A Citizen's Guide to Indiana

Masson's Blog

No mowers after 8 p.m.

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I came across this minor wrinkle in the DST debate. In Monticello (and I’ve seen this story in other localities), a noise ordinance prohibits use of power lawn mowers — and other noise makers — after 8 p.m.

Prior to DST, this wasn’t really an issue since there wasn’t much daylight after 8 p.m. during the year during which to mow one’s lawn. Now there is. It is, perhaps, a minor issue, but it points to the larger issue of how DST expands the day and compacts the night, disrupting customary patterns.

Personally, I tend to head to bed at about 9:45 and get up at 5:15 or so. So I’m glad of ordinances that limit lawn mowers and the like, even if the sun still happens to be up — though, if it ever was a problem, I’d try talking to my neighbors before getting the cops involved.

IN-08: Ellsworth announces “Hoosier Military Bill of Rights”

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Austin Arceo, writing for the Terre Haute Tribune Star, has a story on 8th District Congressional candidate Brad Ellsworth’s announcement of his proposal for a “Hoosier Military Bill of Rights” for soldiers. The platform includes:

  • An increase in armor and protection of solidiers in combat;
  • An increase in educational pay and healthcare benefits for soldiers and veterans;
  • Incentives to employers to make up the pay gap experienced by National Guard soldiers who leave their job to serve;
  • Funding and expanding veterans’ health care services.

He believes these items can be accomplished without a tax increase but rather with a shifting of how we prioritize tax dollars.

Incumbent John Hostettler responded to Ellsworth’s proposal by criticizing California Democrat Nancy Pelosi. That’s a little like responding to terrorist acts of Saudis and Egyptians based in Afghanistan by attacking Iraq. Crazy, I know.

State trails project

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The Indy Star has more on Gov. Daniels plan to spend $20 million next year (up from $10 million last year apparently) on biking and hiking trails.

I guess I’m surprised that there was $10 million is last year’s budget. I have absolutely no idea what all goes into trail development. Would land acquisition be a major part of the cost?

In any event, this seems to be a positive use of Indiana’s money. Hopefully it will help to combat the fattening of Indiana and potentially strengthen our communities as a public square of sorts if it encourages citizens to talk to one another.

According to a sidebar in the Star’s story:

The plans for biking/hiking trails, drafted Wednesday by some 300 trail advocates from throughout Indiana, will now be honed and prioritized by Department of Natural Resources staffers. The DNR will post the plan on its Web site by June 10. The following week, the DNR will begin holding regional meetings for citizens from across the state to comment.

Update: Thanks to Marty for the link, here is the 2006 Indiana Trails Plan. The plan sets forth the goal of having an easily accessible trail opportunity within 15 minutes or 7.5 miles of all Indiana residents and encouraging partnership of federal, state, local and private resources to build a statewide trail network. Some of the action items include:

  • Improving the acquisition process of former railroad corridors;
  • Advocating that trails be included in future land use planning, including renegotiation of road right-of-ways and bridge developments;
  • Advocating that developers be required to set aside land for trails;
  • Educating the public about the health benefits of trail use;
    Installing signs that interpret natural, historical, and cultural features of trails.

IN-08: Boehner raises money for Hostettler

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Mara Lee, writing for the Evansville Courier Press, has an article on House Majority Leader John Boehner’s visit to Evansville to play golf and speak to raise money for John Hostettler.

Boehner took his leadership position in the wake of the DeLay corruption scandal because the House Republicans realized that nothing gets rid of the stink of corruption like an Ohio Republican. Boehner famously distributed checks from tobacco political action committees to members of Congress on the floor of the House of Representatives.

According to the Courier Press article, the Hostettler campaign office had no comment about the Boehner fund raiser.

Welfare benefits privatization

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Niki Kelly, writing for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, has an article on the latest development in FSSA’s so far ill-fated efforts to privatize the eligibility management system for deciding who is entitled to welfare benefits. Gov. Daniels wants to be personally involved with the decision. Typically, contracting decisions don’t go that far up into the executive branch bureaucracy. Instead such decisions are made by the contracting agency and the Dept. of Administration.

In this case the Governor has established an “interagency team” whose members include Deputy Chief of Staff, Earl Goode; Dept. of Administration Commissioner Carrie Henderson, Nate Feltman general counsel and chief of staff for the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, Karl Browning of the Office of Technology; State Budget Director Chuck Schalliol; and Debra Minot, director of the State Personnel Department.

The problem with the FSSA privatization so far is that there are only, apparently, two companies willing/able to provide the services. One (ACS) is tainted by conflict of interest involving Mitch Roob who worked for them for 4 years. The other (Accenture) performed poorly when it received a similar contract in Texas.

FSSA has historically been poorly run and a big sink of money. Part of that, I think, has to do with the fact that the agency exists to spend money on something nobody is terribly excited about — the needs of the poor. Partially as a consequence of that, the agency was never well designed. My understanding is that it was cobbled together out of several existing agencies that provided social services of one sort or another and the enacting legislation provided a relatively short duration for the overarching agency (but not the sub-departments of the agency). In any event, the agency is poorly designed and spends money we’d rather not spend, so it has a huge target on its back, and for the most part rightfully so.

But the zeal of the Daniels administration for privatization is an article of faith, not to be shaken by evidence that the private sector is, at times, less efficient than government. So, I expect this privatization to proceed, no matter how many layers of window dressing committee review Governor Daniels puts between here and the inevitable and regardless of whether the private company will be less effective at accurately determining who is entitled to benefits and who is not.

IN-02: Chocola wins “Crony of the Week” award

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James Wensits has an article in yesterday’s South Bend Tribune on the Second District race between incumbent Republican Chris Chocola and Democratic challenger Joe Donnelly. A Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called that race a very important race and said that the DCCC believes that Chocola is in trouble.

The organization named Chocola as the recipient of its “GOP Crony of the Week” award.

According to Van Hollen, Chocola has consistently voted to put the interests of “big oil” ahead of those of his constituents.

In particular, Van Hollen cited last year’s energy bill which, he said, provided billions in subsidies to the oil and gas industry at a time when prices were rising.

According to Van Hollen, Chocola opposed an amendment to the energy bill that would have removed $500 million over 10 years to fund an “Ultra-Deep Water and Unconventional R&D” program, which grants subsidies to oil companies that engage in deep water drilling.

Chocola called the DCCC pronouncement a “partisan attack,” which, of course, it is. But, all the same, that doesn’t make it untrue. Chocola defended his energy policy record by, among other things, noting that on Thursday he voted in favor of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Way to stand up to Big Oil, Chris. That’ll show ’em.

FWJG – Not so fond of Rokita

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The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has an editorial in which it discusses the upcoming Democratic convention during which the party will, among other things, select a Secretary of State candidate. Says the Journal Gazette:

The secretary of state nomination is important for the party in several ways. Republicans have a lock on all the statewide elected offices except for Evan Bayh’s U.S. Senate seat, and winning an office in Mitch Daniels’ Statehouse would be not only a boost for the party but help provide a watchdog on the GOP-controlled state government. The incumbent, Todd Rokita, should be vulnerable – he strongly supported an unnecessary voter ID law, and he refused to intervene in problems surrounding voting machines until it became politically expedient to do so.

Joe Pearson of Hartford City is so far the only Democrat to seek the position and is, therefore, the presumptive nominee.

Slowing the privatization train

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The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has an editorial about the attempts to outsource the FSSA eligibility operation entitled “Slowing the Privatization Train.”

The main issues are that Mitch Roob had connections to one of the two companies, ACS, in the hunt for the billion dollar contract and that one of the companies, Accenture, has had problems in Texas severe enough that Texas legislators threatened to fire them from Texas’s working on its benefit-eligibility system.

The Journal Gazette also takes the administration to task for its apparent indifference to public input, demonstrated by its initial scheduling of the public hearing one day after the contract was to be finalized and five days before it was to be signed — all over the 4th of July Holiday.

IN-09: DCCC pledges more attention to Baron Hill in ’06

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There is an article in The Hill on Baron Hill’s race against Mike Sodrel. Apparently the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2004 spent a ton of money on losing efforts attempting to help incumbent Democrats survive Tom DeLay’s Texas redistricting (which was of dubious legality and which is one of the thing that caused his fall from power.) The National Republican Campaign Committee spent $1 million more on Sodrel in the last two months of the 2004 campaign than the DCCC spent on Hill. This year the DCCC has promised to make Hill a priority.

Toll Road suit blocked

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Judge Scopelitis issued an order requiring a $1.9 billion bond. The Indy Star story is here. I seem to recall that the statute allowing such a bond to be required also provides for an expedited appeal process.

Hopefull I’ll be able to post more before too long.

Update You’ll be happy to know that the state doesn’t have any public debt. (Decision at p. 18.) This conclusion is based, in part, by the fact that the General Assembly has appropriated money each year to pay unfunded liabilities such as the Teachers Retirement Fund. The Toll Road is not worth very much to the State, by contrast, because the State has not historically seen fit to raise tolls on the Toll Road.

The Court does not see fit to speculate on the consequences to the Toll Road valuation if the tolls were increased by the General Assembly (Decision at p. 21), but does see fit to speculate that Indiana would be stigmatized and not receive a comparable bid if litigation were allowed to move forward and Indiana was forced to rebid the lease at a later date. (Decision at p. 22-23.)

The Indiana Finance Authority is a “municipal corporation.” (Decision at p. 26) (nevermind its statewide scope.)

The Plaintiffs may proceed with the portions of the lawsuit challenging certain parts of HEA 1008-2005 as impermissible special legislation (e.g. the Perry Township provision.)

The bond is required because the Court decided Indiana doesn’t have any public debt, because the Court decided that selling something less than fee simple absolute rights in the Toll Road as a lease doesn’t constitute a “sale,” and because the Court decided that the Indiana Finance Authority is a municipal corporation.