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Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb delivers his State of the State address on Jan. 11.
Gov. Eric Holcomb has issued his first veto of the 2022 Indiana legislative session and just the fifth veto of his six-year tenure as the state’s chief executive.
The rejection did not involve either of the two most controversial measures approved this year by the Republican-controlled General Assembly.
Both House Enrolled Act 1296, authorizing adult Hoosiers to carry a handgun in public without a license, and House Enrolled Act 1041, barring transgender girls from participating in girls sports, remain on the governor’s desk awaiting action on or before Tuesday’s deadline.
Instead, Holcomb vetoed House Enrolled Act 1211, a hodge podge of provisions relating to state and local government that was put together last week using the wreckage of various failed proposals mere hours before the House and Senate adjourned for the year.
The governor specifically took issue with a requirement in the measure that all broadband expansion projects supported by READI grants — the state’s regional economic development program entirely funded by the federal American Rescue Plan — comply with the stringent broadband expansion rules crafted last year by state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso.
“This seemingly innocuous language unfortunately has the practical effect of slowing, if not arresting, approximately $154 million of broadband projects currently under active consideration as part of the $500 million READI grant program,” Holcomb said.
“It is neither fair nor appropriate to jeopardize or delay the type of transformational and concentrated investments in broadband that would impact at least 28 counties inside seven separate READI regions in our state.”
In Northwest Indiana, the legislative language could have slowed deployment of the Indiana Toll Road Quantum Computing Super Highway that aims to connect homeowners and businesses to an existing fiber-optic line running under the Indiana Toll Road and into the Digital Crossroads of America data center in Hammond, and additional data centers in Chicago.
The Region’s $50 million READI program has allocated $4.25 million to fund the super-fast internet connection. Records show that investment will unlock an additional $18 million in private funding on top of the more than $75 million already spent on the Hammond data center.
The broadband component of the legislation also was opposed by AT&T Indiana, the Indiana Farm Bureau, and Accelerate Indiana Municipalities, an organization representing cities and towns across the Hoosier State.
That was not the governor’s only objection, however.
Holcomb also took issue with lawmakers taking chunks of House Bill 1100, which failed to advance out of committee in the Senate, and sticking them in this measure with no opportunity for opponents “to testify and share their concerns about it, or to suggest modifications that could have improved the bill.”
In particular, Holcomb said he’s concerned a requirement for the attorney general to approve the content of emergency rules issued by state agencies will delay the adoption of state rules needed to respond to emergencies, such as the ongoing bird flu epidemic at several turkey farms in southern Indiana.
“While this bill provides that this new review should be completed ‘within a time consistent with the emergency,’ it does not provide any recourse to an agency if that review is not completed within the time period needed by the agency to properly and timely address the emergency at hand,” Holcomb said.
Left unsaid by the governor was the origin of the provision to give the attorney general a veto over emergency state agency rules.
It stemmed in part from several politically connected investors in Spectacle Entertainment, the former parent company of the Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, objecting to a 2021 Indiana Gaming Commission emergency rule focused on maintaining the integrity of the state’s gaming industry by requiring private casino owners provide additional data about their backgrounds and financial interests.
The General Assembly will have the opportunity to consider overriding the governor’s veto at its May 24 one-day meeting for making technical corrections to new laws, or any time during the 2023 session set to run from January through April.
It takes only a simple majority — the same 50% plus one required to send legislation to the governor in the first place — for the Legislature to override a gubernatorial veto and enact a measure into law notwithstanding his objections.
The proposal originally was approved 63-28 in the House and 31-19 by the Senate.
All Northwest Indiana lawmakers opposed the plan, except state Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso; and state Reps. Mike Aylesworth, R-Hebron; Julie Olthoff, R-Crown Point; Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie; Hal Slager, R-Schererville; and Soliday.
State Sen. Michael Griffin, D-Highland
1st Senate District
Represents: Hammond (south side), Munster, Highland, Griffith, Dyer, Schererville
Experience: Former Highland clerk-treasurer; university instructor
Committees: Insurance and Financial Institutions; Local Government
State Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago
2nd Senate District
Represents: Hammond, Whiting, East Chicago, Gary (west side), Griffith, Hobart, Merrillville
Experience: State senator since 2008, previously served 1994-98; attorney
Committees: Commerce and Technology; Insurance and Financial Institutions (ranking member); Judiciary (ranking member); Rules and Legislative Procedure; Tax and Fiscal Policy; Utilities (ranking member)
State Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary
3rd Senate District
Represents: Gary, Lake Station, New Chicago, Hobart, Merrillville, Crown Point
Experience: State senator since 2016; community relations manager
Committees: Appropriations (ranking member); Education and Career Development; Health and Provider Services; Joint Rules; Rules and Legislative Procedure
State Sen. Rodney Pol Jr., D-Chesterton
4th Senate District
Represents: Ogden Dunes, Portage, Chesterton, South Haven, Burns Harbor, Beverly Shores, Michigan City, Westville
Experience: State senator since 2021; attorney
Committees: Corrections and Criminal Law (ranking member); Environmental Affairs; Local Government; Pensions and Labor; Public Policy
State Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso
5th Senate District
Represents: Valparaiso, Hebron, Kouts, Jasper County
Experience: State senator since 2007; attorney
Committees: Appropriations; Ethics; Health and Provider Services (chairman); Rules and Legislative Procedure; Tax and Fiscal Policy
State Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell
6th Senate District
Represents: St. John, Cedar Lake, Crown Point, Winfield, Lowell, Newton County
Experience: State senator since 2014, state representative 2012-14; small business owner
Committees: Environmental Affairs; Local Government; Tax and Fiscal Policy
State Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores
8th Senate District
Represents: LaPorte County
Experience: State senator since 2016; consultant
Committees: Corrections and Criminal Law; Insurance and Financial Institutions; Judiciary; Local Government
State Rep. Carolyn Jackson, D-Hammond
1st House District
Represents: Hammond, Whiting
Experience: State representative since 2018; retired Cook County, Ill., probation officer
Committees: Environmental Affairs; Family, Children and Human Affairs; Natural Resources
State Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago
2nd House District
Represents: East Chicago, Gary (west side)
Experience: State representative since 2016; small business owner
Committees: Government and Regulatory Reform; Roads and Transportation; Ways and Means
State Rep. Ragen Hatcher, D-Gary
3rd House District
Represents: Gary (downtown and east side), Lake Station, New Chicago, Hobart
Experience: State representative since 2018; attorney
Committees: Commerce, Small Business and Economic Development; Courts and Criminal Code (ranking member); Government and Regulatory Reform
State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso
4th House District
Represents: Valparaiso
Experience: State representative since 2006; aviation safety consultant
Committees: Elections and Apportionment; Roads and Transportation; Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications (chairman)
State Rep. Pat Boy, D-Michigan City
9th House District
Represents: Michigan City, Chesterton, Beverly Shores, Long Beach, Westville
Experience: State representative since 2018; retired small business owner
Committees: Environmental Affairs; Natural Resources (ranking member)
State Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage
10th House District
Represents: Portage, Chesterton, Ogden Dunes, Burns Harbor, South Haven
Experience: State representative since 2008; financial solutions associate
Committees: Employment, Labor and Pensions; Roads and Transportation (ranking member); Veterans Affairs and Public Safety
State Rep. Mike Aylesworth, R-Hebron
11th House District
Represents: St. John, Cedar Lake, Lowell, Schneider, Hebron, Kouts
Experience: State representative since 2014; farmer, former state environmental regulator
Committees: Agriculture and Rural Development (vice chairman); Courts and Criminal Code; Environmental Affairs
State Rep. Mike Andrade, D-Munster
12th House District
Represents: Munster, Hammond (south side), Highland, Griffith
Experience: State representative since 2020; small businessman
Committees: Commerce, Small Business and Economic Development; Employment, Labor and Pensions; Veterans Affairs and Public Safety
State Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary
14th House District
Represents: Gary (south side), Merrillville
Experience: State representative since 1990; education professor at Indiana University Northwest
Committees: Education (ranking member); Judiciary; Local Government
State Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville
15th House District
Represents: Dyer, Schererville, St. John, Griffith
Experience: State representative 2012-18, reelected 2020; small business owner
Committees: Environmental Affairs; Ways and Means
State Rep. Douglas Gutwein, R-Francesville
16th House District
Represents: Newton, Jasper counties
Experience: State representative since 2008; small business owner
Committees: Agriculture and Rural Development; Environmental Affairs (vice chairman); Veterans Affairs and Public Safety
State Rep. Julie Olthoff, R-Crown Point
19th House District
Represents: Crown Point, Merrillville, Winfield, Lakes of the Four Seasons, Hobart
Experience: State representative 2014-2018, reelected 2020; small business owner
Committees: Family, Children and Human Affairs; Public Health (vice chairwoman); Veterans Affairs and Public Safety
State Rep. Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie
20th House District
Represents: LaPorte County
Experience: State representative since 2016; small business owner
Committees: Commerce, Small Business and Economic Development; Roads and Transportation (chairman)
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Chief Political Reporter
Dan has reported on Indiana state government for The Times since 2009. He also covers casinos, campaigns and corruption.
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Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb delivers his State of the State address on Jan. 11.
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