John Byrne

Do voters really care about political endorsements?

2008-04-04T20:38:58Z

So we're deep into political season in Northwest Indiana, and party apparatuses and local officials are lining up behind candidates for everything from county surveyor to president of the United States.

Several local mayors have endorsed either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

Every few days, a municipal Democratic organization will announce the results of its "slating," endorsements for all the offices on the May 6 primary ballot.

But does the average voter really give a hang?

]]> I suppose a party endorsement locally translates to a built-in campaign organization willing to go door-to-door canvassing or distributing yard signs.

But when people in Highland step into the voting booth, are they thinking "I really respect my precinct organization's opinion about who would make the best Lake County commissioner?

When voters in Portage consider their presidential options, do they wonder "Who will fix the economy? Who will correctly handle the war? Who does Mayor Olga Velazquez endorse?"

Or are these endorsements just so much political glad-handing?

Great Lakes Compact advances

2008-02-06T16:19:46Z

The House Environmental Affairs Committee adopted the Senate's version of the Great Lakes Compact by a unanimous vote Wednesday, bringing the water conservation deal a step closer to becoming law.

]]> Rep. Scott Pelath of Michigan City said he expects identical versions of the compact to land on the governor's desk from both the House and the Senate.

If this package passes and Gov. Mitch Daniels signs it, Indiana would be the first state to enact both the compact and the language to impleement it.

The Great Lakes Compact prevents water from being shipped from states bordering the Great Lakes to other regions which don't have enough fresh water.

Clay wants an out

2008-02-05T17:06:36Z

Gary Mayor Rudy Clay said Tuesday he wants the ability to pull out of the Regional Development Authority, because he doesn't want Gary locked into paying for the South Shore commuter rail extension if the project won't benefit Gary.

Now, if the $1 billion project includes a rail spur linking the South Shore line to the Gary airport, the mayor would be much more likely to look on it favorably.

The RDA bill the General Assembly approved in 2005 includes no language about how a funding entity like Gary can back out. The bill does stipulate payors will fund the RDA for 10 years.

Visclosky comes calling again...

2008-02-05T17:01:55Z

U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky of Merrillville will testify Feb. 12 at a hearing of the Senate Tax Committee about the benefits of a $1 billion extension to the South Shore commuter rail line.

The powerful Tax Committee and its chairman, Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, will determine whether the South Shore bill has any legs this session.

Kenley has expressed problems with a funding plan for the South Shore project that would rely on $350 million in state sales tax revenue.

Visclosky argues the time to act is now, when he can promise $500 million in federal matching funds.

Elgin in Indy

2008-01-29T19:31:06Z

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.

South Shore vote

2008-01-29T17:44:52Z

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.

Third readings week

2008-01-29T14:02:51Z

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.

South Shore extension extended

2008-01-23T18:30:36Z

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.

]]>

Rep. Scott Pelath of Michigan City said he has been in discussions with Congressman Joe Donnelly, D-South Bend, to determine how the LaPorte and St. Joseph money would be administered.

The bill next heads to the full House for consideration.

Another shot at an income tax?

2008-01-22T16:26:12Z

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

]]> Under Sen. Sue Landske's amendment to Senate Bill 20, Lake County will have the option to distribute money raised through an income tax in three ways: to keep the money in the municipality where it is raised, to apply all funds to the county property tax levy, or to distribute 60 percent of funds where they are raised and the other 40 percent based on municipalities' populations.

The formulas the county failed to adopt last year — to distribute the tax revenue based on property tax levies within municipalities — are now off the table if this amendment becomes law.

Last week, Landske and Sen. Earline Rogers discussed allowing Lake County to distribute income tax money within the school district it is raised, but that proposal did not make it into Landske's amendment.

Whither King?

2008-01-21T15:39:37Z

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.

]]> One gets the impression that if he was alive, King — who late in his life turned his attention to economic inequalities — might find worthy of his attention a tax system that tosses old people and poor people out of their homes.

The closest thing Indiana has right now could be erstwhile gubernatorial candidate Eric Miller, with his conservative grassroots Advance America organization and its campaign to entirely eliminate property taxes.

Miller certainly invokes religious imagery in his speeches, and he regularly brings sizeable crowds for rallies at the Statehouse, where members of the General Assembly trip over themselves to curry his favor.

But Advance America's conservative posturing on social issues and Miller's attempts to use the group to cultivate his own political career tend to undermine the organization's claims to altruism.