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FILE - In this Nov. 20, 2012 file photo, Rep. Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, walks to the rostrum after being elected as Speaker of the House during Organizational Day at the Statehouse in Indianapolis. Indiana lawmakers preparing for a lengthy 2013 session will have to balance fiscal priorities like writing the state's next biennial budget and restoring spending cuts made in the last few years with a series of divisive social issues that could easily push aside all other debate. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File) (January 7, 2013) |
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana's General Assembly is reconvening for a 2013 session certain to be jammed with debate over the budget, taxes and a raft of divisive social issues.
Lawmakers return to Indianapolis on Monday for the start of their four-month session that will also feature dozens of new faces, including Gov.-elect Mike Pence and his new administration. Pence takes office Jan. 14.
Legislators will be busy drafting the state's biennial budget, pondering the restoration of education spending and looking for ways to pay for road projects. They will also consider Pence's proposed personal income tax cut.
Hot-button social issues have already popped up as well, including proposals to recite the Lord's Prayer in public schools, challenge the teaching of evolution and write the state's gay marriage ban into the state constitution.
