INDIANAPOLIS-- As we enter the final month of the 2009 session of the Indiana General Assembly, let us preview what to expect at the Statehouse over the next few weeks.

In the House, our attention continues to focus on the legislation sent to our chamber from the Indiana Senate. Next Thursday (April 9) is the deadline for House committee action on Senate bills. The full House must complete action on Senate bills by April 15.

Similar deadlines are in place over in the Indiana Senate, which is working on bills passed earlier by the House.

After April 15 comes House-Senate conference committee time, easily the most fascinating and frustrating part of the legislative process.

From mid-April until the end of the session on April 29, issues like a biennial state budget and fixing the state’s broken unemployment compensation fund will be under the control of conference committees, groups made up of two members of the House and two from the Senate.

Conference committees are charged with resolving differences between the House and Senate versions of a particular bill. Sometimes those differences are minor, an agreement is reached quickly and the conferees sign a committee report. Both chambers then must pass the report before it goes to the governor for final approval.

On many of a session’s major issues -- such as the state budget -- the differences are great and conferees must meet publicly and privately to reach a resolution.

I will talk in greater detail about the ins and outs of conference committees in the weeks ahead, but I bring up their importance now because conferees already have been assigned to find common ground on fixing our state’s unemployment insurance mess. Just this week, I was appointed to be part of the panel that will work toward a bipartisan solution to this unemployment dilemma.

House Bill 1379 is the vehicle for reforming a bankrupt system that relies upon federal loans to continue to provide temporary benefits to Hoosiers who have lost their jobs and need to provide for their families while they are looking for work. The Senate’s latest answer to this problem is unacceptable to me because it cuts this insurance for out-of-work Hoosiers. I prefer to find a solution that protects these Hoosiers, and their families, during trying times.

On other top issues, we still are waiting to hear details on the Senate’s state budget plan, as well as news on that chamber’s efforts to put together a proposal to create jobs.

Job creation must remain a priority this session, since Indiana ’s jobless rate rose to 9.4 percent in February. In LaPorte County, the figure surpassed 11 percent.

As hard as it might be to believe, these numbers were greeted with relief in some circles because the rate did not go up by as much as anticipated.

I do not share this point of view. February’s unemployment figures bring the number of people who are out of work in Indiana to more than 320,000. These numbers continue to show the need for state government to take a more active role in creating jobs, rather than relying upon the federal stimulus package to do all the work.

This is why we need to pass legislation like House Bill 1656, a bipartisan program I co-authored that would put Hoosiers back to work on capital projects, such as roads, bridges and sidewalks. These are good-paying jobs that have the added benefit of providing lasting improvements for counties, cities and towns.

To date, the Senate has conducted a committee hearing on House Bill 1656, but nothing more. If our state senators choose to let this proposal wither and die, I will do everything in my power to keep job creation a priority through the rest of this session. If I am able to insert the key provisions in other pieces of legislation, I will.

On a minor note of success, I am pleased to see the state will use $24 million in federal stimulus dollars to hire 2,000 young people to spend this summer and next improving Indiana ’s parks, recreation areas, state forests, nature preserves and state historic sites. The program will provide jobs for Hoosiers 16 to 24 years of age whose family incomes are at or below the poverty level. To find out more information or submit an application, go to www.in.gov/yhcc.