House Speaker Pat Bauer says the Indianapolis Colts and Pacers need to contribute to reducing the operational shortfall at the Capital Improvement Board.  He didn’t say there would be consequences if they didn’t, but he also did not totally rule it out altogether. Click below to hear the Speaker’s comments from today’s media availability. Pat Bauer […]

Here is some audio from today’s rally.  It speaks for itself. Rally Audio  

There are always those moments in the Indiana General Assembly that make you wonder what the (fill in the blank)  was that?  Monday night was one of those moments. An amendment was offered to SB 173`which would have consolidated the Marion County Township Fire Departments with IFD.  At first it passed 51-45, with 14 Democrats […]

The Indiana Senate approved the amended CIB funding plan, 33-17.  The bill now goes to the conference committee to work out differences with the House version. Marion City-Council County Democrats unveiled their CIB funding proposal today, it included expanding the professional sports district and a casino.  It did not include contributions from the Indianapolis Colts […]

Citing new data that shows half of Indiana’s students are in failing schools, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett said all options are on the table in order to fix the problem, including a state take over of some schools as prescribed by law. According to released Adequate Yearly Progress reports (AYP), half of all […]

You’ll be seeing and reading a lot about “tea parties” today across the country.  Citizens who are mad about the stimulus package and everything else will show up and protest.  Organizers says thousands of people will meet at the Capitol this afternoon, even though only about 660 have signed up on their website. I expect […]

The Indiana State Senate, by a voice vote, amended the current CIB funding plan to adopt the Mayor’s finance proposal.  A final vote could come later this week.  Meanwhile, City-County Council Democratic Leader Joanne Sanders will have a news conference tomorrow to share her ideas on how to fund the CIB shortfall.  Monday she told […]

I’m at the Statehouse today and ran into a key lawmaker who says he would not be surprised if Governor Mitch Daniels vetoed whatever budget comes out of the General Assembly.  The Governor has expressed concerns that the budget spends too much money and relies to heavily on federal stimulus dollars.  There’s no word yet […]

Here is audio from Monday’s news conference where the Mayor outlined his proposal to address the CIB shortfall.  There is also react from the Council as well as industry spokespeople.   This way you can hear first-hand what was said and draw your own conclusions about the best course of action. Ballard Presentation, part 1 Ballard Presentation, part […]

THIS IS THE FULL VERSION UPDATED AT 3:50 P.M. With a little more than two weeks to go in the Indiana General Assembly, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard unveiled his plan to shore up the $47 million operational shortfall. The plan includes the following… Increasing the local alcohol tax and expanding the professional sports district ($20 […]