Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels says the budget will be more than $1 billion short based on new actual budget numbers.  Daniels told reporters the state took in $255 million less than projected.  He did not specify which budget cuts to make, but said he still wanted to give lawmakers flexibility to address the shortfall.  Democrats question the shortfall, saying there are still outstanding taxes that need to be collected and that could reduce the shortfall.   You can hear the Governor’s comments below.

Daniels on Budget Pt 1

Daniels on Budget Pt 2

Normally this spaced is reserved for local and state matters, but every once in a while I get a bug in my craw to write about national matters.  Today that bug is the national Republican Party.

I recently looked at some polling data and found that 28-percent of the population identifies themselves as Republicans, but 34-percent believe in UFOs.  A bit of a non-sequitur, maybe, but it doesn’t bode your national aspirations very well when more people tend to believe there is more of a chance of life in outer space than there is in your national political party.

The sad part of all this is that the problem is mostly self-inflicted.  When the GOP had power they abused it by spending too much.  When they tried to retain power (i.e. John McCain) they ran the worse campaign I have ever seen.  And now, instead of trying to grow the party past the white, rural, southern-west, male stage, they just seem hellbent on becoming even more irrelevant.

If you take the case of Republican-turned-Democrat Arlan Specter of Pennsylvania, you’ll see in a lot of blog comments “good riddance” and “he was a traitor.”   Now there is talk that former PA Governor Tom Ridge may try to challenge Specter next year.  I seriously wonder if Ridge, who is pro-choice, could get past the one track anti-abortion crowd.  Instead of doing real soul searching, zealots are more comfortable with calling other Republicans RINOs (Republican In Name Only).  By the way, one of the last places you want to be is in front of a charging RINO.

A handful of Republicans have seen the light and have realized that social, wedge issues alone aren’t going to get you elected into a governing majority.  For one thing, the population trends don’t favor it.  Twenty-five percent of the population is under the age of 21, and younger people tend to be more tolerate of a lot of things and have a live-and-let-live attitude about life.  Abortion is never going to be outlawed in this country.  And the Hispanic population is the fastest growing group in the country, so the harsh and in my opinion borderline racist, anti-immigration rhetoric isn’t winning many amigos either.

Hopefully, a majority of the National GOP will see the light and get with the program. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels gets it.   I have found this country tends to function best with a healthy two-party system.  It doesn’t help when one of those parties becomes so small that they are practically invisible.

And before I forget, can we drop the “Obama is a socialist” rhetoric.  When you have a President with a 67-percent approval rating the only people who are going to listen to you are the other 23-percent who don’t like the job he’s doing.

Although it was a busy week at the Legislature, here are few tidbits of things you might have missed.

Former State Rep. Luke Messer pulled in $100,000 Thursday night at his first fund-raiser in the quest to win the primary in the 5th Congressional District.

Speaking of money, City-County Councilors Ryan Vaughn and Jose Evans also did some fundraising recently.  Vaughn pulled in about $20,000, Evans $16,000.

In race to fill the seat being vacated by Sen. Teresa Lubbers the current list of contenders are Ryan Vaughn, Chris Douglas, former City-County Council Scott Schneider and John Rucklehouse.  The word on the street has been that Schneider may step aside and throw his support behind Rucklehouse, however Schneider called me this morning to tell me that he was not backing out of the race and was “in this race to win.”

And speaking of races, Bart McAtee officially announced his bid for Marion County Sheriff in the Republican Primary.  However, there may be an issue regarding his eligibility to run.   There is talk his job with the Sheriff’s Department is funded with federal dollars so his running for office may violate the Hatch Act.   Tim Motsinger announced he was running earlier this Spring.

By the way, Mayor Greg Ballard wasn’t the only person hoping for Capital Improvement Board solution this past week.  Word on the street the Democratic candidates for Mayor in 2011 were also hoping for a resolution, because they knew they would have even less luck than Ballard trying to push a plan through should one of them win in a few years.

And Barack Obama is coming to town May 17 to raise money for several Indiana Democratic Congressmen.

And in case you care, I saw Wolverine Friday night.  It was a little slow in the beginning, but the ending was pretty cool.

If something else happens, Indiana Barrister will let you know.  Enjoy your weekend.

The Indianapolis Colts could conceivably not get reimbursed for their game day expenses if the Capitol Improvement Board runs out of money later this year. CIB President Bob Grand says the Board cannot spend money it does not have and if doesn’t have the money to pay its expenses it won’t make them.

At an emergency CIB meeting this morning the board voted to renegotiate all existing operational contracts and suspend all payments not related to keeping the convention center open.  And that could include any payments to the Colts.  Under the terms of the Stadium agreement the Colts are entitled to up $1.5 million in reimbursements for game day expenses such as security and ushers.

In addition, Don Welsh of the Convention and Visitors Association says the lawmakers should be concerned that the city could lose some of its heavy hitter events like the NCAA Final Four and the BIg Ten tournament if the CIB’s funding solutions aren’t solved.

However, what was different about this meeting is that all parties seemed to agree that they needed to present a single, unified front to convince lawmakers about the neccessity for a solution to the CIB’s $47 million operational deficit.

It would have been nice had this been the case four months ago, but better late than never.

Bob Grand\’s CIB Comments

Don Welsh\’s CIB Comments

My apologies to Bill Cosby and Sydney Poitier for today’s blog title.  

Now that Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is calling lawmakers back for a special session, they have a decond chance to get the Capital Improvement Board solution right.  As much they can be criticized for what they failed to do, they now get a mulligan and a chance to wipe the slate clean.

However, the biggest winner of this second chance scenario is Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard.  While the Mayor’s office engaged in a lot of behind the scenes diplomacy, they did not do a very good job of making the public case for a solution.   

The Mayor should call together the business community, reach out to labor, the hospitality industry, the Colts, the Pacers and even call some of the bigger conventions and let the public know why the convention business can’t be allowed to suffer.

I would hold the news conference in an empty Lucas Oil Stadium to show the public (and the legislature) what it would be like if the Stadium were to close down because of a lack of operational funds.  

I would also get my budget staff to do an analysis of how much sales and income tax are generated from the convention business in Indianapolis and let lawmakers and the rest of Indiana know how much they stand to lose and how their taxes will have to go up to make up for the lost revenue should downtown fail.

If I were the Colts and Pacers, I would reconsider my public statements as of late and seriously step up to help solve this problem.  If a workable solution is reached and you contribute to help solve the problem, everybody will forgive your past statements.

If I were Marion County Democrats I’d get on board with a comprehensive solution, because if they reach a workable solution, you’ll be left out in the cold and it won’t help your chances to take back the Council and Mayor’s Office.

And as much as would love to see the people who negotiated the original deal dragged onto Monument Circle for a public flogging, it’s time to let that part of the equation go.  What’s done is done and continuing the blame game really isn’t going to solve anything or move the issue forward.

I have always been a firm believer everything happens for a reason.  We just have to be either smart enough or paitient enough to figure it out.   By failing to pass a CIB plan, lawmakers have inadvertently given the Mayor and the city an opportunity to get it right and in a lot faster time frame.  All parities involved can take a critical look at what they did wrong and get it right.

Don’t blow this opportunity, because I can guarantee you certainly won’t get another one.

I’m a little tired this morning, so I’ll try to keep this short and to the point.   Now that Indiana lawmakers are coming back for a special session here are some questions to ponder.  

1. Can lawmakers work out a deal?
2. Who is responsible for the meltdown, the Governor, House Democrats, Republicans?
3. What does this do the relationship between House and Senate Republicans?  
4. What about the CIB?  Will the Mayor’s office comeback with a workable solution?
5. Will the increase in unemployment taxes mean more layoffs down the road?
6. Is the Black Legislative Caucus the new power bloc in the Statehouse?
7. Am I missing anything?

Indiana lawmakers will be back here sooner than they think.  Lawmakers failed to pass a budget tonight, ensuring a special session will be called.  The budget failed by a vote of 27-71.  

The budget plan would have spent $28 billion over the next two years with funds for K-12 education, higher education and higher ed capital improvement projects.  State Representative Bill Crawford said it was not the budget he wanted but the budget he had to accept.  Governor Mitch Daniels was adamant that lawmakers be as frugal as possible and keep the state reserves at about $1.4 billion.  House Republican Leader Brian Bosma said the budget did not protect taxpayers and called it a recipe for a major tax increase because it relied on federal stimulus dollars which would not be there in two years.

Scott Pelath (D-Michigan City) said Republicans were disenginuos because they never intended to vote for the budget.  He said increases in spending are the result of federal economic stimulus dollars, not state spending.  He also accused Governor Mitch Daniels of negotiating in bad faith.  Pelath added if lawmakers go into special session, it won’t be because of Democrats.

Anticipated revenue forecasts expect Indiana to take in nearly $200 million less than on top of the already near $830 million in lost revenue over the next two years.

There had been some question earlier as to whether there were enough votes for the budget to pass as State Representatives Charlie Brown and Vernon Smith said they would not vote for the budget unless their community of Gary got a casino.  There had also been discussion that the rest of members of the Legislative Black Caucus agreed as a group to take the same position.

Just got word that the CIB bailout legislation really is dead.  Supporters hoped they could have found a vehicle bill before midnight to put it in but they were unsuccessful.  Now the city of  Indianapolis is really on the hook for $47 million operational shortfall costs.

Unless something happens in the next 90 minutes, legislaion that would have help bailout the Capital Improvement Board is dead.  House-Senate Conference Chair Phil GiaQuinta said the legislation could not get the four signatures it needed to move forward.  The latest version would have raised hotel, ticket and car rental taxes as well as added the new Marriott hotel to the downtown sports district.  There was little support for tax increases at the local level.  And there was almost no support for from outstate lawmakers to give up any state tax revenue.  This now leaves local officials looking for a way to fill a $47 million operational deficit with no outside support.

Indiana House members followed the lead of the Senate and passed an unemployment insurance bill.  The vote was 52-47, along party lines.  Democrats chided Republicans on their claim it would raise taxes, saying businesses that don’t use the system as much would enjoy a lower tax rate.   Republicans said the tax increases would just result in more unemployment.