The Journal & Courier has an article on flooding in today’s edition. The Wabash is expected to crest at 25 feet in the area on Friday which is apparently a couple of feet higher than the floods of July ’03 which were pretty bad. Flood stage is 11 feet. Here is a pic of a submerged car off of State Road 28 near Clark’s Hill:
Medicaid on the chopping block
Daniels will seek cuts in Medicaid
Daniels’ top human services aide, Mitch Roob, said Indiana Medicaid, which will care for an estimated 847,126 people this year, is front and center on the chopping block. Roob said state officials need to dramatically restructure the $4.65 billion state-federal program to avoid spending a total of $715.8 million more during the next two years. . . . Roob said, state officials will look into the $380 million cost of caring for 5,267 people with developmental disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy and mental retardation in their own homes. Nearly 13,000 people are waiting for these services. Roob indicated the Daniels administration also will seek changes in the law to help them narrow eligibility for Medicaid and, possibly, cut services the state offers but is not legally required to provide. . . . . Roob, who used to run Wishard Memorial Hospital, a county-run hospital in Indianapolis, acknowledged that cutting Medicaid payments could limit access to pregnant women and children, people with physical and mental disabilities and seniors who rely on the state-federal program.
Medicaid sure is the largest target in the state budget. Not a very attractive option. But, maybe there are no attractive options. But, as a guy who collects medical bills as part of my living, I’ve seen first hand that most of these folks need the services and can’t pay for ’em. (Though there are a few number of dead beats who are playing the system.) What I’m afraid of is burdening the hospitals with ER patients who they still feel an obligation to serve but who will not pay. The result being that the hospital provides ER care which is likely more expensive than the treatment that would’ve been provided had Medicaid been available. Then, they pass the costs along to us. It’s probably the worst possible system. Unless we’re willing to let people go untreated and die, we’re going to pay for it one way or the other. Might as well organize it to be as cheap as possible.
HB 1100 – Controlling the Sun
As previously reported,in these pages, the House has before it Introduced Version, House Bill 1100 – Like Old King Canute who ordered the tide not to come in, tomorrow at 10:30 a.m., the House Committee on Public Policy and Veterans Affairs will deliberate on whether to use their awesome powers to command the setting sun to rise. Or at least strike the statutory description of a setting sun on the state seal and insert a rising sun description.
HB 1262 – Bankruptcy/debt exemptions
Introduced Version, House Bill 1262 Increases a person’s property exemption in cases of bankruptcy or judgment enforcement actions from $7,500 to $15,000 for their homestead; from $4,000 to $8,000 for personal property and non-homestead real property; and from $100 to $300 for intangible property (primarily cash and deposit accounts.)
This is probably realistic, but as an attorney who does a lot of collections, I’m against it on general principle.
HB 1193 – Number of members of the county executive
Introduced Version, House Bill 1193 – Provides a mechanism for a county executive to increase its size from 3 to 5 and from 5 to 3. I don’t really see the point. You want the executive to be more flexible I think, and an increase in the number of members decreases flexibility.
HB 1161 – Publication of claims by County Auditor
Introduced Version, House Bill 1161 This bill seems to allow the County Auditor to publish a summary of the claims in the newspaper and provide a notice of the website where more detailed information can be obtained and a statement that a person can get a copy mailed to them upon request. Looks like it was heard in committee today, not sure the outcome. In my experience, bills introduced in committee either get passed or tabled. Rarely does anything get a vote if it’s going to fail.
IDEM is Daniels first target
7 environmental officials leave in Daniels’ shake-up Well, whaddaya know. Daniels isn’t going after FSSA first. Nope, his first target is the Indiana Dept. of Environmental Management.
Six top Indiana Department of Environmental Management administrators resigned and one was fired this week in a shake-up by Gov. Mitch Daniels, who has criticized the agency for impeding economic development. . . . He said environmental protection and public health are important, but “a poor Indiana will not be a green Indiana.”
Guess what. A polluted Indiana will not be a rich Indiana. I hope Daniels isn’t comfortable with companies in other states treating Indiana like a third-world nation, dumping toxins in our water and our air; paying our citizens subsistence wages, then leaving. Because early signs don’t suggest Daniels thinks much of protecting our workers or our environment. Now it could be that Daniels is committed to the creation of high-paying, skilled jobs with companies that are responsible stewards of the land, thereby making the middle class prosperous even if the upper class don’t realize dramatic gains. But his very first actions in office show what is most important to him, and the signs aren’t pointing in that direction. Hopefully the real Hoosier Republicans out there can put a leash on this guy if he gets out of hand.
Howey’s Top 10
Howey Political Report
Brian Howey has his top 50 most influential Hoosier politicians up. The Top 10:
1. Gov. Mitch Daniels
2. Indy Mayor Bart Peterson
3. Sen. Lugar
4. Sen. Bayh
5. Senate President Robert Garton
6. House Speaker Brian Bosma
7. Ways & Means Chair Jeff Espich
8. U.S. Rep. Mike Pence
9. Daniels Budget Director Charles Schalliol
10. Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman
For each he has explanations for his ranking. Worth checking out.
More on Daniels decision to end collective bargaining
Daniels ends union pacts for 25,000
According to this article, Daniels feels that collective bargaining might get in his way, so he’s ending it. Hopefully, he makes changing FSSA a priority as the article indicates he will. Rather than focusing on the drunken snow plow operator, this article has Daniels explaining his decision as follows: “Daniels, a Republican, said he was ending bargaining rights partly to form a separate agency to handle child welfare and child support without having to consult with union officials.” Based pretty much purely on my purely anectdotal experiences I have no love for the FSSA and suspect drastic changes are necessary. We’ll see what his priorities are based on whether he goes after FSSA first or chooses to go after environmental protections by targeting DNR first.
This just feeds my impression that Daniels is a guy who likes to cut corners and can’t be bothered with details. He’s one of those dreaded “idea men.” Or, he simply doesn’t like anything that gets in the way of his personal power.
Time Zones – Letter to the Editor
Journal and Courier Online – Letters to the Editor One Monon resident with a long memory weighed in on the Daylight Saving Time debate in a Journal & Courier letter to the editor:
Let’s revisit state’s history of time zones
Our governor continues to tell us what a great help to our economy going on daylight-saving time will be, with promises to detail the reasons.
The most interesting part is that it doesn’t matter to him whether it is Central or Eastern, just so we change the time. He was leaning toward Central time, now it seems Eastern. I would like to remind everyone that we have “been there and done that.”
At 82, I remember Central time when the line was at the Indiana/-Ohio border. We had a referendum where “we the people” voted against daylight-saving time (after trying it for awhile). The next thing I knew we were on Eastern time. And then it was daylight-saving, which was actually “double fast,” and now we are on Eastern time straight — what a relief.
I do not believe our legislature should be pushed to act in haste, nor should Congress become involved until our time history is studied.
It should be quite interesting for everyone to see it laid out as to how we arrived at the present time — perhaps we’ll even see the reasons some didn’t work.
Margery Owens, Monon
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