According to the Lafayette Journal & Courier, Purdue will be increasing its tuition by 6% for each of the next two years, raising in-state tuition from $6,092 this year to $6,458 next year and $7,095 the year after that. Purdue President Martin Jischke cited the state’s financial situation and the General Assembly’s decisions as causing a need for hard decisions. Out of state tuition is at roughly $20,000 per year. The article states that IU’s tuition is going up more slowly, 4.9% but is already more expensive at $7,112 for in-state students.

According to a similar article in the Indy Star, Stan Jones, the higher education commissioner said that the General Assembly had anticipated an increase of more like 5%.

Once again, it seems like maybe we’re eating our seed corn here by forcing schools into cuts or fee hikes. Higher education doesn’t concern me quite as much as primary education — though maybe I’m wrong on that, I could see a case to be made that higher education is more important to Indiana’s future than primary education. In any event, our state and local taxes may be staying low, but we’re mortgaging our future by pricing Indiana kids out of college. (In a perfect world, we’d get rid of some huge and wasteful federal expenditures and shift the taxes over to state and local expenditures. Big Waste #1 would be the Iraqi adventure. Hugely wasteful. Increasing evidence of corruption that makes the UN Oil-for-food corruption look relatively trivial. But, I most certainly digress.)

We complain about brain drain and a sluggish economy, but we have no one to blame but ourselves if we aren’t giving Indiana kids a top flight education here in the state and if we aren’t nurturing our research universities.

A story I missed. Back on May 4, 2005, the Indy Star ran an article by Michele McNeil and Mary Beth Schneider entitled Sneaky or not, BMV starts a fight. The article reports that BMV Commissioner, Joel Silverman, upset President pro tem of the Senate, Bob Garton (R-Columbus), by including a BMV branch in Hope, Indiana — in Garton’s district — in the list of branches slated for closing. Silverman had a list of 12 branches to be closed that are apparently the branches with the least traffic. The closings are estimated to save $1 million per year.

Garton called the closing announcements a “sneak attack” and said they were deliberately timed to be announced after legislators left town. Oddly, Silverman copped to being sneaky and said that the closings were necessary and the legislators would’ve tried to stop them if they’d been in session. Gov. Daniels said that he’d given Silverman the greenlight.

Told of Silverman’s acknowledgement that he waited to announce the closings until after lawmakers left town, Daniels said there was nothing sneaky about the timing and that his administration is committed to openness.

The branches scheduled for closing on June 4 are satellite branches in Hope, Warren, Montpelier, Cayuga, Knightstown, and Summitville. The 6 full service branches are Elwood, Garrett, Butler, Bloomfield, Berne, and North Manchester. Public hearings are scheduled, but Silverman says that he doesn’t really see anything that could change his mind. Daniels seems to be looking for a way to appease Garton when he says that the hearings will not be a sham, suggesting that Silverman’s plan may not survive intact.

While some lawmakers reacted with anger when they heard the news, Daniels said he was “sort of smiling” at Silverman’s boldness.

“I’ve told our people we want to move fast. I’ve told them to ask forgiveness, not permission. And I’ve pointed out to everybody that most of our people are not politicians,” Daniels said.

. . .

Cayuga resident Albert Clark does business with the license branch across the street from his Chevrolet car dealership at least 10 times a week. Now, he or his employees will have to drive about 22 miles to Clinton to complete title work when he sells a car.

“It’s a big-time inconvenience,” said an angry Clark, who is already stinging because the legislature passed daylight-saving time, which will put his business out of sync with next-door Illinois. “They have really screwed the businesses on this side of the state.”

. . .
Garton, who called Daniels and Silverman, said the BMV commissioner was “absolutely impervious” to his concerns.

While some say government should be run more like a business, with attention focused on the bottom line, Garton said that “government should be run for the customer. The citizens are the customers. It’s different. I hope at some point, in what I hope is a short career in government, (Silverman) learns that.”

On May 5, 2005, the Indy Star followed up with an editorial saying that Silverman has the right idea but that the politics were misplayed. They say that Silverman should have made the decision in a way that allowed lawmakers to represent their districts. (The problem with that being that the branches closed would most likely reflect which BMV branches were located in districts represented by weak legislators rather than which branches were least necessary.)

On May 9, 2005, the Richmond Palladium-Item had its own editorial, saying that “BMV sets example for fairness.” The Palladium-Item says of Sen. Garton’s reaction:

Garton responded like a politician whose territory was trespassed by another. The Senate leader said the citizens are the customers and, “I hope at some point, in what I hope is a short career in government, (Silverman) learns that.”

Garton’s veiled threat deserves a stern rebuke from the governor. Silverman earns the public’s thanks for making a tough call, without fear or favor.

The Indy Star has an article about a former manager at the troubled Family & Social Services Administration (FSSA). The manager, Matthew Raibley, who pled guilty last week to corrupt business influence, forgery and conspiracy to commit theft for his role in stealing more than $700,000 from the agency, testified that he illegally funneled the money to Barbara Wiley because he was in love with her. The testimony came at the trial against Ms. Wiley on charges of theft, conspiracy to commit theft, forgery and official misconduct for accepting payment to develop a for job-training curriculum that she never developed.

The Lafayette Journal and Courier has a story on the reaction of politicians in the Lafayette area to the budget passed by the General Assembly. They’re still digesting the details, but they say it looks like the General Assembly has kicked the responsibility for raising taxes down to the locals. Local government is saddled with state and federal mandates that state and local government has not seen fit to fund. The taxing tool made available to local government is to raise taxes. One thing the Republicans were right about when they stormed into power on the federal level back in ’94 with the Contract with America was their objection to unfunded mandates. Can’t say I’ve heard much about that in a long time.

For example the article mentions, “Clinton County faces having to buy voting machines to comply with the Help American Vote Act as well as hiring more sheriff’s deputies to comply with federal guidelines, among other expenses.” So, the federal politicians get to take credit for passing legislation designed to help voters and for making the streets safer. The local politicians have to do the unpopular things (usually voting for a tax) necessary to pay for these things. Doesn’t seem fair to me. Well, as they say, “shit rolls downhill”. Just another example of that, I guess.

I don’t have time to comment at the moment, but the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has a Legislative post-mortem talking about

The line between credit and blame can be fuzzy at times, as Republican lawmakers and Gov. Mitch Daniels are likely to find in the months ahead. The victory cry they issued as the legislative session closed Friday also saddles them with responsibility for what happened.

The only surprise about the Republican “success” was that it wasn’t easier won. The GOP, after all, controls both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor’s office.

Michele McNeil has an article in the Indianapolis Star entitled, BMV closing 12 license branches across state. According to the article:

The Bureau of Motor Vehicles will announce today that 12 license branches across the state will close in June to improve efficiency and save money. The closings come at a time when lawmakers are requiring Hoosiers to show their IDs more — to vote and to buy many cold medicines. . . . Commissioner Joel Silverman said Monday that the closings will affect the branches that do the least business, in the smallest communities. . . .Silverman said he could not list the 12 branches on Monday because state officials are still notifying employees, branch landlords and legislators. A list of the branches will be released today. . . .The closings come just after the Republican-controlled General Assembly passed a law requiring most voters to show a photo ID before they cast their ballots. . . . Hoosiers also will be asked to show ID when purchasing many cold medicines, as part of the effort to fight methamphetamine.

Rep. Teri Austin wants to know the criteria for closing branches and who was involved in making the decision. Rep. Ed Mahern points out that the General Assembly just passed a law allowing the burea to keep $1.3 million from the sale of personalized plates that used to go to political parties.

The Indy Star has an article about the Colts stadium bill entitled Surprise! Check the bill. Of particular interest is a discovery by officials in the cities and counties surrounding Indianapolis, specifically Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Morgan, Shelby and Boone Counties and Avon, Carmel, Fishers, Greenfield, Lebanon, Martinsville, Noblesville, Westfield and Zionsville, that they can raise restaurant taxes.

According to the Star article:

The idea appeals to many local leaders, as it offers a quick opportunity to raise much-needed cash. Counties would have to give half of their revenue to the stadium project, with the remainder available for local needs. Cities and towns, meanwhile, would be able to use their new money to bolster local budgets.

I found interesting this passage in an AP article by Mike Smith:

On the day that fiscal leaders for House and Senate Republicans struck a deal on a new, two-year state budget, it was obvious that it wasn’t quite good enough for Daniels. His press office issued a brief statement late that day that made little sense, except to suggest that the plan wasn’t quite up to the governor’s standards.

Legislative leaders said later, privately, that they reminded Daniels that he wasn’t the only branch of government. It was a reminder from Republicans in his own party, who work in the legislative branch, that there are no kings of Indiana.

The next day, Daniels was praising the budget as the most responsible state spending plan in a decade.

But he also said that Democrats had shown “zero interest” in budget negotiations, which angered Democrats so much that those in the Senate walked out, and some Democratic votes he was counting on for statewide daylight-saving time in the House were gone.

Daylight time passed, but his comments cost him some Democrat votes, and forced some Republicans in vulnerable districts to vote for the change even though most of their constituents were against it.

Make no mistake. The flip-flops some Republicans made on that issue could cost them their seats and put Democrats back in control of the House.

Daniels acknowledged that in the last days of a legislative session, when emotions are running high, “It’s a good idea not to say very much.”

The next day, Daniels was praising the budget as the most responsible state spending plan in a decade.

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.

Time change is small price to pay

In this editorial, the Indy Star recognizes that Daylight Saving Time is unpopular with a large segment of Hoosiers. Their response? Screw ’em; “respected business leaders” say that this will lead to job creation. Guess what. Ken Lay was a “respected business leader.” “Respected business leaders” say a lot of stuff. Some of it is even true. The legislature should’ve put its money where it’s mouth was and installed a mechanism to revoke DST if it didn’t lead to significant job creation.

Come on. You won. Now shut up about the job creation and the economic benefits of DST. It’s hogwash. The Indy Star says:

“Will DST be an inconvenience? For some, perhaps. But a little inconvenience is a small price to pay for better jobs.”

There won’t be better jobs. Our good jobs went to Mexico and China. You think our “respected business leaders” care what time it is in those places?