Why Indiana's upcoming legislative session could be a wild one

The upcoming edition of the Indiana General Assembly could be a wild one if a legislative preview on Wednesday is any sign of what to expect.

During one panel discussion, House Speaker Brian Bosma quarreled with Rep. Linda Lawson over a proposal to repeal Indiana's handgun carry permitting requirement. 

In another room, Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott accused Attorney General Curtis Hill of grandstanding on marijuana issues.

And during a discussion of the state's alcohol laws, Sen. Ron Alting and alcohol reform commission chairwoman Beverly Gard quibbled over whether the state's liquor store industry has a monopoly on cold beer. 

With no central issue to focus the attention of lawmakers, a number of simmering hot-button topics are poised to dominate the 2018 legislative session when it convenes in January. 

Hardline conservatives already are attacking Bosma for not supporting a total ban on abortion, even posting negative comments about him on a social media memorial page for his recently deceased mother.

A number of other potentially divisive topics also are expected to be debated. They include:

• Eliminating Indiana's handgun carry licensing requirement.
• A recommendation to allow Sunday carryout alcohol sales, but not cold beer sales in grocery and convenience stores. 
• A proposal to legalize the sale of CBD, a cannabis extract. Some lawmakers, including at least one Republican, are also hoping for a debate on medical marijuana.
• A renewed push for a hate crimes law in the wake of a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville this summer.

Off stage at Wednesday's legislative conference, Bosma acknowledged that the upcoming session lacked a major issue, unlike recent sessions when infrastructure, school funding, right-to-work and other major fiscal initiatives topped the agenda. 

And while workforce development issues are a priority for Gov. Eric Holcomb and leaders of the Republican-controlled General Assembly, most of the work in 2018 will be preparing a framework for the 2019 legislative session, when lawmakers will make funding decisions as part of the biennial budget. 

"There is usually one, overarching, bright, shiny object that keeps attention focused. It’s a little bit different this year," Bosma said. "One hundred fifty legislators have 150 different ideas, times five or 10, as to what public policy should be. So, yeah, there will be a lot of discussion on a lot of different items without the central focus of a single giant proposal. ... That’s OK. We’ll manage it. We’ll work through it."

Part of the challenge for Bosma and his counterpart in the Senate, President Pro Tempore David Long, will be holding their GOP super majorities together with so many contentious issues on the table, said Andy Downs, a political science professor at Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne.

“I do think we are now running into the longest string of super majorities in Indiana history. It’s going to be more and more difficult to hold that coalition together," he said. "So this could be one of those times where things get more fiery.”

The potential for fiery debate was certainly on view at times during Wednesday's annual BGD Legislative Conference at the Indiana Convention Center .

During a legislative leaders panel, the conversation became strained when moderator Jon Schwantes asked for opinions about no longer requiring permits to carry a handgun.

Lawson, the House Democratic floor leader and a former police officer, lambasted a measure passed during the last legislative session that gave victims of domestic violence the ability to carry a firearm without a permit.

After she said the new law enabled people to be given guns "willy-nilly," Bosma said she was misinterpreting what the bill did. Soon they were speaking over one another.

“I’m just clarifying," Bosma said. "I’m not arguing with you."

Earlier in the day, Beverly Gard, a former Republican senator who now leads a legislative-appointed alcohol reform commission, suggested that lawmakers needed to do a better job listening to the public on the question of whether to allow cold beer sales in grocery and convenience stores. 

She expressed concern about the virtual monopoly liquor stores have on carryout cold beer sales. 

Sen. Ron Alting, whose public policy committee has been a graveyard for such bills, took issue with her comments, questioning whether the push to expand cold beer sales is really just an effort to line the pockets of convenience store owners,

"People say Joe Six-pack was not represented. I kind of disagree," he said. "Is this all about public policy or is this all about income?"

► More:Can your dog be arrested for using a cannabis extract?

At the same panel, Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott used a question-and-answer session on CBD to criticize Attorney General Curtis Hill for his recent opinion that said the product was illegal to sell in Indiana.

"I think you’re grandstanding when it comes to this issue and defying the will of the legislature who clearly supports the legalization of CBD oil," McDermott said. "I just find the whole thing really funny, quite frankly.”

“Well, ha-ha," Hill said sarcastically. "There’s no grandstanding here."

McDermott said he uses the product to ease his dog's pain and asked Hill if he was breaking the law.

"If you’re in possession of CBD oil, you’re in violation of Indiana law, yes," Hill said.

“My dog, technically, is in violation," McDermott said.

“No, you," Hill, a former Elkhart County prosecutor, said. "Let's be clear. Your dog's not. You are.”

Call IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.