Although I understand the need to create jobs in Indiana, I am totally confused at a move by Democratic State Representative Terri Austin to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars from the Department of Transportation to cities and towns to pay for local road projects.

By a vote of 7-5, the House Transportation and Roads Committee passed HB 1656, which would not only take money from INDOT for local roads, but also from the Toll Road and give the legislature full authority on how to spend any federal economic stimulus dollars.

Austin and House Democrats say these moves are necessary to create jobs.  All this is really creating is a bunch of unnecessary grief and hassle.

INDOT Commissioner Karl Browning, who missed a funeral of an INDOT worker to attend the hearing, told the committee that there was no way the bill was going to “see the light of day.”  And a number of interest groups have said the legislation would only hurt the economy.

I don’t see how taking money from the state road fund and giving it to local governments is really going to fix anything because all you are doing is robbing Peter and writing a bad check to Paul.   Austin admitted there were problems with the bill and they would be fixed later.

Here’s a thought,  how about we not do this and then we can say we didn’t.

Remember when I told you about how the Greater Clark County School Board gets taxpayer-funded health insurance and it only costs each board members a dollar?

Well, get a load of this!  If you’re a member of the Warren Township Advisory Board in Marion County, you can get free life insurance.  So if you die while on the board, your beneficiaries get about $15,000.

So while there may not be any money in government, there can be for your family if you stick around long enough and then die on the job.

R.I.P., taxpayers.

Here are the latest government consolidation bills introduced so far in the legislature.

SB 184 – Consolidates Marion County Emergency dispatch functions.

SB 379 – Creates a single county executive via local referendum.

SB 444 – Consolidates Marion County Fire Departments.

HB 1341 – Eliminates township government in Marion County.

HB 1373 – Forbids government employees from serving on the legislative body which employs them.*

HB 1401 – Allows contiguous townships to consolidate via referendum.

HB 1406 – Eliminates township government outside of Marion County and transfers its duties to county government.

There are a couple more out there, but they don’t have bill numbers yet.  What’s interesting is that I recall when there was just one government consolidation bill, Indy Works.  Now they seem to not only be popping up like mushrooms, but the people who supported consolidation seem to have changed their minds over the years and the people who used to oppose it now love it.

My, how things change over the years.

*No, it ain’t consolidation but it makes perfect sense!

Here’s some of  the reaction from Tuesday night’s State of the State address…

House Speaker Pat Bauer

• “Creating jobs is more important than extended philosophical debates over taking local government control out of the hands of the public. It should take priority over whether we need to pass constitutional property tax caps, something that cannot even go before the voters of Indiana until November 2010. These other issues can wait for next year.  “This year’s session has one goal: jump-starting Indiana’s economy and getting Hoosiers back to work.”

• “Gov. Daniels has always been open to new routes, so long as we quickly traveled toward the desired destination. My hope is that his call for spending only what we can afford, preserving emergency cash reserves, permanently capping property taxes and continuing job creation will be carefully considered by lawmakers and vocally supported by fellow Hoosiers.”

• “I agree with the governor that the state must have a balanced budget. Like Hoosier families, the state needs to economize and cut back on expenses. But we must be careful not to do irreparable harm to our future. “In this economic environment, our first priority must be jobs, jobs, and more jobs. Immediate and drastic action is needed right now. It’s time to jump start the engine of job creation in our state, not let it sit idle year after year as the governor is proposing.”

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels spelled out a State of the State tonight which he called sobering, but also held opportunities.

In the 30-minute speech Daniels advocated education, a balanced budget and government reform.  The speech did not directly refer to Indiana’s jobs situation, however in a pre-State of the State briefing, administration officials said the speech inherently endorsed job creation by calling for making the tax caps permanent and directing more money to the classroom; both would contribute to Indiana’s economic climate.

The Governor reiterated previous themes of no tax increases, preserving the surplus and government reform.

Daniels pointed out that 39 cents of every education dollar is spent outside the classroom and he pointed to certain examples of non-instructional programs such as Clark County Schools which offered their school boards health insurance for one dollar a year.

He also advocated more school discipline and clearer immunity for teachers who have to restore order in the classroom.

The Governor did try to balance a tone of cooperation, but also there was some challenging of lawmakers.  He said the budget was full of “hard decisions and unwelcome choices”  and that tough times called for separating the “winners from the whiners and the brave from the weak of will” but that lawmakers would “approach those decisions in a spirit of compromise and shared responsibility.”  He reminded lawmakers that they worked together to solve past problems, but he also alluded a couple times in his speech to his November victory at the polls where he received nearly 60-percent of the vote.

And with the national economy as a backdrop, Daniels told lawmakers that Indiana was in much better shape than most of the rest of the county and that other states were looking at Indiana as an example.

This is going to be an interesting session, to say the least.  As I pointed out in an earlier post, Democrats and the Daniels’ administration got into a somewhat testy exchange in the House Ways and Means Committee.   With very little cash to play with, projected revenues falling short and a national economy that won’t be getting better anytime soon, as sober as the Governor’s assessment was, I think it will take a quite a few drinks for these guys to work out their differences.

If today’s budget hearing in the House Ways and means Committee is any indication, it’s going to be a somewhat testy legislative session.

Democrats chastised and at time raised their voices at Daniels administration officials over their proposed budget.   Chairman Bill Crawford and OMB Director Ryan Kitchell got into a slight exchange. And Vice Chairman Scott Pelath and Budget Director Chris had somewhat of a verbal scuffle.

What did they argue over?  The usual stuff; education, prison funding, economic development, accounting techniques, etc.

The best way I can describe this is like a family having money problems and they can’t decide whether to dip into their savings account.

The sad part is this is only going to get worse.

They’re not out yet, but when they are the latest Indianapolis crime stats will show a modest decrease in crime, but city officials say burglaries are still a major problem.  The city saw a decrease in aggravated assaults and murders stayed about the same, however there was a sharp increase in burglaries.

Public Safety director Scott Newman doesn’t think the economy is responsible for the increase in burglaries, but the fact that a number of burglars are out on bond when they commit their subsequent offenses. Newman says the Marion County may need to create more jail beds to deal with the problem as federal judges are being more strict when it comes to caps on the jail population.

However, in addition to repeat offenders, another reason for the increase in burglaries is juveniles who are not in school.  IMPD Chief Spears says kids who have been expelled or suspended from school are also responsible for a significant number of  burglaries.  

One possible answer, which I definitely think is worth exploring, is a daytime curfew modeled after that’s done in Houston.  Houston has a daytime curfew from 9 – 2:30 p.m. for kids while school is in session.   There are the usual exceptions, i.e. if a minor is with their parent, engaged in employment, etc.  By picking up juveniles and getting them off the street during the day they are less likely to break into your home while you’re at work.

Okay folks, which deserves tomorrow’s top headline?

A.  Tony Dungy resigns.

B.  Mitch Daniels sworn in for second term.

C.  Bush holds last news conference.

D.  Bernie Madoff remains free on bail.

E.  Thursday’s high temp will be nine degrees.

Take your pick.

I’m compiling a list of local government entities across Indiana that provide health insurance or other benefits to their part-time board members. 

If you could be so kind as to let me know if your school district, township board, etc., offers its members taxpayer-funded health insurance that would be great.

Thanks.

Capping property assessments could become the big “sleeper” issue in this session of the Indiana General Assembly.  Already there is Senate Bill 40, which would cap assessments at 5% of a home’s value over the previous year unless there was a sale or other improvements which clearly showed the home had increased in value.

Now there’s Senate Bill 97, which would cap property assessments at 10 percent of its value, unless there was something concrete to show it was more valuable. And while we’re at it, let’s throw in House Bill 1095 which does pretty much the same thing.  It also has bi-partisan sponsors.

Oh, and before I forget, there’s SB 213.  It would have general property reassessments done every nine years instead of five.  And it also provides that real property assessment adjustments done annually under current law will occur every three years between general reassessments.

I’d keep an eye on this issue.