Indiana Chamber President Kevin Brinegar tells Inside Indiana Business that the Unemployment Trust Fund Bill passed last night "falls on the backs of employers" and that we’ll ask Gov. Daniels to veto the bill. Here’s the audio.

IIB reports:

The Indiana House and Senate passed a $730 million fix for the unemployment trust fund.

The measure includes eligibility rules and higher payroll taxes on employers.

The proposal passed the Senate with just three no votes, but it took a party-line vote to get through the house.

The top tax bracket for employers would nearly double to 10.2 percent, focusing on the companies who lay off the most employees. The bottom tax rate would be reduced.

The eligibility changes include requiring recipients to demonstrate they have applied for new work and denying benefits for employees fired for misconduct.

The Indiana Chamber and Indiana Manufacturers Association maintain the bill will end up resulting in job cuts because of the higher taxes.

UPDATE: Take action now! You can e-mail a letter to the Governor’s office or find the phone number to call through the Indiana Prosperity Project. Simply visit this site to send the letter.

I’ve been doing this writing thing for publication for more than 30 years now (must have started from the crib, right?) and rarely experience trouble expressing myself. The problem here is not the dreaded writer’s block, but what not to say following a long, long day at the Indiana Statehouse on Wednesday.

(Indiana Chamber members can get the full story directly from ICC president Kevin Brinegar on Friday from 9:30-10:30 a.m. ET in our monthly Policy Issue Conference Call. Kevin has just about seen it all in his nearly 30 years around the Statehouse, but Wednesday’s developments had him joining others in shaking his head. Remember, this is for members only. Registration is required).

I’ll try to be brief. First key point: At a time when economic fortunes are low and unemployment is high, legislators pass an unemployment insurance trust fund bill that practically guarantees additional job losses. Figure that one out. Second, a state budget proposal (the lone requirement for the nearly four-month session) fails in the House (71-27) and that is the good news. The "compromise" would have started the steady climb up the "cliff" that everyone said needed to be avoided (in other words, relied too heavily on stimulus funds and set the stage for big tax hikes two years from now or sooner) and took several steps in reverse on education policy.

I’ve come to learn in 11 years at the Chamber that negotiations in the final days of the session produce the ultimate final bills on the major issues. I’m not a big fan of that, but I’ve come to accept it as reality. The products of these conference committees, however, seemed to evolve from one-sided negotiations. House Republicans and Senate Democrats, the minorities, talked of being shut out. Senate Republicans unfortunately seemed to be missing in action based on the conference committee outcomes.

Just a few details. The unemployment "solution" was termed a $685 million tax increase on employers over two years. Econ 101, or maybe freshman common sense, tells you struggling employers faced with monumental tax increases will have to cut costs in other ways — quite likely in personnel. Passionate speeches aside from both caucuses, the bill passed the House 52-47 (party line vote) after 96-3 passage in the Senate.

The budget proposal: Too much spending ($28.1 billion over two years when the state doesn’t have that much money to spend). A message that we’re still not serious about education. No scholarship tax credit. A cap on charter schools at a time when everyone from President Obama on down is calling for more school choice. House Minority Leader Brian Bosma said this move would have jeopardized $275 million in education stimulus funding and disqualified the state from Obama’s $5 billion Race to the Top education grant fund.

I’ll stop there. There will be plenty more to come as those two dreaded words — special session — are now reality.

Chamber President Kevin Brinegar discusses the key topics and what needs to happen before tonight’s legislative deadline. Here is video from Inside Indiana Business.

Also, our Twitter feed will feature a few updates throughout the day from the Statehouse, letting you know what’s happening on key bills.

Readers of the Chamber’s BizVoice magazine have seen the name Candace Gwaltney quite a bit over the past 18 months. Candace has played an ever-growing role in analyzing the issues and telling the company stories in our bimonthly publication, as well as being a key contributor to other communications and public relations efforts.

Candace took top honors in two categories in the recent Indiana Society of Professional Journalists "Best in Indiana" competition. I like to attribute that in part to her journalism background at Ball State, but even that fine university can’t take all the credit for the strong interviewing, organizational and writing skills Candace possesses.

Her winning entries: 

• Raising the Bar: Higher Education Goals and Aspirations (March-April 2008) in the Best Education Coverage category
• Fueling the Future: Reality Mixes With Hope in BioTown (July-August 2008) for Best Coverage of the Environment

Matt Ottinger earned an honorable mention in the environmental category for Greener Building Practices: Trials and Benefits for Indiana Businesses (July-August 2008) and Tom Schuman placed second in the Best Print Feature category for 2008 Government Leaders of the Year: Joe Kernan and Randall Shepard (November-December 2008).

BizVoice has now earned 50 state and national awards over the past 10 years. It takes a talented and dedicated staff to achieve such a consistenly high performance level. Congratulations to all. Keep reading BizVoice, Indiana’s only statewide general business magazine. If you’re not familiar with the publication, what are you waiting for?

Many national outlets are reporting that moderate U.S. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania has switched parties and is now part of the Democrat majority. No doubt, this is a major story and has significant implications for this Congress and the agenda going forward as the Democratic Party is now one seat closer to the magical number of 60.

Reports are also indicating that the main, or at least a major, reason why Specter is switching parties is that he feels he stands a better chance to be re-elected as a Democratic candidate than a Republican candidate does. If this is true, outrage should follow by the citizens of Pennsylvania. Putting his own selfish political interest ahead of what is best for his state and country in these tough economic times is exactly why so many Americans are incredibly fed up with the politics coming out of Washington D.C.

Now, if Specter’s reason is based solely on his philosophy and belief he is now a Democratic legislator and should thus be recognized as such, fine. However, to make a switch late in the fifth of a six-year term on the heels of what is expected to be a tough re-election effort smells of the self-preserving attitude that has become far too common among many elected officials.

If this politically calculated, self-interested attitude is driving this decision, I hope that someone — a Republican or Democratic candidate – replaces Sen. Specter in 2010 and will serve the good people of Pennsylvania and the country with the wishes of the taxpayer first.

Feel free to add your comments and start a discussion on the topic of elected officials switching parties.

Editor’s note: Here’s a list of some other well-known political party switcheroos.

Elkhart has found its way into the national spotlight, primaily due to the economic struggles of the recreational vehicle industry. But, as always, there is good news out there with a growing company recently celebrating its second anniversary.

Excel Electronics provides customers in a variety of industries with design, assembly and test services. Beyond the RV and automotive fields, it works with clients in the areas of commercial appliances, environmental controls and mobility products.

Company president Chip Estep, who previously owned and operated a contract manufacturing company for 18 years, says the intention is simple. "Our goal is to be your preferred supplier and production partner. We are growing our business with that goal in mind."

The reason for the success? Excel can help businesses innovate to remain competitive. Digitally controlled assembly equipment and more than 100 years of combined electronics experience are just two of the key factors for Excel.

Let’s hope Excel keeps excelling — both for its own growth and the assistance it provides to others.

The Fraser Institute, a Vancouver, Canada-based think thank, recently launched the global School Choice Showcase. Found at schoolchains.org, the program acts as a year-round trade show illustrating innovation in school choice projects across the globe. 

"No other site like this exists in the world," explains James Lombardi, project design & development coordinator at the Fraser Institute. "We aim to connect parents, potential school operators, investors, and government officials with successful and already-replicated schools from around the world that want to expand and have proven that they can. Our hope is that they will expand even further – both in their own countries and around the world – to the benefit of students everywhere. And our ultimate goal is no less than improving education worldwide through choice."

Lombardi says the site currently profiles nearly 70 K-12 school chains from around the world that operate 36,000 individual school locations.

"Perhaps more importantly, these schools are successfully serving all kinds of students, specializing in mathematics, autism, inner-city youth, science, rural locations, recent immigrant students, vocational education, and much more," he notes.

The Fraser Institute also posted an animated YouTube video about the program: