A Citizen's Guide to Indiana

Masson's Blog

Third reading deadline

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Yesterday was the third reading deadline for the House and Senate. All the bills that didn’t clear their respective first House are not dead. But, as we know from last year’s Lazarus-like DST bill, dead is not dead. The living bills can become unwilling hosts for undead legislation. Rep. Heim did a good job of giving us a blow-by-blow in the House as it happened.

The Journal Gazette has stories on:

  • ISTEP tests being moved to the spring. I think I’m going to have to agree with the Republicans on this one. To the extent ISTEP is necessary at all (something I don’t necessarily concede), giving it in the fall — 4 weeks after summer break — doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
  • Legalized fireworks. I don’t have strong policy opinions on fireworks, but the fireworks statute, IC 22-11-14 is an abomination and needs to be torched and rewritten. It’s written like a pretzel and leaks like a sieve. I’m pretty sure at its inception, it was deliberately written this way to create the illusion of regulation without affecting the bottom line of fireworks manufacturers and distributors.

    The Indy Star has:

  • Building regulations for abortion clinics. Arbitrary building regulations will be imposed on abortion clinics in an effort to make an end-run around Roe v. Wade. (We know this is true because an amendment that would have put these regulations on all out-patient ambulatory surgical centers was defeated — abortion clinics are being singled out.)
  • House defeats two bills focusing on aid to needy

    One bill would have given the poorest children taxpayer-funded vouchers to attend full-day kindergarten at any school, even a private one. Lawmakers rejected that 52-46, a victory for public education supporters who feared this would drain money from their schools.
    The other bill would have withheld publicly funded aid — from health care to a college education — from illegal immigrants. The House soundly defeated the measure 74-19, a victory for the state’s Hispanic community, a few of whom watched through windows from outside the House chamber.

    • Boehner

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    This is kind of funny. According to Roll Call, the first vote in the election for House Republican Majority leader showed more votes than there were Republicans. Reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Bart is bar tending for Big Tony in his “gentleman’s club,” and everybody at the poker table has 5 Aces.

    Ohio Republican John Boehner was elected House Majority Leader. Just what they need — because nothing gets rid of the stink of corruption like an Ohio Republican.

    Pulaski County in a quandry

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    Thanks to Paul O’Malley for forwarding this article by Scott Allen in the Pulaski County Journal and Independent. Pulaski County had originally requested Central Time like many of its neighbors. At the time of the request, the time zone map looked like this:

    The counties in dark grey represent counties already in Central Time. The counties in red represent those that requested Central Time. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation preliminarily denied many county requests, resulting in a map that looked like this:

    The preliminary determination left out Pulaski County as well as a number of other counties in the area. The folks from Pulaski County were mostly content with this, since their primary objective was to be on the same time as their neighbors. Marshall, Fulton, Cass, and White weren’t going to be on Central Time either. So, they didn’t push to have the USDOT reconsider. But reconsider it did, rescinding its preliminary decision to move St. Joseph County, but also rescinding its preliminary decision not to move Pulaski County, creating a final map that looks like this:

    According to the article, the people of Pulaski County are mad at the decision of the Dept. of Transportation and are going to meet on Feb. 6 to consider their options. I think pretty much their only option is to submit a new petition to get themselves moved back, though I wouldn’t think the USDOT would have much interest in such a petition at this point.

    Advance Indiana on Advance America & Eric Miller

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    Due to the similarities in names, at one time, I wondered whether the blog “Advance Indiana” had something to do with Eric Miller’s social conservative political organization “Advance America.” From today’s entry that would appear to be a resounding “no.” Advance Indiana has an extensive report on investigation it has done into the financial relationship between Advance America, Mr. Miller’s compensation as executive director of Advance America, fees paid to Mr. Miller’s law firm by Advance America, and the proper application of Indiana’s lobbying laws. I do not know Indiana’s lobbying law well enough to offer an opinion on the accuracy of Advance Indiana’s conclusions but, regardless, the post is well worth reading.

    Indiana Barrister

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    The Indiana Barrister has a post wondering why the House Democrats are making such a big deal out of the fact that the company being sold the rights to the Toll Road for the next 75 years is a foreign company. Personally I agree that the foreignness of the company is beside the point when we are debating whether the sale is good policy. I think the policy question is whether it is a good idea for the State to relinquish control of its transportation infrastructure to a private entity that has the interests of its shareholders as a priority rather than the interests of the citizens of Indiana for a long period of time in exchange for a short term infusion of cash.

    However, I suspect that as a political matter, it is a big deal because during his campaign against Governor Kernan, Candidate Daniels made such a big deal about making sure that government contracts went to Indiana companies. I’m sure the Governor has explanations for this contract and all of the other contracts that have gone to outside companies. But, to explain himself, he will have to get into details and shades of grey; and often times it is hard to get the voting public to pay attention to such details long enough for them to sink in. In addition, I think Hoosiers in general are vaguely suspicious of outsiders.

    Ethanol Plant set for Benton County

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    The Lafayette Journal & Courier has an article reporting that Maize AgriProducts Inc. has announced the selection of Benton County as the location for a 50-million gallon per year ethanol plant. That’s the latest of some serious ethanol activity in the Lafayette area of the state.

    Groundbreaking ceremonies were held last month in Linden by ASAlliances Biofuels LLC for a plant that will process 40 million bushels of corn yearly. Last October, The Andersons Inc. announced it has selected Clymers, in Cass County, for an ethanol plant that also is expected to process 40 million bushels of corn annually.

    Good editorial writing

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    The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has a cunning editorial board. Far be it from them to argue in the abstract the evils of serial meetings designed to avoid Open Door laws. Nope, they bring out a big rhetorical gun in the form of Bobby Knight.

    SB 89 is designed to prevent the practice of officials skirting the Open Door Laws by having less than a quorum meet first, then have a member or two from the first group meet with the next group of less than a quorum, discussing the public’s business and making public decisions behind closed doors.

    The Journal Gazette reminds us that this is what happened in the case of the firing of Bobby Knight.

    When Myles Brand wanted to fire Coach Bob Knight in September 2000, the Indiana University president called the university trustees to his home on the Bloomington campus. He met with four of the nine trustees in one room and four trustees in another room.

    The embattled basketball coach was fired the next day.

    A group of Knight supporters challenged the vote in a lawsuit, but a Clark County judge rightly ruled that state law was not violated. The trustees simply took advantage of a loophole in Indiana’s Open Door Law to do the public’s business behind closed doors.

    The editorial mentions that the bill passed the Senate 48-2 and that the two “no” votes were Senators Wyss and Hershman. Senator Wyss said, “It just looks like you could work around it, so why bother?” I’d be interested to know what the work around is.

    Anyway, good job by the Journal Gazette. Next time, I’d suggest they figure out a way to work class basketball into their editorial. That’s Hoosier gold.

    Senate activity

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    A non-comprehensive list of Senate activity that struck me as interesting:

  • SB 192 Bail. Passed the Senate 50-0. Allows a court to require a combination of property or surety bonds as a condition of bail (as opposed to merely one or the other.) Allows the court to require as a condition of bail that the defendant or anyone posting bond on the defendant’s behalf agree to allow the court to apply all or part of the cash to pay costs of representation, fines, fees, and restitution.
  • SB 194 Teacher professional development days. I don’t know why this is a big deal, but the vote was 31 to 19 in favor, so it caught my eye. It dictates the time a school may use for parent-teacher conferences and teacher professional development. Under SB 194, a total of 6 half-days (2 of which may be used for parent-teacher conferences) or 3 full days (1/2 a day of which may be used for parent-teacher conferences) can be used for the combined activities. Under current law, parent-teacher conferences can’t be the cause of a full-day dismissal and conferences can be 10 hours per year in grades 1-6 and 12 hours per year in grades 7-12. Under the new law, the decision on whether to use 3 full days or 6 half-days is the decision of the governing body and is not subject to collective bargaining.
  • SB 217 Allows a redevelopment commission to create a tax increment finance district for a “housing program.” I didn’t see any real definition of what might constitute a “housing program.” I presume it has something to do with creating housing in areas with inadequate housing or for those people who are unable to afford such housing under current circumstances.
  • SB 232 Jury service exemptions. Eliminates automatic exemptions from jury service. Permits a person called for jury service to receive one deferral for up to one year if the juror selects an alternate date and the deferral is necessary due to hardship, extreme inconvenience, or necessity. Protects a person called for jury service from being subjected to adverse employment actions. Prohibits employers from requiring or requesting employees to use annual vacation or sick leave for jury service. Current exemptions are made for people 65 years old and older, active military service members, elected officials, veterinarians, Indianapolis school commissioners, dentists, fire and policemen, and employees of the DOC.
  • SB 266 Confidentiality of bariatric surgery reports. (Bariatrics specialty of medicine dealing with the medical and surgical treatment of obesity.) Specifies that the legal provision imposing a duty on a physician to monitor a bariatric surgery patient for 5 years does not apply if the physician is unable after a reasonable effort to locate the patient. Provides that a report made by a physician to the state department of health of a death or serious complication of a patient who had surgical treatment for the treatment of morbid obesity is confidential. Specifies that statistical reports compiled by the state department from the reported information are subject to public inspection.

    • EFF sues AT&T for collaboration with illegal domestic spying program

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    AT&T is now the defendant in a class-action lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The suit stems from revelations that President Bush has authorized warrantless wiretap surveillance of American citizens, apparently in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

    According to the EFF:

    This surveillance program, purportedly authorized by the President at least as early as 2001 and primarily undertaken by the NSA, intercepts and analyzes the communications of millions of ordinary Americans.

    In the largest “fishing expedition” ever devised, the NSA uses powerful computers to “data-mine” the contents of these Internet and telephone communications for suspicious names, numbers, and words, and to analyze traffic data indicating who is calling and emailing whom in order to identify persons who may be “linked” to “suspicious activities,” suspected terrorists or other investigatory targets, whether directly or indirectly.

    The EFF further explains its lawsuit against AT&T by stating that the government is not acting alone, but rather its surveillance of American citizens required the collaboration of major telecommunications companies, including AT&T (formerly known as SBC Communications).

    The lawsuit alleges that AT&T Corp. has opened its key telecommunications facilities and databases to direct access by the NSA and/or other government agencies, thereby disclosing to the government the contents of its customers’ communications as well as detailed communications records about millions of its customers, including the lawsuit’s class members.

    The lawsuit also alleges that AT&T has given the government unfettered access to its over 300 terabyte “Daytona” database of caller information — one of the largest databases in the world. Moreover, by opening its network and databases to wholesale surveillance by the NSA, EFF alleges that AT&T has violated the privacy of its customers and the people they call and email, as well as broken longstanding communications privacy laws.

    Should be interesting to watch.

    State of the Union

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    I didn’t listen to the State of the Union, primarily because it’s a waste of time to listen to George Bush. For example, if I would have listened to George Bush in 2001, I would have thought we needed tax cuts because surpluses were too high and, even with the tax cuts, we would have the national debt halfway paid down.

    My budget has funded a responsible increase in our ongoing operations.  It has funded our nation’s important priorities.  It has protected Social Security and Medicare.  And our surpluses are big enough that there is still money left over.

    Many of you have talked about the need to pay down our national debt.  I listened, and I agree.  We owe it to our children and grandchildren to act now, and I hope you will join me to pay down $2 trillion in debt during the next 10 years.  At the end of those 10 years, we will have paid down all the debt that is available to retire.  That is more debt, repaid more quickly than has ever been repaid by any nation at any time in history.

    We should also prepare for the unexpected, for the uncertainties of the future.  We should approach our nation’s budget as any prudent family would, with a contingency fund for emergencies or additional spending needs.  For example, after a strategic review, we may need to increase defense spending.  We may need to increase spending for our farmers or additional money to reform Medicare.  And so, my budget sets aside almost a trillion dollars over 10 years for additional needs.  That is one trillion additional reasons you can feel comfortable supporting this budget.

    We have increased our budget at a responsible 4 percent.  We have funded our priorities.  We paid down all the available debt.  We have prepared for contingencies.  And we still have money left over.

    . . .

       Unrestrained government spending is a dangerous road to deficits, so we must take a different path.  The other choice is to let the American people spend their own money to meet their own needs.

    . . .

    The people of America have been overcharged and, on their behalf, I am here asking for a refund.

    If I had listened to George Bush’s speech in 2002, I would have believed that, even though spending had to be increased to meet security needs, the deficit that had to be run would “be small and short term.”  Oh, and this time tax cuts would be just the thing to grow the economy and reduce deficits. Tax cuts are magic! They reduce surpluses AND deficits.

    If I had listened to George Bush’s speech in 2003, I would have believed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, including 500 tons of sarin, mustard, and VX nerve agent; 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin; 25,000 liters of anthrax; and that he had attempted to purchase significant quantities of uranium from Africa and aluminum tubes suitable for production of nuclear weapons.

    If I had listened to George Bush’s speech in 2004, I would have believed that the deficit (not the debt, mind you) would be cut in half (not eliminated) in the next 5 years. On the other hand, I would have learned to nevermind the silliness of the 2003 speech, instead all of those dire chemical agents and portents of nuclear doom were really just “weapons of mass destruction-related program activities.” I also would have been puzzled by the fact that Mr. Bush unveiled a mission to Mars less than a week before the State of the Union, then somehow failed to mention it in the State of the Union address.

    It’s probably too soon to know what I would have believed about George Bush’s 2005 speech but shouldn’t have. My suspicion — more deficit reduction and hydrogen cars.

    The biggest outrages came in 2001 in the form of broken promises to pay down the National Debt (not merely reduce deficits) and in 2003 in the form of outrageously puffed up claims about the threat posed to the United States by Iraq.