Statehouse eUpdate from State Rep. Edward DeLaney
December 3, 2009
A Personal Note: As many of you know, I have recently been through a harrowing experience which I was quite lucky to survive. It was a great shock to me that someone would attack me over my role as a lawyer in a lawsuit that occurred in the 1980s. Happily I'm recovering nicely and expect to be fully rested and ready to go shortly. My family has been as full of love and support as I might ever have hoped. It would be hard to exaggerate the impact that the thoughts and prayers of so many have had upon me. My goal is to put this horrible incident behind me and return to my life as it was before. My family and I thank each of you for all that you have said and done and for the outpouring of your prayers.
Let me now turn my attention once again to the needs of our state at this difficult moment.
Lawmakers returned to the Statehouse November 17 to observe Organization Day and begin preparations for the 2010 session of the Legislature, scheduled to resume on January 5 and last until the middle of March. Happily, I was able to attend.
Organization Day is traditionally a ceremonial time. Leaders give speeches about what they expect during the session, and members of the Indiana House and Senate begin to file the legislation they hope to see become law.
While we do not have a state budget to pass in this session, financial issues will continue to play a prominent role in the Legislature's activities. Rumors that the national recession has ended have yet to become fact for many of our citizens, and the economic downtown continues to impact your pocketbooks and the state's treasury.
State revenue numbers continue to lag far behind projections. Through the first four months of the current fiscal year (July 1 through October 31), general fund revenues are more than $300 million below our already lowered projection.
As a result, the Governor recently announced another round of budget-cutting measures. State agencies will be making more reductions in their budgets. State workers will go without pay raises for the second consecutive year and reimbursements to Medicaid providers are being reduced.
In the Indiana House, we will be making every effort to reduce costs. We're doing all we can to cut operational costs and to live with a staff which is already too small.
As the governor outlined his plans to cut costs, two points stood out.
First, he rightly maintains that Indiana is in better shape than most states. However, I fear that we are ignoring the fact that the surplus would not be at $1 billion if not for an assist from the federal stimulus package. Much of that money went to maintain our support for public education
Which brings us to the second point. To date, the budget-cutting at the state level has not yet touched state support for local schools. As you know, many individual districts are having trouble supporting the facilities and operations that are funded from local property taxes. I do not know how much longer we will be able to avoid making a decision as to whether state support, which pays for the educational operations themselves, can continue at the present level.
While taking measures to cut costs are worthy endeavors, the best way to improve the state treasury is to get our economy moving again. There are still too many Hoosiers out of work. Despite this, we are not seeing any kind of major job creation program being advanced by the Administration. I believe that the Legislature needs to take decisive action to put Hoosiers back to work.
Job creation should be at the top of the Legislature's agenda in the 2010 session. Rest assured that it is at the top of mine. I am working on two fronts. I hope to redirect our economic development programs to have an immediate impact on the availability of credit to our existing businesses. This is not the time to focus on attracting new industries to relocate from other states. Few firms are likely to relocate at this time. Instead, we need to find ways to support existing businesses by facilitating access to credit.
Simultaneously, I believe we need to prioritize "public works" infrastructure projects on a modest scale. We need to build sidewalks, and sewer lines. We need to convert underused rail lines to light rail transportation. These projects do not carry with them the enormous costs associated with our endless effort to rebuild interstate highways. We can move promptly on this front if we choose to.
The House leadership has made two important decisions that I hope will benefit the state. First, the Speaker has proposed a dramatic reform of our rules on lobbying that should help restore a proper balance between the concerns of the citizenry at large and those of affected organizations. Secondly, the majority has decided to hold hearings before January on important issues including: amending the property tax caps into the Indiana Constitution, assuring that those caps are effective, and cleaning up the problems with the failed privatization of our welfare services. I will be busy participating in the hearings on these important subjects. I will make every effort to keep you informed.
Be assured that I will continue to press for governmental reform. We need to replace the Township Trustee system with a streamlined process that will better serve the poor and use our dollars wisely. I plan to submit a bill aimed at creating such a system.
If you want to talk to me about the upcoming session, you can reach me by calling the toll-free Statehouse telephone number of 1-800-382-9842, writing to me in care of the Indiana House of Representatives, 200 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204, or submitting your comments to my web site at www.in.gov/H86.
