Taft may veto bill protecting disabled

COLUMBUS - Gov. Bob Taft on Tuesday threatened to veto a bill meant to protect the disabled from abuse after lawmakers inserted a provision making it harder to close state facilities.

The bill enacts several recommendations of a governor's committee that last year studied ways to protect mentally retarded and developmentally disabled crime victims. The House and Senate passed final versions of the bill Tuesday.

But lawmakers also inserted a provision that requires a legislative report to analyze the impact of closing state-run mental retardation and developmental disability centers.

Taft says an additional study would delay the closing process.

Democrats let GOP bill through unaltered

INDIANAPOLIS - In what they called a gesture of good will toward possible compromise, House Democrats advanced a GOP version of property-tax reform legislation to the chamber floor Tuesday without making any changes.

The Democrat-heavy House Ways and Means Committee endorsed the bill 26-1, making it eligible for amendments on the House floor.