Lucas
Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston owes the people of House District 69 some answers about their elected representative, who is on probation and will be during the 2024 session of the Indiana General Assembly.
Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, represents this district, which includes portions of Bartholomew, Jackson, Scott and Washington counties. But since Lucas pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of operating while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a crash, Huston has declined to answer basic questions about where Lucas stands as a lawmaker.
The Republic has asked these questions repeatedly to Huston through his spokesperson, but we’ve gotten no answers. And Lucas rejects any suggestion that he voluntarily step down from his position of power and privilege.
Huston
Huston, we have a problem.
Somewhere along the line, these people forgot that they work for us. Power can do that to people. These are public servants, or at least they are supposed to be. Yet Huston must feel no need to explain whether he believes that Lucas’ breaking the law ought to disqualify him from making the law. That’s Huston’s choice, but it’s a choice that has negative consequences.
By failing to address the Lucas situation, it appears that Huston is setting a precedent that allows lawmakers to get away with criminal conduct.
Maybe. But because Huston won’t answer questions about Lucas’ future, and all we can do is guess.
Maybe Huston is hoping that fellow lawmakers will just look the other way when a probationer joins them in January.
Or maybe Huston is going to take a tough stand regarding Lucas.
You could read such tea leaves after Huston effectively put Lucas in “time out” by declining to seat him on any interim study committees.
No big deal, you might say. But consider this: Due to Lucas’ conduct, he will miss out on serving on a committee that will shape the debate on marijuana legalization — a cause Lucas that has championed for years, let us say, with gusto.
Huston’s spokeswoman Erin Wittern told the Indiana Capital Chronicle last week “that Huston still wants Lucas ‘to take time to focus on his health and well-being.’
“The speaker still upholds that sentiment, and neither reappointed Lucas to the Compliance Advisory Panel nor appointed him to any new interim committees,” Wittern said.
We likewise have urged Lucas to focus both on his own well-being and what’s best for his constituents. We believe Lucas’ resignation best serves both interests. We continue to hope that he will realize this.
Because right now, Lucas is stripped of assignments, and if Huston is refusing to seat Lucas now, he may strip Lucas of assignments when the session begins. As we said, Lucas will still be on probation then, but Huston isn’t saying.
The sad truth is, there is an absence of ethical requirements for members of the Indiana legislature. But the public should have a minimum expectation of conduct from our elected officials.
That goes for Lucas, and it goes for Huston too.
