Retirement wave will give Indiana House new look

The final days of this year's legislative session will see more than a dozen veteran legislators ending their Statehouse careers, setting up the Indiana House to have more than three dozen of its 100 members in their first or second terms when lawmakers next return.

The loss of hundreds of years of experience in the House—including the top Republican and Democratic budget writers—has some worried that paid lobbyists could gain an even heftier role within the General Assembly.

Democrats are taking the hardest hit, with nine members who have at least of decade in the House deciding to give up their seats. Many made the decisions after the Republican-led redrawing of election districts that could leave Democrats scrambling for years in the minority.

The current 60-40 Republican majority was fueled by 2010 election wins for 19 freshman GOP legislators. At least that many districts won't have incumbents on the ballot this November, meaning an even bigger group of newcomers will likely fill the chamber to vote on the state's spending and tax priorities, criminal laws and other often-detailed issues like local sewage districts or licensing for barbers.

"Folks who are new, I think, tend to be really dependent on lobbyists because they haven't been around a while to learn about the issues," said Julia Vaughn, policy director for the government watchdog group Common Cause Indiana. "I do think that newcomers suffer from an information void, and lobbyists are more than happy to fill it."

Dozens of lobbyists for business associations, school groups, labor unions, attorneys, law enforcement and state agencies spend their days in the Statehouse during legislative sessions seeking out lawmakers to support bills in which they have an interest. Those lobbyists are typically the people testifying during committee hearings and often have the ears of lawmakers as bills are drafted and revised.

With bills on hundreds of topics filed each session, the system couldn't function without lobbyists on all sides of issues who are experts in their subjects and can work both with their clients and lawmakers, said Ed Roberts, a lobbyist on labor law and business tax issues for the Indiana Manufacturers Association over the past 36 years.

Roberts said that while the House will lose much experience with departures such as Republican Jeff Espich of Uniondale and Democrat William Crawford of Indianapolis—who've traded chairmanship of the budget-writing Ways and Means Committee over the past decade—others will step up in their place.

"I don't think losing all those guys makes me more influential or anybody more influential," Roberts said. "It just means we're going to have to talk to different people."

Espich and Crawford both first won election to their seats in 1972, putting them in the General Assembly for more than one-fifth of Indiana's time as a state.

Freshman Rep. Rebecca Kubacki, R-Syracuse, said she learned much from both during her past two years on the Ways and Means Committee. She said she and other new legislators benefited from their knowledge, but she didn't think lobbyists or others would wield undue influence among what she called a diverse group of newcomers.

"They're seasoned, they've done something else in life, they've had experience in dealing with the business sector or the insurance sector or as a police officer," Kubacki said. "We're not afraid to voice our opinion on things."

The House is losing experience in more than budget issues, with its departures including Democrat Chet Dobis of Merrillville—first elected in 1970 and for years among his party's top leaders—and Republican Ralph Foley of Martinsville, a 20-year veteran who has been a GOP leader on criminal law matters.

The retirements also are hitting the dwindling number of conservative Democrats from rural districts, including Dale Grubb of Covington (24 years) and David Cheatham of North Vernon (14 years).

Two faces likely to be back to square off are Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma and Democratic leader Patrick Bauer. The two sons of legislators have squared off as their party leaders for the past decade, often tensely during the Democratic House boycotts the past two sessions over the Republican-backed right-to-work law.

John Ketzenberger, president of the nonpartisan Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute, said while the exodus could mean more influence for lobbyists, it will also mean more for Bosma as he'll likely see several new Republican members.

"He holds incredible power over their future," Ketzenberger said. "He allows them to have bills, period. He puts them on committees. Whatever they want, they have to get it from him."