I saw that at least a couple of papers have pursued the Winners/Losers theme to wrap up the latest session of the General Assembly. The Indy Star’s version strikes me as slightly ridiculous in that it declares Mitch Daniels and the Republicans “winners” for getting their agenda through a General Assembly controlled entirely by the Republicans and declared Democratic Majority Leader Pat Bauer “a loser” for failing to successfully kill off Republican legislation. Then, without a hint of self-consciousness, it declares “bipartisanship” to be a loser. Well, gee. Maybe if we didn’t have editorial boards who tally wins and losses based whether or not the minority party could kill the majority party’s bills, bipartisanship would be a bit healthier.
The Indy Star also tells a whopper by saying that House Ways & Means Chairman Jeff Espich “showed he could pay the state’s bills without tax increases while at the same time fixing Indiana’s long-running structural deficit.” We’ll see about that when property taxes come due. The Star ought to know that the new budget is structured so that more property taxes will be paid to fund the government. I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but the editorial board should be honest about the fact that higher property taxes will be paid under this budget and shouldn’t imply that Espich has figured out how to pay the bills without higher taxes. He has figured out how to hide the tax increases a bit, and maybe that bit of political cunning deserves some praise. In fact, later in the editorial, the Star contradicts the reason for praising Espich by confessing, “[The budget] sets up likely property tax increases for many homeowners.”
Niki Kelly, for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette uses the unfortunate winners/losers theme, but does a much better job laying out the facts. She notes Gov. Daniels’ success but also points out that one party controlled the executive branch and both chambers of the legislative branch. If Daniels hadn’t gotten the job done under such favorable circumstances, his failure would have been remarkable. His skills won’t be particularly proven unless he comes to a point where he has to deal in a bipartisan fashion. I just wish he had been more successful and been able to bring Espich into line with Daniels’ desire for a balanced budget this year. And, I wish he’d been able to get Espich to balance the budget with a forthright short term tax on those making over $100,000 rather than an apparently permanent, albeit somewhat hidden, increase in property taxes.
She also points out at least one winner that the Indy Star neglected — religious and social conservatives. They got their anti-gay Constitutional amendment under way as well as additional government regulation impeding a woman’s right to choose to terminate a pregnancy. They also were able to successfully reduce the amount of time a school spends teaching children by requiring the time be taken to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and time for other kids to remain silent while their kids take the time to pray in school.
Neither of them specify Rep. Troy Woodruff as one of the losers in the session, but you’ve gotta think he is, given that his was the final vote that made Daylight Saving Time possible, even though mere weeks before casting that vote, he vowed to his constituents that he would vote against DST. “I realize the desire of my constituents is to defeat this bill and that is why I voted NO to Daylight Saving Time. I have and will continue to always vote against this controversial piece of legislation.” He originally won the seat by about 200 votes, so I wouldn’t think renegging on such a public promise would be helpful to him. But others could face problems if DST influences voting choices. In particular, Don Lehe (R-Brookston) was a primary vote that allowed DST to pass the House the first time; though he voted “no” on the final bill. And Sen. Allen Paul (R-Richmond) was the vote that allowed DST out of the Senate Rules committee, even though he voted against it on the floor.
Teachers: Educators gained little traction in the Republican-controlled
Statehouse in appealing for larger funding increases for public
schools. Administrators have warned that teacher layoffs are
inevitable, but skeptical lawmakers insist schools can save money by
operating more efficiently. The advocates for more money were visible
and vocal. The efficiency proponents, however, won the debate in the
end.
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