Indiana

The A-Word

Posted on May 17, 2009
The President’s visit to Notre Dame today to  be the commencement speaker has sparked a new debate over abortion.  And anti-abortion advocates are touting a new Gallup poll that says more Americans identify themselves as “pro-life” than “pro-choice” by a margin of  51-42...

Weekend Update

Posted on May 16, 2009
With a couple weeks of no session, there was still quite a bit of good gossip, rumor and plain old fashion political innuendo running around town this past week.  So without further adieu… House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Crawford and Speaker Pat Bauer apparently aren’t on the best of speaking terms these days...

Read ?Em and Weep

Posted on May 14, 2009
I put in a phone call to the Indiana State Teachers Association yesterday asking for a reaction to the state Department of Insurance order regarding the Union’s administration of its health insurance and long-term disability funds.  Oddly enough, no one returned my phone calls...

ISTA Update

Posted on May 14, 2009
I got a call this afternoon from the Indiana State Teachers Association’s lobbyist telling me there’s no investigation by the FBI into the Union’s finances and any claim of such is coming from a disgruntled former employee. I still haven’t heard from ISTA’s spokesperson...

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ISTA: ?We Are Going to Put All the Cards On the Table?

Posted on May 14, 2009
The chief lobbyist for the Indiana State Teachers Association says it will go public in the next few days and disclose all the facts regarding investments which led to a $67 million debt in its medical and long term disability insurance fund and an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Indiana Secretary [...

Is ISTA Indiana?s A.I.G.?

Posted on May 13, 2009
Okay, I will freely admit using a little hyperbole with the title, but it may not be as off base as you think. An order filed by the Indiana Department of Insurance in Marion County Court regarding the Indiana State Teachers Association’s medical insurance program reveals some pretty questionable financial practices by the Union...

Smoke Free Is Good, But Compromise Is Better

Posted on May 12, 2009
The good folks over at Smoke Free Indy have proved something I have maintained for quite a while, the current smoking ban, which was the result of a compromise, is working and smoking should still be allowed in bars and restaurants that don’t allow anyone under the age of 18...

An Agreement to Agree

Posted on May 12, 2009
Indiana lawmakers took their first step toward dealing with a potential $1 billion budget shortfall.  They agreed to work toward an agreement on how the process will work. In a two-hour budget committee meeting that got testy for a bit, lawmakers and representatives from the Governor’s Office agreed to have their budget sub-committee use figures from [...

Comedy Tonight

Posted on May 11, 2009
Say what you will about the politics, but he does a pretty good job.  

In Search of $17 Million

Posted on May 11, 2009
With $30 million down, state and local officials are looking to close a $17 million funding source gap for the Capital Improvement Board.  With things still fluid behind the scenes, no one was willing to go on the record, however talks have centered as of late on how to close $17 million of the $47 [...

Pacers to Vancouver???

Posted on May 11, 2009
I had this e-mailed to me today.  It’s from a website called Bleacher Report.  It follows professional sports teams.  It could be nothing, but with the way things are in Indianapolis, every little bit of information that’s out there couldn’t hurt, right? Rumors are starting to spread that Francesco Aquilini, owner of the NHL?s Vancouver Canucks, [...

Happy Mother?s Day

Posted on May 10, 2009
This is a photo of my lovely mother.  She rocks.  One day my future wife’s picture will be up here as well.  Spangle is there because I couldn’t phot shop him out of the picture. Happy Mother’s Day!

Weekend Update

Posted on May 09, 2009
The political gossip and rumor mill was full blast this week, as well as some inside information on key events.  So here we go. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay can’t seem to figure out why he’s been getting a lot of bad PR lately.  In a 90-minute meeting with city officials this past week, Irsay complained [...

Be Our Guest

Posted on May 08, 2009
As you probably read Thursday, the blog post was not written by Indiana Barrister, but Indianapolis Public School Board member Kelly Bentley.   The response was very good.  I plan to ask for submissions from other news and policy makers and hopefully get something up here once a week or bi-weekly...

Help Wanted

Posted on May 08, 2009
The national unemployment numbers are out.  It?s at 8.9 percent.  The figures aren?t out yet on Indiana, but I don?t expect them to be good.  However, here is something to think about. I?m hearing from the business community that although the unemployment rate is high, there is a shortage of labor in skilled and highly technical [...

In Her Own Words

Posted on May 07, 2009
Indiana Barrister is tied up today, so we asked for a guest editorial from IPS School Board member Kelly Bentley.  The piece was not edited and appears just as she wrote it. ****** Abdul is experimenting with guest editorials for his blog and asked me to write one...

Morality Plays

Posted on May 06, 2009
Got a busy next couple of days, so I will make this quick.   If you ever decide to become a national spokesperson against gay marriage, make sure there are no half-naked pictures of you running around on the Internet.  Carrie Prejean, Miss California, probably wishes she had.

Not By ?Choice?

Posted on May 06, 2009
Parents at nearly a dozen Indianapolis Public Schools may actually get to exercise their school choice option.  According to the Indiana State Department of Education, 10 IPS schools are on their fourth year of academic probation, which means under state law, parents can transfer their kids to another school in the district...

Bad Timing

Posted on May 06, 2009
The Capital Improvement Board is defending raises for some of its employees.  Under normal circumstances the raises make sense, but unfortunately, these aren’t normal times.  The raises pretty much amount to cost of living and were done last year, but still perception eventually becomes reality...

Another C.I.B. Solution

Posted on May 05, 2009
In my never ending effort to help alleviate the problems of this city and state, I’ve come up with another idea to help solve the Capital Improvement Board’s funding crisis.  It not only solves the funding shortfall, but it also takes care of getting out-state Indiana to buy into the solution...

Budget Battle, Part II

Posted on May 05, 2009
I spoke with Senator Luke Kenley today on the new budget numbers.  Here are his thoughts… Sen. Luke Kenley  

The Incredible Shrinking Party

Posted on May 04, 2009
Normally this spaced is reserved for local and state matters, but every once in a while I get a bug in my craw to write about national matters.  Today that bug is the national Republican Party. I recently looked at some polling data and found that 28-percent of the population identifies themselves as Republicans, but 34-percent believe [...

Budget Battle, Part I

Posted on May 04, 2009
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels says the budget will be more than $1 billion short based on new actual budget numbers.  Daniels told reporters the state took in $255 million less than projected.  He did not specify which budget cuts to make, but said he still wanted to give lawmakers flexibility to address the shortfall...

Weekend Update

Posted on May 02, 2009
Although it was a busy week at the Legislature, here are few tidbits of things you might have missed. Former State Rep. Luke Messer pulled in $100,000 Thursday night at his first fund-raiser in the quest to win the primary in the 5th Congressional District...

Let?s Do It Again

Posted on May 01, 2009
My apologies to Bill Cosby and Sydney Poitier for today’s blog title.   Now that Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is calling lawmakers back for a special session, they have a decond chance to get the Capital Improvement Board solution right.  As much they can be criticized for what they failed to do, they now get a [...

Suddenly, Everybody Seems to C.I.B.

Posted on May 01, 2009
The Indianapolis Colts could conceivably not get reimbursed for their game day expenses if the Capitol Improvement Board runs out of money later this year. CIB President Bob Grand says the Board cannot spend money it does not have and if doesn’t have the money to pay its expenses it won’t make them...

Now What?

Posted on April 30, 2009
I’m a little tired this morning, so I’ll try to keep this short and to the point.   Now that Indiana lawmakers are coming back for a special session here are some questions to ponder.   Can lawmakers work out a deal? Who is responsible for the meltdown, the Governor, House Democrats, Republicans? What does this do the [...

Budget Fails, 27-71! Special Session On the Way

Posted on April 30, 2009
Indiana lawmakers will be back here sooner than they think.  Lawmakers failed to pass a budget tonight, ensuring a special session will be called.  The budget failed by a vote of 27-71.   The budget plan would have spent $28 billion over the next two years with funds for K-12 education, higher education and higher ed capital [...

The Final Countdown

Posted on April 29, 2009
We are now at what hopefully will be the last day of the Indiana General Assembly.   Here are my thoughts on the three big remaining issues… The Budget Lawmakers are spending about the same amount of money and leaving about $1.3 billion in reserves...

Statehouse Update - 3:30 p.m.

Posted on April 29, 2009
Indiana State Senators are waiting on a copy of the budget so they can vote. The House is still not in session Meanwhile, a new version of the unemployment insurance bill has been unveiled.  The bill still raises taxes on employers, but the increases are phased in over a longer period...

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