As if two chambers, divided government and polar opposite philosophical differences weren’t enough to complicate the lives of Indiana lawmakers, now they don’t have as much money to play with as they thought they would. State budget revenues are down about 45 million dollars. This will only complicate matters as lawmakers try to pass full-day kindergarten and property tax relief. It does give credence to the Governor’s plans to privatize/franchise the lottery and raise cigarette taxes to provide Hoosiers with health insurance because it provides the state with a source of revenue that it did not have before and doesn’t look like it’s going to get.

Indiana lawmakers are in the half-time phase of the General Assembly. I say half-time phase because the session is more like a three-period hockey game and we’re in the second period. The third period doesn’t begin until two to three weeks before the session ends. Usually at this point lawmakers stake out positions, play hardball and later compromise by splitting the difference on dollars issues. I don’t see that happening this time.

Look at the five big issues on the table: Lottery privatization, the Commerce Connector and Illiana Expressway, Full Day Kindergarten, Property Tax relief and providing Health insurance for Hoosiers.

FDK – everybody agrees on it, just watch to see how they finally agree to pay for it.

Lottery Privatization – Democrats don’t want it. Most Republicans do. This is a philosophical argument, not money.

Tax Relief – this is about money and philosophy.

Commerce Connector and Illiana Expressway – once again, difference in philosophy.

Health Insurance – this is both about politics and cash.

If the situation was that the differences in all these issues were money and spending, I can see a compromise down the road. However, Democrats and Republicans have deep philosophical differences on these matters and they are either for them or against them. I don’t see much room for negotiations because there really isn’t much to negotiate.

Although there has been a lot of news this week, I have some observations about some of the news behind the things you may have read, heard or watched.

We Shall Overcome Stupidity
Although Judge Greg Scott freely admits he was wrong to grab the arm of Judge Tonya Walton Pratt during a dispute over the state’s annual Martin Luther King celebration, I found out that one of the acts that was in dispute wanted to perform a skit where a character dressed as the Devil (would represent white people) was going to enslave Black people, who would later rise up and kill him. Somehow that doesn’t seem like something I would associate with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And to add insult to injury the Commission has hadn’t a quorum in years, even though it’s members can call a toll-free number and participate in meetings. Oh, and State Representative Vanessa Summers (D-Indianapolis) says the Commission should under FSSA instead of the state’s Civil Rights Commission. Yes, let’s put an MLK celebration under the state welfare agency. I think I’m about to be offended.

Everyone Knows Your Name
Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi says he will sell his interest in Harry and Izzi’s, a restaurant-bar, slated to go into Circle Center Mall. State law does not allow law enforcement officials to have financial interests in an establishment that serves alcohol. Although it’s been reported that Brizzi had a 10 percent stake in the restaurant, he actually had a 10 percent stake in the corporation that was a partner in the restaurant venture. We can have an honest about debate whether Brizzi should have a stake in a place serves alcohol, but if the standard is simple “financial interest” then any police officer or law enforcement official with stock in any publicly traded company that serves alcohol is breaking the law. I’m not sure if that’s what we want.

It’s Murder Living in Indianapolis
I don’t have to tell you how bad the murder rate has been in Indianapolis, but what I do have to tell you is that it’s getting worse. At the beginning of the month we averaged a homicide every 3.8 days. Now the number is every three days. This is a trend that is going the wrong way and it’s only going to get worse as the weather gets better.

I kicked myself in the butt for missing the Mayor’s State of the City Address yesterday. I had to teach and couldn’t cancel class. However, I did set my DVR to record it and watched it later. I will give the Mayor credit for being eternally optimistic about the city’s future, but when you think about it, does he really have a choice? You have to be optimistic about the city’s future because you’ll go nuts if you don’t.

Who wouldn’t want to think about 18 homicides, numerous carjackings (including one this morning, a broke budget, etc. When a woman is carjacked, robbed and raped and it all starts in a parking garage just a few blocks from the Mayor’s office you have to think happy thoughts or you’ll be reaching for the anti-depressant.

While I understand the Mayor wanting to keep a positive front, I just can’t help but think of that scene from Animal House during the riot at the parade and Kevin Bacon yelling “be calm, all is well.” All is not well in the Circle City folks. If you think it is, I would suggest you ask the family of Asia Davis. She was the city’s 18th homicide victim.

I’ve spent the past few days tracking down a story about a police incident at the Carmel home of an Indiana Pacer so I didn’t get a chance to comment on this. However everybody seems to have an opinion on Carl Brizzi and his 10 percent ownership Harry’s and Izzi’s which is under construction in Circle Center Mall.

There is a question as to whether a county prosecutor can own an interest in an establishment that serves alcohol. There appears to be conflicting case law in the matter. RTV 6, which I play news analyst, offers one theory and the posts over at Advance Indiana offer another theory.

I haven’t had a chance to look at all the facts, but I will. However, I have a hard time believing that the lone county-wide elected Republican in a Democrat-controlled County would purposely open himself to an attack over something like this if the answer was an easy one.

And for the record, Circle Center Mall is not a government building and there’s probably a lease agreement more than one-page long.

Indiana Democrats say they are not breaking the law with a March 6 fundraiser with House Speaker Pat Bauer as the guest speaker. A state law bans lawmakers from fundraising during long sessions. Spokeswoman Jennifer Wagner says individual lawmakers can’t raise money, but political parties can and elected officials can headline those fundraisers. However Republicans are saying Democrats are getting pretty close to the line. One Republican insider put it this way, “although it’s probably not adultery for me to look at naked pictures of Hallie Berry, my wife probably wouldn’t appreciate it.”

I took some time off to go be with my son. He’s doing better by the way, but still has a way to go. But as I was doing my checking on Indianapolis I was disturbed at a trend I was starting to see. Last week we had seven homicides in the Circle City.

What’s frightening though is that there were two double murders in two days. I was worried about this. I was worried that as soon as the weather got more accommodating people would start acting silly.

Although there is no official homicide count yet, by some estimates the total number is 17, with seven occurring in the last week. If we keep it up at this rate (a murder every three days) We’ll have 60 murders by the middle of the year which puts us on track for another record homicide year. Back in June 30, 2006 there were 69 homicides in Marion County. In June 2005 at this time there were only 45 homicides. This is not a good sign.

What makes matters worse is that these are the coldest months of the year when criminals should be staying behind closed doors. If they are this bad now, what is going to be like this summer, or for that matter, this spring. And unlike last year, law enforcement faces new challenges that were not there last year. Officers are still upset over no contract, there are not enough of them on patrol covering their beats. Up to 200 of them could retire by the end of the year and there are not enough to come through the ranks of the current class. In addition, while the city is moving officers from behind desks and putting them on the streets, I am told that a backlog of cases is continuing to grow.

I honestly hope things don’t get as bad as last year, but I really do think they are going to get worse unless something changes soon. I can afford to leave and so can many of my friends, but a lot of other people can’t and they will end up being the real victims.

It looks like Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson will have a Republican challenger after all. Local businessman Bob Parker is expected to file paperwork today and formally announce tomorrow that he is running for Mayor of Indianapolis. Parker is a millionaire. And while GOP sources aren’t saying what Parker will spend on the Mayor’s race, they say he can be financially competitive with Peterson who has at least $2 million in his campaign account. Parker owns Parker Machinery, a company that works with factory equipment. Peterson is expected to make an official announcement today that he is seeking a third term as Mayor.

I was going to write about this in the morning, but the information fell in my lap tonight, so here it is. A complaint is being filed Wednesday with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Lawrence Mayor Deborah Cantwell. The complaint, being filed on behalf of four black officers, alleges Cantwell created a hostile work environment. They claim she used the “n-word” in describing one officer and other Blacks in Lawrence. They also claimed officers were not promoted because of their race and some were demoted. More details will follow tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be very busy. A racial discrimination complaint will be filed against Lawrence Mayor Deborah Cantwell. Former Coroner John McGoff is going to challenge incumbent Congressman Dan Burton in the 2008 election. I’ll have his comments. I’ll also ask if the Colts are turning into the Pacers?