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SEIU BLANK CHECK FOR JLT ‘CORRUPT BARGAIN’: Responding to Howey Politics Indiana report that the Service Employees International Union essentially has a blank check for the campaign of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jill Long Thompson, .jpg)
Eric Holcomb of the re-election campaign of Gov. Mitch Daniels said, "Indiana has never seen a corrupt bargain of this magnitude before. It is apparent Jill Long Thompson has just sold her campaign to the highest out of state bidder in return for millions of dollars of future public employee dues. This is an example of greed seeking to rule by the confiscation of part of ones paycheck. While our opponent continues to struggle to gain even minimal volunteer and financial support with Hoosiers, the SEIU has publically stated they will fill that void by sending out of state paid political activists to Indiana and fund 99 percent of her campaign if need be. I suspect Hoosiers will be shocked and appalled by this unprecedented brokered deal." SEIU Illinois-Indiana Director Jerry Morrison told HPI that his union had already put in $900,000 into the Thompson campaign and would put in "whatever it takes" for her to defeat Daniels. Watch Thursday’s weekly Howey Politics Indiana for full analysis.
KITCHELL JOINS HPI COLUMN LINEUP: Veteran Indiana journalist Dave Kitchell joins Howey Politics Indiana’s column lineup. Kitchell is formerly with the Logansport Pharos-Tribune. His column will be featured at www.howeypolitics.com on Wednesdays. He joins weekly featured columnists Brian A. Howey, Morton J. Marcus, and Jack Colwell and contributors that include Cam Carter, Shaw Friedman, Mark Schoeff Jr., Ryan Nees and Chris Sautter.
RTF ENDORSES MESSMER OVER BURGER IN HD63: An Indiana anti-abortion group has endorsed the Republican candidate in a Southwestern Indiana legislative race that has the potential to decide political control of the state House of Representatives next year (Corbin, Evansville Courier & Press). At events Tuesday in Jasper, and Washington, Ind., the Indiana Right to Life political action committee endorsed Mark Messmer, the Republican running for the open Indiana House District 63 seat. Both Messmer and his opponent, Democrat John Burger, are members of the local Dubois County Right to Life, and both are seeking the seat being vacated by state Rep. Dave Crooks, D-Washington. Messmer said minority House Republicans would have to be in the House majority again for Right to Life’s legislation to succeed. Burger said later that he and Messmer don’t disagree on the abortion issue, but that voters are focused instead on economic issues. "I have been a lifelong supporter of right-to-life issues. There’s no difference in Mr. Messmer’s or my position on the abortion issue," said Burger, a Dubois County commissioner and former county councilman. "Any legislative pieces supported by Right to Life, I would wholeheartedly, vigilantly push to move them through the House," said Messmer, a licensed professional engineer from Jasper. Messmer cited last session’s Senate Bill 3, a proposal to allow pharmacists to decline to fill prescriptions if they believed drugs would be used to induce abortion, assisted suicide or euthanasia. After initially passing in the Republican-controlled state Senate in January, the bill died in the Democratic-controlled House without receiving a hearing.
STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS CLOSE IN TIPPECANOE BOMBING: In less than two weeks, the person who drove an explosives-laden pickup truck into the Tippecanoe County Courthouse — causing extensive first-floor damage — will have gotten away with the crime (Lafayette Journal & Courier). But Sheriff Tracy Brown is confident that, even after a 10-year federal statute of limitations for arson and related crimes expires on Aug. 2, investigators will continue to search for the suspect or suspects. "There is a strong desire on our part, and on the community’s part, to find out what happened," he said earlier this week. "I don’t know if it ever will be a completely closed case." For more than a year now, the sheriff’s department has intensified its efforts with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to find the person or people responsible for the attempted bombing on Aug. 2, 1998. Brown said investigators have received more than a dozen tips since reward money for information that would lead to an arrest and conviction was boosted in May from $10,000 to $50,000. "We continue to have tips come in from the WeTip hot line and general calls to our office as well," he said. The bomb did not detonate, and no one was injured — though the pickup truck burst into flames.
Indiana Governor
THOMPSON HQ OPEN HOUSE: There will be a 6 p.m. open house for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jill Long Thompson’s 804 N. Delaware Street volunteer center (Howey Politics Indiana).
DANIELS TO EXTEND TRAILS GRANTS: Gov. Mitch Daniels will be handing out trails grants in North Judson, Merrillville, and Valparaiso. He will give the Fulton County Lincoln Day address in Rochester this evening (Howey Politics Indiana).
Congress
SENATE RATIFIES LUGAR SPORTS DOPING BILL: The U.S. Senate has ratified the International Convention Against Doping in Sport. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking member Dick Lugar praised its passage. “The Convention was negotiated with significant U.S. participation, and thus far, 87 nations have ratified it. The United States is passionate about athletics at every level, from the most elite professionals to our sons and daughters playing on school teams. We are hopeful that athletic competition is fair, and even more importantly, safe. Performance enhancing drugs undercut fair competition and introduce a destructive element into endeavors that should be promoting good health and physical fitness. Athletes who use steroids or other drugs are placing their own health at serious risk and setting a damaging example for the millions of younger athletes who look up to them,” Lugar said (Howey Politics Indiana).
BAYH PRESSES FOR PROPERTY TAX BILL: As Congress prepares for final consideration of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, Senator Evan Bayh and 17 of his colleagues are pressing Senate leaders to include his property tax relief measure in the final housing bill slated for a vote later this week (Howey Politics Indiana). An estimated one million Hoosier homeowners, and 30 million Americans nationwide, could receive significant federal relief next year if Bayh’s property tax relief proposal becomes law. The measure is scheduled for a final vote in the House tomorrow. A vote on final passage could come in the Senate this week. “Middle class taxpayers are working harder than ever to meet their financial commitments and sky-rocketing property taxes have not made that any easier,” Bayh and 17 other senators wrote in a letter today to the leaders of the Senate Banking and Finance Committees. “With homeownership threatened in communities around the country, the approximately 30 million homeowners who do not itemize should not be left behind.”
SOUDER WANTS MORTGAGE PROBE: Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd, repeated his call Tuesday for an investigation into whether a mortgage lender gave special deals to lawmakers and their aides (Smith, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette). “Given the fact that Congress is actively considering bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Countrywide and other lenders, it is essential that Congress investigate to determine the extent that the public officials and staff have been compromised by improper gifts,” Souder and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., wrote to the chairman of the key investigative committee in the House. Congress is working on legislation to aid mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which own or guarantee $5 trillion of the nation’s residential mortgage debt – nearly half of home loans nationwide. The Bush administration has proposed to allow the Treasury Department to acquire stakes in both and significantly increase their ability to borrow from the government. Portfolio magazine reported that Countrywide Financial, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, shaved money off the mortgages for two congressional aides as well as current and former federal officials. It was previously reported that Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Kent Conrad, D-N.D., got cut-rate deals from Countrywide. Last month, Souder and Issa asked Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to schedule a hearing on the Dodd and Conrad mortgages.
VISCLOSKY ANNOUNCES GRANT FOR METHANE PLANT: U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., has delivered on the $1,968,000 in fiscal year 2008 funds he earlier secured to help Munster construct and equip a methane gas cogeneration plant at Centennial Park (Times of Northwest Indiana). "Innovative energy sources like waste to energy cogeneration are an important piece of our energy mix and part of the solution to our energy crisis," Visclosky said. "The methane gas cogeneration facility that will be built at Centennial Park in Munster is an important local endeavor that will help our country better utilize its energy resources and proceed on the path toward energy independence." The Department of Energy funding that Visclosky delivered to Munster will be used to help install micro-turbines that produce electricity from methane gas being produced by the capped landfill beneath Centennial Park. Instead of wasting the power resource, the micro-turbines burn the gas in an energy-producing flare.
VISCLOSKY LANDS IVY TECH GRANT: U.S. Rep. Peter J. Visclosky, D-Merrillville, announced Tuesday that he had secured a $1 million earmark for Ivy Tech Community College to boost training for jobs in the energy sector, specifically at the Northwest Indiana campuses (Post-Tribune). The money is part of the Department of Labor’s Employment Training Administration’s High Growth Job Training Initiative. Ivy Tech will develop distance learning energy courses, design and deliver training for Indiana’s growing biofuels industry, and provide training for existing energy industry workers.
BURTON TO HOST ENERGY HEARING: U.S. Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN-5) announced today that he would be holding a District Hearing on Energy. He has invited a number of energy experts, community leaders and media personalities to discuss the current energy crisis and how we can work to solve these problems in both the short and long term. The conference is open to the public and is scheduled for Monday, July 28 at 1 p.m. Burton stated, “With energy prices as out-of-control as they are, I thought Hoosiers needed the chance to not only talk about the current energy crisis, but also to address potential solutions. Congress has failed in making any strides toward real energy relief for the American people the past few months and I hope that this hearing will not only inform people about the current problems and how to deal with them, but also spur them to pressure all their public officials to take meaningful, positive steps toward real energy reform in our country.” Panelists include Michael A. Brairton, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy; Dr. William A. Ellingson, Ph.D, former Principal Scientist, the Argonne National Laboratory; and Maggie McShane, American Petroleum Institute. The event will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. July 28 at Indiana Wesylean University, Indianapolis.
State
HOOSIER DRIVERS PAY MORE FOR GAS: Hoosier drivers spend nearly 6.5 percent of their income on gasoline and live in the seventh-most vulnerable state for rising gas prices, according to a study released Tuesday by the National Resources Defense Council (Kelly, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette). Connecticut drivers spend the lowest percentage of their income on gasoline at 3.17 percent, which was about $1,700 for an average driver last year. Indiana’s average driver spent about $2,170. “This report shows that when oil prices go up, families in some states are hit much harder than others because they are paying a greater percentage of their income at the gas pump,” said Deron Lovaas, transportation policy director at the council. The good news is that some states are enacting policies that give consumers vehicle and transportation choices. But more states need to do the same, and federal policymakers must follow suit.” Indiana moved up in the vulnerability rankings this year from 12th to seventh, although the authors of the report concede the jump could relate to changing the methodology to include state and federal taxes in the equation of what people spend on gas.
RDA HIRES GARY AIRPORT CONSULTANT: The Regional Development Authority wants the Gary/Chicago International Airport to build its international terminal as much as the airport, but it wants to ensure economic feasibility beforehand (Post-Tribune). In order to do that, the RDA has hired Matt Reardon of St. Paul, Minn.-based consulting firm SEH Inc. to help facilitate the process. Reardon, of Munster, said at the Tuesday RDA meeting at the Purdue Technology Center that he has a letter prepared for Airport Administrator Chris Curry that includes 15 questions about the airport’s master plan with regard to the airfield, the terminal and the immediate opportunities of building the $8.3 million terminal.
Cities
FORT WAYNE SEEKS $30M ROAD BOND: Mayor Tom Henry will seek to borrow $30 million to help finance roads and other infrastructure needs (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette). The Fort Wayne City Council on Tuesday introduced a bill to issue bonds for $30 million to be repaid by county economic development income taxes. Property taxes would not be used. Controller Pat Roller said borrowing money for capital improvements is a necessary way to finance projects. She said the last similar bond was approved in 2005. “It’s really the only way you can fix streets and roads,” she said. “We understand it does cost more, but it is necessary to keep our city looking great.”
INDIANAPOLIS COUNCILMAN INVESTIGATED: City-County Councilman Paul Bateman says he is being set up as a scapegoat in a criminal investigation into a claim that as much as $1 million was misspent at a faith-based nonprofit (Indianapolis Star). Matthew Symons, Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi’s spokesman, said he could not comment on any grand jury investigations, but Bateman is among three men named on search warrants filed this month by investigators from the grand jury division. The others are the Rev. Michael Russell and Manuel Gonzalez, a Carmel business consultant. All have met with investigators. The Russell Foundation is a nonprofit started by Russell to try to spur economic development. Specifically, the foundation was interested in ethanol production and building a privately funded monorail from Indianapolis to Northwest Indiana.
COLUMBUS HOSPITAL HAS $110M IN DAMAGE: Columbus Regional Hospital officials are seeking federal assistance to help pay about $70 million in costs from last month’s flooding, which forced the hospital to close for repairs (Associated Press). A big part of the expense is an estimated $40 million the hospital will pay to about 1,700 employees during the time it is closed. The hospital’s estimated business-interruption costs are on top of about $110 million in property damage to the its first floor and basement, which was filled by floodwaters in the June 7 storm. Several members of Indiana’s congressional delegation have written to the Labor Department, asking that Columbus Regional be paid the amount of money that employees would have received if they had filed for unemployment benefits. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., said he expected a decision on that request within two weeks. "It was the right decision for CRH to keep paying these employees," Pence said. "It deployed 1,800 people into the community to help neighbors and not have to worry about where their next meal will come from."
HAMMOND TO OPPOSE NIPSCO RATE HIKE: The city of Hammond will protest any electric rate increases sought by NIPSCO and is calling on other Lake County communities to do the same, according to Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr (Times of Northwest Indiana). "With all the cuts governments across Indiana are facing, I find it unbelievable a utility could ask for a 20 percent rate increase," McDermott said. McDermott on Tuesday kept referring to a 20 percent rate increase, although NIPSCO has not yet filed its rate request with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and has not said how much of an increase it will seek. NIPSCO spokesman Nick Meyer said the utility has put out no figures yet on what kind of rate change it will seek.
Counties
LAKE SEEKS HIRING FREEZE: Lake County officials will hold a special a special meeting Thursday to consider a government hiring freeze in advance of pending staff cuts, officials said Tuesday (Post-Tribune). Lake County Council President Christine Cid said the council and the Board of Commissioners want to stop department heads from hiring people now simply to ease the pain of layoffs expected next year. "Any money we don’t use this year will carry into next year’s budget, and we will need that," Cid, D-East Chicago, said. "We need to start making smart financial decisions now and preparing for what’s about to hit us." Thursday’s 1 p.m. meeting will be held just days after Surveyor George Van Til announced he is seeking to fill five vacant positions on his staff of 19.
PORTER ELECTION BOARD DENIES RAIL REFERENDUM: The Porter County Election Board denied a request to place a referendum about the South Shore rail extension project on November’s ballot (Post-Tribune). The election board voted 2-1 to prohibit the nonbinding question denying the county board of commissioners’ motion, at a board meeting Tuesday at the county administration complex. County Clerk Pam Fish and Patrick Lyp voted against the placement and J.J. Stankiewicz, executive president of the board, voted in favor of it Clay Patton, the board’s attorney, said the referendum is not permitted, citing state statute. Lyp said the statute sets "clear, legal prohibition." The statute reads: "A local public question may not be placed on the ballot at an election unless the placement of the local public question on the ballot at the election is expressly authorized by statute."
Economy
FORD, GM ON VERGE OF BANKRUPTCY: General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., the two biggest U.S. automakers, have about a 46 percent chance of default within five years, according to Edward Altman, a finance professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business (Bloomberg News). "Both are in very serious shape and the markets reflect that,” Altman, the creator of the Z-score mathematical formula that measures bankruptcy risk, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. The model shows that these companies are “on the verge of bankruptcy,” he said.
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