New General Assembly Sworn In

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(STATEHOUSE) - The new General Assembly session is officially underway.

Supreme Court Justice Frank Sullivan swore in all 100 members of the Indiana house on Tuesday's Organization Day session. Justice Brent Dickson gave the oath to the 25 newly elected or reelected senators.

Both chambers reelected their leaders without opposition: South Bend Democrat Patrick Bauer as Speaker of the House, and fort Wayne Republican David Long as President Pro Tem of the Senate.

Long and Bauer each predicted a "challenging" session, but expressed confidence legislators will rise to the challenge.

There are 17 new representatives and six newly elected senators, plus Senators Travis Holdman of Markle and Jim Buck of Kokomo, who were appointed to vacancies earlier this year but won't face the voters until 2010.

Two freshman senators, Oldenburg Republican Jean Leising and East Chicago Democrat Lonnie Randolph, are the legislative version of "redshirt freshmen." Both returned to the chamber in this month's elections after leaving to run for other offices. Leising notes the veteran leadership team that ran the senate when she was last a member 12 years ago is all gone now.

The roster of freshmen includes two Democratic legislators who clinched election June 30, when no one filed to run against them: Indianapolis Senator Greg Taylor and Terre Haute Representative Gail Riecken.

Taylor says he used the head start to contact the senators he'll be working with, and to study the Kernan-Shepard Report on local government reform. The report's recommendations are expected to be a hot topic in the new session.

Legislators get to work in earnest January 7.

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