There are days when I have to wonder what’s going on over at the Marion County Public Library (MCPL) System. Cost overruns on projects, cut backs in services where needed and just a general public perception of incompetence. You’d think that would be enough to shame some people, but not there. The Indianapolis Star is reporting this morning that the CEO of the MCPL, Linda Mielke is getting a 4 percent raise. The raise would bring Mielke’s salary to $122,000 annually. If I knew the Library Board would reward bad behavior with a raise I would have signed up a long time ago.

When asked about her raise, Mielke told the Star, ‘I don’t want to talk about my raise. Everybody else got a raise.” If I ran the library system the way Ms. Mielke has I wouldn’t want to talk about my raise either.

If there was ever a reason (or 122,000 reasons) to privatize the entire Marion County Library system, this is it.

Full Day kindergarten could become a reality in Indiana next school year. Governor Mitch Daniels told me this afternoon that the state’s budget will be able to handle the program. Full day kindergarten has been discussed for years, but the state and many local school districts have been unable to afford it for all students. Daniels says the idea is years overdue and the state is finally in a place financially to afford the program.

I’m told the Indiana State Teacher’s Association is preparing to file suit against the State of Indiana arguing that schools are not adequately funded. The logic being, my colleague Rishawn Biddle from the Indianapolis Star tells me, is that schools are forced to meet higher standards but are not getting the money to meet those standards. Seeing how nearly 50-percent of your property tax bill goes toward schools this will be interesting. The schools are either asking the state and local governments to raise taxes or asking the state to change the funding formula. No word yet on whether schools will work to eliminate some of red tape and bureaucrats that run their organizations and free up money for classroom instructions. Stay tuned to this one…

The Marion County Republicans are accusing the Democrats of playing politics with the city’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. MCGOP Executive Director Mike Biberstine put out a news release Friday (with photos) of Democratic County Prosecutor candidate Melina Kennedy marching in the parade with “Kennedy for Prosecutor” campaign literature.

In the GOP news release it says “The rules for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade ran by the Indianapolis Athletic Club clearly state that this is a non-partisan parade. The rules specifically state that there will be no political campaign literature or promotional materials may be handed out on the Parade route. No campaign signs are allowed. This ensures that the Indy Sports Foundation is compliant with the Internal Revenue Service regulation regarding 501 c3 organizations. Melina Kennedy not only walked in the parade violating the bold faced section of the rules, but had people walking with Melina Kennedy for Prosecutor stickers and used a load speaker to promote her campaign.”

Republican candidate Carl Brizzi did march in the parade also, but campaign spokesman Matt Symons said Brizzi marched in a governmental capacity as County Prosecutor and not as a candidate. He says the individuals marching in the parade were volunteers and there was no campaign literature anywhere.

Democratic political consultant Mike O’Connor said his initial reaction was “Tell them to have a beer and lighten up.” He also told me “There’s a long tradition of candidates crashing the parade. They didn’t unveil banners or hand out t-shirts. The Republicans should have more important things to worry about.”

The conventional wisdom is that Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson took it on the chin this past legislative session. The failure of the Republican-controlled legislature to pass his fire consolidation plan is what most people point to in making that case. I tend to somewhat disagree.

Granted the Mayor did not get the fire consolidation he wanted, I think he got something a little more valuable, 45 Republican friends from outside of Indianapolis. Many of the lawmakers I spoke to outside of Indianapolis told me they were getting sick and tired of the Mayor coming back and asking for consolidation. However, they seemed to be more annoyed at their Marion County counterparts who had inherently opposed the measure.

State Rep. Billy Bright put it best, “I didn’t come here to be an Indianapolis City-County councilmember. I came here to be a State Representative.” Many of the behind the scene folks will admit privately that the big obstacle for consolidation was the Marion County delegation. Now in all do fairness, the Marion County folks will say they did not oppose consolidation, but they did oppose the Mayor’s plan. Take that for what you will.

What is interesting though in all this is that the Mayor blamed the legislature for consolidation failing. I don’t think that’s completely fair because the true obstructionist in all this was State Senator Mike Young of Indianapolis. Young had to redeem himself in the eyes of his Marion County counterparts for his abysmal efforts to get Wayne Township Trustee Dan Gammon nominated to the State Senate. (If you don’t know the full story, check an earlier post or buy me drinks and I’ll give you the full scoop.)

My advice to Mayor Peterson is three-fold. First, send the Speaker of the House Brian Bosma a “thank you” card for getting consolidation as far as it did. Second, I’d work with non-Marion County Republicans to try to pass consolidation next year. Third, I’d use the current consolidation law and chat with Washington Township Trustee Gwen Horth and consolidate IFD with the Washington Township fire department. Gwen is not running for re-election and the Township Board has already come out in favor of the proposal. And I’m sure a memorandum of understanding could be put together to protect the taxpayers from an increase in taxes. Once those two get started, I don’t see why Lawrence and Perry wouldn’t be next on the lists; Lawrence, because that’s where the Speaker resides and Perry because there is a revolution afoot. Get enough people on board and eventually you’ll get your consolidation.

I don’t subscribe to the theory that the Township Trustees would join together on their own, because if they were capable of doing it, they would have done so already.

So my advice to my friends in the Mayor’s Office is drop the blame game and get to work. You have the bully pulpit, they savvy, and the consolidation-friendly media to help you get your point out. Now stop reading this brilliant post and get to work.

After taking Wednesday to get some overdue sleep, I thumbed threw my legislative notes and audio clips and have decided to scribble down a few thoughts on this past legislative session. However, instead of doing the traditional analytical piece, the actor in me decided to do things in the spirit of the Academy Awards. I call them the LAAWS (Legislative Academy Awards) I made the pics based on my primary observation that Major Moves was the most important piece of legislations this session. Feel free to offer up your own…

Best Lawmaker — Governor Mitch Daniels. Once again Mitch managed to get his project Major Moves and make change in Indiana. This will have political and economic implications for the long haul. Now it’s time for INDOT to deliver.

Best Supporting Lawmaker — Sen. Glen Howard. Glen was the first Statehouse Democrat to support Major moves. He put his community and jobs before politics.

Best House Member — Randy Borror. This guy from Ft. Wayne carried the water and made sure Major Moves got through the House.

Best State Senator — Robert Meeks. Meeks said negotiating Major Moves was like herding cats. He was right and managed to herd enough, with two Democrats votes.

Best Local Official — Jonathan Weinzapfel. The Evansville Democratic Mayor was a big supporter of Major Moves and I-69 expansion.

Best Bill That Did Not Become Law — The Brian Bosma/Bart Peterson version of fire consolidation should have been passed. Better luck next year.

Best Bill That Did Become Law — Major Moves.

Best Legislative Moment — The last day of session verbal exchange between House Speaker Brian Bosma and Democratic Leader Pat Bauer. It made the front page of the Indianapolis Star. It was priceless.

Best Missed Opportunity — The State Senate’s failure to give up its health care benefit. This will come back to bite several people in the rear end.

Most Stupid Legislative Moment — House Republicans introduction of a Right to Work Bill. Not one of the great moves of the 21st Century.

Best Legislative Blog(ger) — Brian Howey of the Howey Political Report. Brian kept an eagle eye view of the legislature while also getting into the grit and details of the process from a number of perspectives.

Best Legislative Correspondent — Mike Smith, Associated Press. Without Mike, a lot of news organizations across Indiana would have been out of luck. We depended on his work a number of times.

Best True Believer — State Sen. Mike Delph. We don’t agree on the cultural issues, but Mike is a person of integrity and you can trust him.

Tomorrow: Some advice for my friends in Indianpolis Mayor Bart Peterson’s office.

I am on the floor of the Indiana House of Representatives. I just finished lunch and decided to sit down and write a few thoughts about the day so far.

This morning was a whirlwind with a lot of lawmakers stopping by our morning show offering their thoughts on the big bills, Major Moves, property tax relief, Indy Works Part Deux (Fire consolidation).

Here’s the summary…

Major Moves — Some i’s are being dotted and t’s being crossed but the bill will pass. My money right now is 51-47 in the House and 35-15 in the Senate. The recent compromise worked out between the parties should give the GOP the votes it needs and the Governor a major victory.

Property Tax Relief — Thanks to Sen. Luke Kenley giving in on long-term relief for now, there will be some relief for Hoosiers. The relief will be in the form of a smaller increase in their tax bills, but it will be relief nonetheless. Long-term relief will have to come next year.

Indy Works — This is still the fly in the ointment. Talks are continuing even as I write this blurb on the House floor. Something will likely happen later this evening. What I can tell you is State Senator Mike Young has not endeared himself to anyone. I have labeled him the “Eddie Haskell” of the Legislature.

I’ll have a full report before bed tonight and give my version of the Legislative Academy Awards (LAAW) later this week.

You can post for nominations for the following…

Best Lawmaker
Best Supporting Lawmaker
Best House Member
Best State Senator
Best Local Official
Best Bill That Did Not Become Law
Best Bill That Did Become Law
Best Legislative Moment
Best Missed Opportunity
Most Stupid Legislative Moment
Best Legislative Blog(ger)
Best Legislative Correspondent
Best True Believer

You can also e-mail me at abdul@newstalk1430.com

In September 2004 Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) exemption of internet activity from the McCain-Feingold legislation was contrary to congressional intent, forcing the FEC to amend its rules. Federal law already allows exemption from FEC regulation to a “broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine or other periodical publication.” But the new rules, proposed last spring, set off a firestorm for including blogs and emails in the regulations. The proposed rules would apply to all internet activity except that with “limited distribution” or with password-protected sites. Emails to more than 500 people in 30 days would also trigger FEC regulation.

Understanding the potential affront to free speech, not to mention the political ramifications, some representatives in Congress attempted to pass legislation which would amend the campaign finance laws to give Internet publishers the same exemptions that print newspapers and magazines enjoy. After Democrats first blocked the effort last November (thanks in part to procedural rules which required a 2/3 vote to pass), a House panel successfully approved H.R. 1606 late last week which exempts certain online communications from the reporting rules.

CNET, which offers a good summary of the recent events, reports the House reform proposal is only one sentence long and reads that the portion of federal election law dealing with publications aimed at the general public “shall not include communications over the Internet.” Writing at his VOLPAC blog, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., explained why he has proposed companion language to H.R. 1606 as an amendment to a bill to overhaul lobbying regulations. Here’s an exerpt:

From the earliest days of our republic, freedom of speech and freedom of the press – be they anonymous pamphlets, celebrated essays or local newspapers – were understood to be fundamental to the practice and defense of liberty. Without the ability to convey ideas, debate, dispute, and persuade, we may never have fought for and achieved our independence. … And, today, it’s bloggers whom we now have to protect. There are some who, out of fear or shortsightedness, wish to restrict the ability of our modern day-Thomas Paines to express political views on the World Wide Web. … I stand firmly against these efforts to hamstring the Internet and squarely with the champions of free speech.

I’ve posted quite a bit below on a number of different issues, some big, some not so big. I hope you find them all useful in one way or another as you piece together information and make up your own minds about the issues facing Indiana. I’m also interested in knowing what you think about my blog contributions. Thanks.

Abdul

One other reason why I left town this weekend was to go vote. Although I work in Indiana, I am an Illinois resident. I grew up in Illinois, lived in Springfield for 10 years and my house is there and with Indy only being a 3-hour drive away, I felt no need to give up some items that are very dear to me. Also voting in Illinois makes it easier to do my job here as I do not have to pick and choose between people I generally like for the most part. It also means that I can stay above the fray here and become “Uber-pundit” since I have no vested interest in any office or political party.

However, the interesting thing about voting this weekend was that I had to show identification. You see the Illinois Primary is March 21. And since I’ll be here working I voted absentee. In order to vote absentee in Illinois you have to show a picture ID. I went to the county clerk’s office. They asked for my ID. I showed it. They gave me a ballot. I voted. I returned my ballot. I went to lunch. It was that simple. When the nice lady asked me for my ID I did not feel disenfranchised. I did not think it was a return to the days of Jim Crow. In fact, I didn’t feel anything.

To me Voter ID has been a non-issue. Showing a picture ID to protect the integrity of the system doesn’t seem like a bad idea to me. Granted, enforcement should be equal across Indiana and people in small towns should be asked for ID just like those in big cities. But to argue asking someone to show the same ID they would show when cashing a check or renting a movie is returning to the days of poll taxes is ridiculous.

I voted with no issue. I don’t know what everyone else’s problem is.