Commission irons out details in half-day meeting

This post is by reporter Jenny Montgomery.

The Legislature’s Criminal Code Evaluation Commission met Thursday. If you missed the three-and-a-half hour meeting, here’s what happened:
The preliminary draft of the human trafficking bill passed.
The preliminary draft that would eliminate the crime of conversion failed.   

The probation improvement fund draft passed – just barely, by a vote of 9-5 – and only after a lot of niggling over fees and formulas. The commission members voted to pass the draft, but with the understanding that the language regarding formulas and diversion fees will be revised. One commission member wondered aloud why anyone would choose to pay a diversion fee on, say, a traffic ticket, and ultimately end up paying more than the cost of the ticket itself.

In the course of their rigorous debate, four different commission members used animal-related colloquialisms, proving that the state’s lawmakers are still in tune with their Hoosier constituents:
I think we have put the cart before the horse.
I think we killed the goose that laid the golden egg.
There’s a point when the cow is tipped.
Get all your ducks in a row.

Next meeting date to be determined.