Thursday, February 28, 2013
HB 1011 to take on a new name
Posted by Ashley Kimmel on Thu, Feb 28, 2013 at 11:31 PM
Blame the perfect song coming through the headphones in my ears, the sunshine or the three cups of coffee I had consumed, but last week, as I got off the bus, Indianapolis felt new. It felt brighter. It felt possible. It felt hopeful. It felt modern. It felt, well, like a different city.
Thanks to the Ways and Means Committee for the renewed vision of Indianapolis - and it stayed with me throughout my week. I was riding the bus with a new attitude, one of hope and progress.
I smiled and bounced my way through the rest of the week and into this past Monday...
... Until I got a text: "Going to be a close vote. I think we will barely squeak by."
Ugh.
Talk about a buzz kill.
That first bit of news came while I was riding the bus on my way to work. I had just received the text that the hearing was about to start when my bus driver announced that we were early and proceeded to park the bus on the side of College Avenue and get out. I watched as she crossed the street to the Kountry Kitchen and went inside to order food.
No, seriously.
Even with the smell of collard greens and fried chicken lingering in the air (and the man snoring loudly beside me), I admittedly got really frustrated with Indiana. I had a gross feeling that this bill wasn't going to pass the House and that we would be stuck in the 1950s (early 2000s?) forever.
Fast-forward through an entire day's work later and I am sitting in my house, in front of my computer, watching the House Chambers live.
Finally, at about 9:30pm, HB 1011 passed 56-39 in the House Chambers. (Insert huge sigh of relief.)
I swear I screamed out loud when I heard the news.
After spending the day getting texts, calls and tweets from friends and colleagues at the Statehouse, keeping me informed of the House voting this week, the final approval couldn't have been more relieving.
I thought I would wake up on Tuesday morning with that same sense of renewal and hope as last week.
Unfortunately, it didn't take me long to realize I was still in the Indianapolis I'd known before.
I stood in the rain for a bus that was ten minutes late, had to stand up (soaking wet) for the ride, caught my late transfer, sat next to a man that was cussing his girlfriend out LOUDLY on the phone, got to work twenty minutes late, caught a bus to my second job that was fifteen minutes late, sat next to a man who thought the world was his stage and seat-danced (wildly) for the whole ride and then I got off and immediately stepped in puke.
Ugh.
Talk about a reality check.
The Senate needs to hurry up and vote this through.
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We are still talking about HB1011
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