January 2008 Archives

Calumet Township Trustee Mary Elgin was at the Statehouse Tuesday. Elgin said she was there to show solidarity with members of the United Steelworkers as they lobbied lawmakers, and to speak to members of Northwest Indiana's delegation about a move to do away with township government.

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote today on a bill to fund extensions of the South Shore commuter rail line.

Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott is in the Statehouse today, talking to the local delegation about the plan. McDermott said he would not be supportive of any proposal in which trains travelling north and south along the proposed line to Lowell and Valparaiso do not stop in Hammond.

The House and Senate must complete third readings on all bills this week, so they can send the proposals over to the other body for consideration. This leads to long days in both houses of the General Assembly, as property tax overhaul packages vie with dozens of more specialized bills for the finite time left for each body to act.

This is also a week for legislators to eat terribly. The House in particular sets out an artery-calcifying array of sausage chunks, donuts, pizza and candy to give its members the energy to keep going until work is done each day.

The House Ways and Means Committee has approved Rep. Chet Dobis' plan to pay for an extension to the South Shore commuter rail line using state sales tax revenue.

And the committee also approved an amendment Wednesday to include LaPorte and St. Joseph counties in the plan, allowing those areas to tap about $6.5 million in state money annually to pay for improving rail access to the South Bend airport and to move or improve the train tracks running through Michigan City to shorten the trip.

The Senate Tax Committee kindly gave Lake County three new ways to distribute income tax revenue Tuesday.

By John Byrne

Indiana's property tax fracas could certainly use a non-politician approaching the stature of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to cut through the rhetoric and political jockeying which threaten to render attempts at reform ineffective.