I’ll be filing these updates over the course of the day as little tidbits of information come in.  Please note everything is fluid and could change at a moments notice so take the information for what it is worth.

I am hearing that the votes are not there in the House of Representatives to pass an unemployment insurance bill. Democrats control the chamber 52-48, but there are no Republican votes which means Democrats would have to have 51 members vote to raise taxes on business.  That would compromise members in competitive districts.  I hear Speaker Pat Bauer is 5-10 votes short of a majority. Stay tuned.

We are now at what hopefully will be the last day of the Indiana General Assembly.   Here are my thoughts on the three big remaining issues…

The Budget

• Lawmakers are spending about the same amount of money and leaving about $1.3 billion in reserves.  The big issue is a $100 million difference in education spending.  Democrats want more, Senate Republicans want less.  Don’t be surprised if they split the difference.  Also note there are two competing budget plans out there.  They are posted below.

Unemployment Insurance

• The business community is not happy with this plan at all and several of them told me yesterday that no plan is better than this one.  The plan raises taxes on businesses by $400 million and has no cuts in benefits.  House Republican leader Brian Bosma says his caucus won’t support it, leaving Democrats to vote for a tax increase.  I am also hearing some of the more conservative members of the Republican Senate Caucus are not happy with the plan either.  This could be the deal breaker.

CIB

• If I was the Mayor of Indianapolis, I would start drafting my plan B.  At best they will get some taxing authority and there’s a chance any expansion of the sports district may include Circle Center Mall.  Forget about the Colts and Pacers for now.  Regardless, the sentiment in this building is turning into we’ve got bigger fish to fry and this is an Indianapolis problem.   Come to think of it, I get out more than just Plan B, maybe Plan C, D, EF,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z might be in order as well.

I’ll keep you all posted throughout the course of the day.

In case you care, here are copies of both the House and Senate versions of the budget plans.

Senate Version of 1001

House Bill 1001

With about 30 hours to go before lawmakers adjourn (maybe), House Speaker Pat Bauer and Republican Brian Bosma both offered their thoughts on the final hours.  Here they are.  Draw your own conclusions.

House Speaker Pat Bauer

Republican Brian Bosma

With 48 hours to go here’s your latest statehouse update, more to follow later today so check back regularly.

4:35 p.m.

• The House has adjourned for the day.  There is still no budget (although Speaker Bauer told me they are not that far apart), no UI bill passed nor a CIB plan.  They have about 31 hours left to get all this done.  
• Good luck.

4:15 p.m.

• The Senate has adjourned for the day, however Republicans are scheduled to caucus this evening. 
• House members have just come back in session.  There are dueling budget conference committee reports, one House D and one Senate R.  The difference I am told is about $100 million. 
• No one in the business community is happy with the UI bill.
• State Representative Jeff Espich is going over his plan for the CIB bailout with conference committee chair Phil GiaQuinta.

2:35 p.m.

This Can’t Be Good

• Just heard from a key lawmaker that things are spinning “wildly out of control” behind closed doors. Looks like they may go home tomorrow, but be back next week.

2:30 p.m.

CIB

• It looks like neither the Pacers nor Colts will offer up any contribution in the state CIB rescue plan. More to follow.

2:00 p.m.

Mythbusters

• The House is still out and the Senate Republicans are still in caucus so I thought I would take a few seconds and clear up a couple misconceptions.
• First, if lawmakers miss tomorrow’s deadline, they can still adjourn.  The Governor would just call them back at a later date.
• Second, if there is no solution to the Unemployment problem, there will be NO FEDERAL TAKEOVER.  Instead employers would lose a federal employment tax credit over time and the state would lose about $100 million in federal aid to run the UI program.  At the end of four years this would cost the state about $900 million annually.  It’s not pretty, but it’s not a federal takeover.

1:00 p.m.

Recess

• The House has adjounred until 3:30 p.m. (which means 4:15 p.m. our time) I’m hearing the Unemployment deal is not being well received over in the State Senate because it does not include any reduction in benefits for workers, but does increase taxes on businesses.  Stay tuned.

11:35 a.m.

Unemployment Deal

• State Rep. David Niezgodski just told us press guys they reached a deal on the unemployment trust fund. 

Budget

• We’re told a copy of the budget proposal should be up on the state’ website about noon.

11:05 a.m.

CIB Deal?

• Now I’m hearing a deal on the Capital Improvement Board may be worked out.  Things are moving quickly.

10:50 a.m.

Budget Deal?

• My colleague Norm Cox  at RTV 6 is reporting there are two versions of the budget floating out there right now.  It’s just a matter of who signs on to what.  Stay tuned.

10:15 a.m.

The Budget

• If there’s any question that Governor Mitch Daniels won’t veto a budget he finds unacceptable, check this out.  In a meeting yesterday with lawmakers Daniels reportedly told them that he didn’t like what they presented, and although he only has one vote in the matter, that vote is a “no.”

CIB

• It looks like Circle Center Mall will be part of a new downtown sports district to help shore up the Capital Improvement Board operational shortfall, if lawmakers can figure out the language to do it.  The Governor gave his blessing to the idea on Friday, but there are some technical glitches that need to be worked out.
• It also looks like there will definitely be a ticket tax increase as well,  once again, it’s hammering out the technical details.

Unemployment Insurance

• From what I’ve been able to gather the two sides are at a virtual standstill.  Democrats won’t budge on benefits and Republicans on business taxes.  There had been some talk of toughening up eligibility requirements as a possible compromise, but so far all that is for now is talk.

Check back later today for more info.

As Indiana lawmakers continue to work out a deal on solving the Capital Improvement Board $47 million operational shortfall, I thought I would take a few minutes to talk about Jim Irsay’s perpetual argument that he pays $250,000 in rent for Lucas Oil.   

Once again, a factually accurate statement , but not the whole story.

You see, the Colts do pay $250,000 in rent, but they get it all back and then some.  Under the terms of the lease, the Colts get reimbursed up to $1.5 million annually for their game day expenses.  Game day expenses are things like security, ushers, the folks who work in press box and those guys who work the chains on the sidelines, etc. etc.  The Colts send the CIB a bill at the end of the season.  Last season the CIB paid the Colts, guess what?  $1.5 million.

In addition, the Colts also get up to $3.5 million annually from all non-game events.  So if there is a tractor show, high school football game, wallpaper show, the Colts get money.  And guess how much they got last year?  You got it.  $3.5 million. And those events had nothing to do with football.

So even though Jim Irsay likes to tell everyone he pays $250,000 in rent, last year he got back $5 million.  

Cry me a river, Jim.

I’m at the Statehouse and will try to blog regularly throughout the day on what’s going on here.

1:30 p.m.

• I spoke the Speaker right before lawmakers went to lunch to get his thoughts on the final 72 hours of session (i.e. the Budget, Unemployment Insurance and the Caapital Improvement Board).  You can hear his comments below.  We spoke for about four minutes.  He makes an interesting comment regarding Jim Irsay.
• House Speaker Pat Bauer

9:52 a.m.

• The unions are already showing up for today’s unemployment rally.  They are going to protest any possible cuts in worker benefits.  A couple thousand are expected to show.  Of course I did wonder if these guys can all afford to take the day off to protest, are they really worried about being unemployed?
• I ran into Senate Pro Tempore David Long.  He was on his way to the Governor’s Office.  I asked him what he thought about Jim Irsay’s weekend comments that the Colts have already given enough and had no intention to contributing to close the $47 million shortfall.  His response, “Jim Irsay is the last thing on my mind right now.”  It wasn’t clear if he was going to meet with the Governor on the CIB, the budget or unemployment.  However, Senator Luke Kenley wasn’t too far behind.  Stay tuned.

I just had another idea.

Since the Indianapolis Colts are balking at contributing to close the Capital Improvement Board $47 million shortfall, I have another idea and Jim Irsay is the one who provided it.

In an interview this weekend with the Indianapolis Star, Irsay said a deal was deal and he has no desire to renegotiate his lease. He also says he opposes increasing the ticket tax from 6-10 percent. He said it would be onerous on a small market. He also said it would generate about $1.3 billion over the life of the lease with the city.

I did a little math on that, $1.3 billion over 30 years equals about $43 million a year. The CIB shortfall is $47 million, so by raising taxes on ticket sales most of the shortfall goes away and the people who use the facility are the ones who are paying for it. 

And as long as the ticket tax is imposed equally on the Pacers and the Indians, the Colts really can’t complain because that’s what the lease allows, right?

Remember, a deal’s a deal!  How do you like that one, Jim? 

Indiana lawmakers are scrambling behind the scenes this morning looking for a way to deal with the news that the Colts have no desire to contribute to the Capital Improvement Board shortfall.  As one lawmaker put it, the Colts are dealing with us like they do players; driving a hard bargain.   While they look for a solution, I have a suggestion they may want to look at.

As hard as may sound to believe, I think the city of Indianapolis and State of Indiana should pay the Indianapolis Colts $100 million.  That’s right.  Write the Colts a check for a cool $100 million.  They should pool their resources, float bonds, do whatever is necessary and give the Colts $100 million.  Why?  Because by giving the Colts $100 million, they will have back their initial “investment” on Lucas Oil Stadium and the city and state can collect all the proceeds.  CIB funding shortfall solved.

I thought about this from Jim Irsay’s quote in Sunday’s Indianapolis Star.

“People don’t want to look at the facts,” Irsay said. “Look, (former Mayor) Bart Peterson and (former CIB head) Fred Glass came to me and said we need a new stadium to go with the convention center. Will you guys take this risk? We did. It was all on our risk. If someone can show me someone else who put a hundred million into a building and doesn’t own it … that’s what I don’t understand.”

If the Colts never asked for a new stadium and since they keep harping on their $100 million “investment” and the $250,000 in annual expenses they pay (which is offset by game day revenue which they get to keep and the $3.6 million in non-Colts events they get to pocket as well) then giving them their money back should solve everything.

Of course by giving them “back” their $100 million, the city and state get to keep all the cash from Lucas Oil, naming rights, game day revenue, non-Colts events, parking, concessions, the whole nine yards.  They don’t get a refund on the $250,000 in annual payments they’ve already made.

If the Colts never wanted a new stadium, then a simple $100 million “refund” should be enough to settle this matter, right?  And please don’t give me that, “a deal is a deal” from my studying of the Colts history that line only works when the deal is working in their favor.

Colts owner Jim Irsay is quick to point out these days that he pays $250,000 in rent for Lucas Oil Stadium.  Well, he’s half right.  He does pay $250,000 in annual rent, but has gotten back $5 million, most of which has nothing to do with the Colts.

As part of the lease agreement, the Colts get up to $3.5 million annually in non-game revenue.  So for just about every event in Lucas Oil that has nothing to do with football, the Colts get a cut.  In addition, the Colts get reimbursed up to $1.5 million a year in “game day expenditures.”  What’s a “game day expenditure”?  The ushers, security, guys in the press box and those guys on the sidelines who hold the chains marking first downs.  There are a whole lot more, but those are the ones you are most likely to see.  So at the end of every season, the Capital Improvement Board gets a bill for those costs.

A quick phone call to the CIB this afternoon, showed the Colts maxed out in both those areas.   They got $3.5 million for non game events and the taxpayers reimbursed them for $1.5 million worth of game expenses.  Now match their $5 million they get back, versus the $250,000 they “contribute.”

Ain’t life grand?