Editing Indiana General Assembly (section)

===1851 Constitution===
In 1851, a [[Constitution of Indiana#Constitution of 1851|new state constitution]] was created and ratified. Among the constitution's new clauses was an extension of the terms of representatives to two years and senators to four years. It also made many of the previously appointed positions open to public election.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/inconst/art-4.html |title=Constitution of Indiana, Article 4, Section 2 |access-date=June 18, 2008 |archive-date=August 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801103208/http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/inconst/art-4.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The new constitution delegated many minor tasks to newly created elected offices. With its workload considerably decreased, instead of meeting annually, the General Assembly only convened a session every two years. The new constitution also placed new limits on the General Assembly's power to create local laws, the General Assembly having become notorious for creating state-level laws that were only applied to one town or county.<ref name = INC1816>1816 Constitution of Indiana, Article 3, Section 4-5</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.in.gov/history/6230.htm |title=The 1851 Indiana Constitution |author=David G. Vanderstel |publisher=IN.gov |access-date=June 18, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619005557/http://www.in.gov/history/6230.htm |archive-date=June 19, 2008 }}</ref>{{Sfn|Dunn|1919|p=443-447}}

The new constitution led to the gradual erosion of the Democratic majority. In 1854, the Republican Party was established and drew in many of the former Whigs. That year the General Assembly was split with no party attaining a majority. The Democrats held the largest number of seats, but the Whigs and Republicans caucused to form a majority and control the assembly. The result was a deadlock on most issues because Republicans and Whigs could not agree on most major issues.{{Sfn|Dunn|1919|p=521-524}} By 1858, the Whigs were almost completely disempowered and the Republicans gained enough seats to become the largest party, but not enough to form a majority on their own. That year Governor [[Ashbel P. Willard]] called the first special session of the General Assembly because they had been unable to pass an appropriations bill. Democrats regained a small majority by gaining the votes of the disaffected Whigs in the 1860 election.<ref name=INSTAR>{{cite web
 |url=http://www2.indystar.com/articles/1/207993-2051-P.html 
 |title=A historic look back at the Statehouse 
 |publisher=The Indianapolis Star 
 |date=January 9, 2005 
 |access-date=June 18, 2008 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819021840/http://www2.indystar.com/articles/1/207993-2051-P.html 
 |archive-date=August 19, 2007 
}}</ref>

During the 1860s and the [[American Civil War]], the legislature was the [[Indiana in the American Civil War#Conflict with the Democrats|scene of intense debate]]. At the beginning of the war, the General Assembly was controlled by the [[Copperheads (politics)|southern sympathetic]] [[United States Democratic Party|Democrats]].<ref name = icw>{{cite book|title=Indiana in the Civil War Era: 1850–1880|author=Thornbrough, Emma |year=1991|isbn=0-87195-050-2|publisher=[[Indiana Historical Society]]|pages=140–156}}</ref> [[Governor of Indiana|Governor]] [[Oliver Morton]] and the [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] minority were able to prevent the General Assembly from meeting in 1862 and 1863 by denying the body [[quorum]].<ref name = icw/> Morton even had some members of the body arrested or detained on suspicions of disloyalty. The lack of funding created by this crisis again led to the near bankruptcy of the state. In 1864, the [[United States Republican Party|Republican]]s gained a majority and convened the General Assembly to remedy the state's funding problems.<ref name = icw/>

During the 1880s and 1890s, Indiana industry began to grow rapidly because of the [[Indiana Gas Boom]], leading to the creation of many labor unions and a return to Democratic control of the General Assembly. One of the events to occur during the period was the [[Black Day of the Indiana General Assembly|Black Day of the General Assembly]], a situation arising from Governor [[Isaac P. Gray]]'s desire to be elected to the [[United States Senate]]. Beginning with the state senate's refusal to seat a new lieutenant governor, fighting broke out in the chamber and spread throughout the statehouse. Shots were fired, and Democrats and Republicans threatened to kill each other before police could bring the situation under control.{{Sfn|Gugin|2006|p=178}} A second bout of violence broke out in the 1894 regular session when Republicans locked the doors of the House chambers preventing Governor [[Claude Matthews]] from delivering a veto of a bill that repealed over a decade of Democratic legislation. The governor personally led fellow party members in beating down the door and unsuccessfully attempting to fight their way to the podium to deliver the vetoed bill; one newspaper said Democrats and Republicans "fought like beasts of the forest."{{Sfn|Gugin|2006|p=207}} During those decades, the General Assembly enacted a series of laws to protect the rights of workers and encourage more industrial growth. The [[female suffrage|women's suffrage movement]] also began in the state and rallies were held in Indianapolis to support the female suffrage legislation that was ultimately voted down in the General Assembly.{{Sfn|Gray|1995|p=193}}

During 1907, the General Assembly made Indiana the first state to enact [[eugenics]] legislation, and the law remained in effect until 1921. The law led to the forced [[Compulsory sterilization|sterilization]] of thousands of criminals until it was ruled unconstitutional by the Indiana Supreme Court in 1921.<ref>[http://www.bioethics.iupui.edu/Eugenics/SMith%20vs%20Williams.pdf ''Williams v. Smith'', 131 NE 2 (Ind.), 1921, text at] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081001000000/http://www.bioethics.iupui.edu/Eugenics/SMith%20vs%20Williams.pdf |date=October 1, 2008 }}</ref>

In 1921, [[Julia D. Nelson|Julia Nelson]] was the first woman elected to the Indiana General Assembly.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

Scandal erupted in 1925 when it was discovered that the [[Indiana Klan|Indiana Branch]] of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] controlled over half the seats in the General Assembly. During the session, Grand Dragon [[D. C. Stephenson]] boasted "I am the law in Indiana".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centerforhistory.org/indiana_history_main7.html| title=Indiana History Chapter Seven| publisher= Indiana Center for History|access-date=June 23, 2008 |url-status=usurped|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080411163028/http://www.centerforhistory.org/indiana_history_main7.html |archive-date = April 11, 2008}}</ref> During the next two years, the federal government intervened, Stephenson was convicted of murder. After the governor refused to pardon him, Stephenson indicted his co-conspirators, leading to many of the state government being charged with various crimes and removing much of the Klan's power.<ref name = INSTAR/><ref>{{cite book|author=Lutholtz, M. William|year=199| title=Grand Dragon: D. C. Stephenson and the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana| location=West Lafayette, Indiana|publisher= Purdue University Press|isbn=1-55753-046-7|pages=43, 89}}</ref>

In the 1930s, the General Assembly established the state's first general welfare programs to help the poor affected by the [[Great Depression]]. The General Assembly passed the nation's first [[DUI]] laws in 1939, establishing a blood alcohol level of .15 as the legal limit. The 1940s led to the first African American being elected to the Indiana Senate and legislation that desegregated the public schools in 1949.<ref name = INSTAR/>

The General Assembly established the state's first sales tax at two percent in 1962. The revenues from the tax led to a host of new projects across the state. The General Assembly also passed the Indiana Civil Rights bill in 1963, granting equal protection to minorities in seeking employment.{{Sfn|Gray|1995|p=391-392}} In 1970 a series of constitutional amendments were passed. Among them was one that authorized the General Assembly to meet annually instead of biennially.<ref name = INSTAR/>

During the 1988 session, the Indiana House of Representatives was split evenly between both parties for the first time in Indiana's history. After a period of negotiations, both parties agreed to share majority powers, alternating which party controlled the position of speaker each day. The same General Assembly legalized [[horse racing]] in the state in 1989.<ref name = INSTAR/>

Governor [[Evan Bayh]] called a special session of the General Assembly in 1992 because no budget had been passed in the regular session. During the special session, the General Assembly passed the budget and also legalized the operation of riverboat [[casino]]s in the state, overriding the governor's veto to prevent it.<ref name = INSTAR/>

The General Assembly passed [[property tax]] reform legislation in 2008, capping property taxes at one percent, making Indiana one of the lowest property tax locations in the nation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.in.gov/gov/files/031908_Governor_signs_property_tax_relief_and_reform_bill.pdf |title=Governor Signs Property Tax Reform |publisher=IN.gov |access-date=June 5, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810214431/http://www.in.gov/gov/files/031908_Governor_signs_property_tax_relief_and_reform_bill.pdf |archive-date=August 10, 2011 }}</ref>