General Assembly heeds public mayhem, not public policy
Which group should make the spending decisions? Consumers or elected officials?
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Fiscal crisis calls for drastic measure
Ind. Gov. Mitch Daniels will call the Legislature into special session to pass an acceptable budget, but some legislators think a budget that would satisfy the governor cannot be crafted by the contentious partisans in this developing fiasco.
Fodder for special session
Charitably speaking, not much got done in the legislative session that ended Wednesday. Now Gov. Daniels plans
to call a special session to force passage of a budget, the only bodyâ??s only legal requirement.
Should anything else be put on the…
President Daniels? Never say never
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels would make a remarkable president. Governor/ presidentâ??it’s the same game, just a different scale.
CIB solution may be wrapped into state budget
The Legislature has been behaving as expected lately: little public sound and fury, but action beginning to stir behind the
scenes.
April 17 revenue forecast to drive final days of General Assembly session
Most of the critical work of this state legislative session will occur after April 20, because only then will the General
Assembly have a revenue projection for the next biennium.
Horse trading key to solving unemployment deficit
In the past, lawmakers ignored the need to fix financing for the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, and now they must come
up with solutions that will be difficult for both Democrats and Republicans to accept.
‘Livability’ for Indianapolis
A year into his tenure as mayor of Indianapolis, Greg Ballard over the weekend articulated what may be the
closest thing weâ??ll hear for his vision for the city.
Ballardâ??s State of the City address touted making Indianapolis the…
Trickiest legislative issues remain far from resolution
Positive action, action for the sake of action, and inaction were all on tap in the General Assembly in recent days as lawmakers
prepared to wrap up the first half of the session.
Wobbly on township government
State legislators seem to be looking for excuses to dodge the recommendation in the Kernan-Shepard report
to eliminate township-level government.
This wasnâ??t unexpected. Township officials often are close friends and political allies of legislators, so
the legislators donâ??t want…
Tap the rainy day fund?
The weakening economy is producing worse and worse tax revenue forecasts for Indiana. As a result, Democrats
are calling for Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, to open the stateâ??s $1.3 billion rainy day fund.
Tough times like these are what…
Workplace smoking policies move backward
The bill in question seems like a long shot. It would abdicate government’s responsibility for protecting citizens’ health
and safety, and place it in the hands of individual business owners.
Tax cheats, or just ignorance?
A third nominee to join the Obama administration has gone down in flames after revelations about problems
with income taxes.
A Senate panel last night called off confirmation hearings for U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis, who was nominated to
lead the Labor…
Obama and executive salary caps
All things considered, there shouldnâ??t be a fuss about President Obamaâ??s plan to cap salaries of executives
in companies that receive federal bailouts.
Thatâ??s the take of Dan Dalton, an Indiana University specialist on corporate governance.
Dalton points out that…
Daniels’ budget axing priorities?
Gov. Mitch Daniels said yesterday he wants to spare schools and public safety from the scalpel as he looks
to prepare an honestly balanced budget during a time of declining tax revenue.
But Democrats accuse the Republican of crimping…
Something to think about as a new year dawns
I think about the economic crisis, the housing crisis, the climate crisis, the energy crisis, the automotive crisis, the Middle
East crisis, the education crisis, the college affordability crisis and all the other crises — real, imagined and manufactured
— and I wonder whether they’ll drive us to the precipice, or even the apocalypse, and whether we’ll change at the last
minute, and, should we survive, whether we’ll remember what we want to forget or forget what we want to remember.
Lobbyist measure rekindles tensions in Legislature
A bill that would require legislators who leave office to wait at least one year before they could become lobbyists got a
chilly reception in a Senate committee last session and went no further.
New president is a sign of hope
The election for me was like looking up for a change instead of having a spiral-down feeling, which was good.
Let’s limit campaigns to public funds
The only way more ideas, more candidates, more party platforms can gain
any traction, any consideration by the public at large, would be for all political parties to receive, and run only on public
funds.
Smoking ban back on the table
Smoking in public places is in retreat across the country, and now Charlie Brown, the state representative
from Gary, wants to ban it in bars, casinos and other enclosed places in Indiana.
Brown plans to introduce a bill during…