
Isaac P. Gray
Isaac Pusey Gray was the 18th and 20th Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1880 to 1881 and from 1885 to 1889. Originally a Republican, he oversaw the forceful passage of the post-American Civil War constitutional amendments whilst he was a member of the Indiana Senate...
's desire to be elected to the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
. Beginning with the state senate's refusal to seat a new Lieutenant Governor, fighting broke out in the chamber and spread throughout the statehouse. Shots were fired, and Democrats and Republicans threatened to kill each other before police could bring the situation under control. A second bout of violence broke out in the 1894 regular session when Republicans locked the doors of the House chambers preventing Governor Claude Matthews
Claude Matthews
Claude Matthews was the 23rd Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1893 to 1897. A farmer, he was nominated to prevent the loss of voters to the Populist Party. The Panic of 1893 occurred just before he took office, leading to severe economic problems during his term...
from delivering a veto of a bill that repealed over a decade of Democratic legislation. The governor personally led fellow party members in beating down the door and unsuccessfully attempting to fight their way to the podium to deliver the vetoed bill; one newspaper said Democrats and Republicans "fought like beasts of the forest." 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.
During 1907, the General Assembly made Indiana the first state to enact eugenics
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
legislation, and the law remained in effect until 1921. The law led to the forced sterilization
Compulsory sterilization
Compulsory sterilization also known as forced sterilization programs are government policies which attempt to force people to undergo surgical sterilization...
of thousands of criminals until it was ruled unconstitutional by the Indiana Supreme Court in 1921. Scandal erupted in 1925 when it was discovered that the Indiana Branch
Indiana Klan
The Indiana Klan was a branch of the Ku Klux Klan, a secret society in the United States that practiced racism and terrorism against minority ethnic and religious groups. The Indiana Klan rose to prominence beginning in the years after World War I when rising levels of eastern and southern European...
of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
controlled over half the seats in the General Assembly. During the session, Grand Dragon D. C. Stephenson
D. C. Stephenson
David Curtiss "Steve" Stephenson was an American Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in the U.S. state of Indiana and 22 other Northern states. He is considered to have been one of the most successful Klan leaders up until his downfall after his conviction for murder...
boasted "I am the law in Indiana". 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.
In the 1930s, the General Assembly established the state's first general welfare programs to help the poor affected by the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. The General Assembly passed the nation's first DUI
DUI
DUI is a three letter acronym that may stand for:* Driving under the influence * Democratic Union for Integration — the largest ethnic Albanian party in the Republic of Macedonia* Data Use Identifier...
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. 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
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
in the state in 1989.
A special session of the General Assembly was called in 1992 by Governor Evan Bayh
Evan Bayh
Birch Evans "Evan" Bayh III is a lawyer, advisor and former Democratic politician who served as the junior U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1999 to 2011. He earlier served as the 46th Governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997. Bayh is a current Fox News contributor as of March 14, 2011.Bayh first held...
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
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
in the state, overriding the governor's veto to prevent it. The General Assembly passed property tax
Property tax
A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...
reform legislation in 2008, capping property taxes at one percent, making Indiana one of the lowest property tax locations in the nation.