The budget bill will be in conference committee the next few days – perhaps even through Sunday. Lawmakers will officially return at 9:30 this morning, although most negotiations and compromises take place well out of the public view.

A few basic things to keep in mind about a conference committee:

The makeup is two members (“conferees”) each from the House and Senate as well as “advisors” – all appointed by House Speaker Pat Bauer and Senate Pro Tem David Long. These conferees and advisors may be removed at any time by the respective House and Senate leaders (generally only done if the appointee is threatening to go against the party line).

The conference committee process is less structured than the regular committee process. Conference committees may meet within one (Senate rule) or two (House rule) hours after notice of the meeting is posted (on the bulletin boards outside the respective Senate and House chambers) and are open to the public “whenever feasible.” No further posting is required if additional meetings are necessary, and it is within the chair’s discretion to be forthcoming about time and place of any additional meetings.

A bill may pass out of a conference committee only with unanimous consent of the conferees. This is called the conference report. If it passes out of the conference committee, both chambers vote on the final version.

Late yesterday it was revealed that the General Assembly has 14 new bills to contend with… or do they?

Four of the measures introduced by House members are procedural in nature: the vehicle bills.  The remaining 10 appear to be hot-button issues that couldn’t find their way to passage during the regular session.  Among them:

• Elimination of townships outside Marion County
• Smoking ban in public places
• Constitutional property tax cap amendment
• Declaration that marriage is between a man and woman

So why bother with them now during the special session, with less than a week before a state budget needs to be finalized?

It’s called going through the motions says Indiana Chamber health care lobbyist Mike Ripley, himself a former state representative.

“The legislators know realistically these bills are not going to move – maybe they have a 1% chance – and that leadership probably can only deal with the budget matters,” he states. “This comes down to legislators wanting to keep the issues that are most important to them out there, and going on record like this is one way to do that.”

Seven members of Congress missed work one day last week for a variety of largely legitimate reasons — graduations, funerals, the recent birth of a baby. They also missed what has been reported as a modern-day record of 53 roll call votes.

Voting continued for eight hours as Republicans repeatedly called for extra tallies on amendments to one of the appropriations bills. The reason — protesting Democrat leaders’ move to limit such amendments.

The absences didn’t really affect the outcomes of the votes. The day was important, however, as voting records of the missing seven (six Democrats and one Republican, none from Indiana) took a considerable hit. Opponents often cite vote attendance (or a lack of the same) during election campaigns.

Ellen Tauscher of California saw her vote record drop from 100% to 87% after attending the funeral of a close friend that day.  Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, who announced earlier this month that he was checking himself into a treatment facility, dropped from 82% to 71%.

Miss a day (or more) and miss a lot.

House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Bill Crawford tells the House that work begins at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday on the budget conference committee, that those involved should be prepared to work each day through Sunday, possibly "morning, noon and evening" in the attempt to have a compromise ready by next Monday.

Those words came after, on a voice vote, the House dissented on the Senate budget that was passed earlier in the afternoon. But even that involved a few theatrics.

House Minority Leader Brian Bosma urged opposition to the dissent motion, saying, "It’s time to end the per-diem, end the travel, end the hotel expenses; end the misery for taxpayers, for employees wondering if the state will shut down. It’s time for all that to end."

Democrat Russ Stilwell countered that he wasn’t going to rely on "blind faith" in going along with a Senate proposal that passed three hours earlier. Plenty of shouts from the floor even prompted Speaker Pat Bauer to call for a little decorum.

Crawford and Jeff Espich are the House conferees. Advisors on the Dem side are Goodin, Pelath, Avery and Welch; for the Republicans, Turner, Thompson and Borror. On the Senate side, Luke Kenley and John Broden are the conferees; offering their guidance will be Republicans Hershman, Dillon, Lubbers and Senate Pro Tem Long; Tallian, Hume and Skinner for the Dems.

The clock is ticking. Seven days and counting.

The Indiana Senate definitely plays nicer than the House. Instead of zingers flying fast and furious, there was predominately a civil tone to today’s activity.  I lost track of how many times a variation of the word “respect” was used by both parties. Quite frankly, it made for some very boring talks. 

Still, when it came time for the Senate to vote on its version of the budget bill (SS 1001), the outcome was predictable – much like the House action last week – and had a distinct partisan flair to it. 

The Senate passed SS 1001 33-17; the catch being that one Democrat – Sen. Frank Mrvan of Hammond – voted for it, while Republican Vaneta Becker of Evansville voted no. 

The so-called budget contingency plan (SS 1) – in case an actual budget fails to pass by June 30 – moved from the Senate on a 32-18 vote (Republican Jean Leising of Oldenburg opposed it).

During today’s proceedings, Senate Pro Tem David Long (R-Fort Wayne) said his goal was to have the Senate vote on a finalized budget by no later than June 29. Of course, in order to do that, the House must play nice. Think they can?

The latest: Gov. Daniels issued a plea to the House Democrats to avoid a conference committee and to take a vote on the Senate version of SS 1001. The statement from the governor:

“The Senate compromise, while significantly different from either of my two proposals, protects taxpayers within the limits I’ve requested and I would sign it.  I know there are many House Democrats who would prefer a budget that keeps Indiana in the black to one that takes us into bankruptcy, and we invite them to join this compromise now and bring the special session to a successful close. Mr. Speaker, please just free your followers to vote their conscience and let’s go home.”

What percentage of Indiana interns are paid compared to earning college credit? What is the average wage for those positions? How do Hoosier interns evaluate the work that can often lead to full-time employment?

For the first time, answers to those questions and more are available – in the State of Indiana Internships report. Richard Bottner, founder and president of Intern Bridge, conducted a recent national student survey. Indiana INTERNnet, the employer-intern matching program managed by the Chamber, contracted with Bottner to provide statewide results from more than 1,650 students at 20 Indiana colleges and universities.

Pam Norman, Indiana INTERNnet executive director, says the information (along with the program’s other resources) can help employers build their internship programs with a better understanding of student goals.

It’s a quick read (23 pages with plenty of charts and graphics) that tells the story of Indiana internships. Bottom line: internship opportunities are growing, students are being exposed to career opportunities throughout the state and companies are realizing the benefits of bringing talented, enthusiastic young people into their organizations.

Check it out here.

During Monday’s Statehouse debate on the budget, Sen. Connie Sipes (D-New Albany) made an impassioned plea that "money should follow the programs." The former educator added that the "money following the students sounds really good," but it doesn’t work.

Chamber education expert Derek Redelman tackled that issue (funding on a district vs. student perspective) and much more in a recent comprehensive overview of K-12 as it relates to the budget. Read here for a much clearer understanding of these key topics.