Who Are They Running Against
It looks like some Indiana House Democrats are finding it easier to run against and opponent who isn’t on the ballot as opposed to their Republican challengers.
Scott Reske (D-Pendelton) says the taxpayers of Madison County should not have to foot the bill for the Capitol Improvement Board’s assistance to the Indiana Pacers.
In an interview with the Anderson Herald Bulletin Reske said, “The city of Indianapolis has pledged $33 million that they don’t have. I’ve been around long enough to know they’re going to show up at the state legislature wanting funding.”
Reske is not alone in his comments. In an interview with the Terre Haute Tribune Star, House District 45 candidate Jesse James said the deal was a “frivolous spending of taxpayer money,” and he “could not support using tax dollars to help a sports team with a multimillion-dollar payroll while Hoosier school budgets are being reduced.” James is running against Republican incumbent Bruce Borders.
Also over the weekend my contacts in Evansville tell me southwest Indiana House Democrats are making the C.I.B. an issue.
While I’m not crazy about the deal either, I didn’t know the C.I.B. was anywhere on the ballot. In addition these lawmakers must not understand how government finance works because the $33 million for the Pacers will come out of the C.I.B.’s existing budget and not the state general fund, so no school is losing any money because of the C.I.B. In addition, the city is taking a loan from the state which it must pay back.
I’m starting to think this is part of a coordinated strategy because these stories are starting to show up in multiple newspapers across the state, so it can’t be a coincidence.
Now don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate out-state lawmaker sentiment on using general tax dollars to bailout anything related to Indianapolis. If I were a lawmaker from outside Marion County, I would not want my tax dollars to go for Indianapolis projects, just like I’m sure they don’t want Indianapolis tax money to be used in their districts. So how about we do this, Democrats and Republicans should introduce a bill next session that requires that all sales and income taxes raised in a county can only be spent on projects in that County. That is the only way to ensure that the residents of one city or county will ever have to worry about bailing out another one.
And by the way, the operating expenses of schools are now paid for with sales tax dollars, so I’m sure Representative Reske and would-be Representative James are willing to make sure their schools are only funded with sales tax dollars from their respective counties and Marion County residents will never have to foot any of that bill.
Yeah, right. And a big giant monkey will fly out of my butt, too.
