Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard made his plea today before members of the budget conference committee for over $45 million in funding to rescue the city’s Capital Improvement Board (CIB).

According to Ballard, the CIB has a “three to four-year hump to get over.  We’re at risk until that point.”

At risk are major sports events such as the Big Ten basketball tournaments, the men’s NCAA Final Four, the 2012 Super Bowl and the convention center expansion.

Representative Terry Goodin (D-Austin) asked the mayor if his “proposal would take care of the board’s deficit or is it just another Band-Aid” – with more dollars needed down the road.  Ballard replied, “I feel pretty comfortable with this going forward…I don’t want to come back (for more money) – nobody wants us to come back.”

Ballard pointed out several times the connection of CIB activities to the entire state, referencing that the majority (60%) of traffic to the downtown sports facilities, Circle Centre mall, etc. is from out of town.

Though overall sympathetic to the mayor’s predicament, some registered displeasure that one area of the state would receive such significant financial attention.

Representative Bill Crawford (D-Indianapolis): “One of the caveats I’ve stated all along is that I support this, but by my own calculations, I can count only 21 legislators representing Marion County – and that’s a problem.  Other areas of the state have problems too.”

Crawford also encouraged his fellow legislators to keep the Indianapolis Indians baseball team in mind when looking at the mayor’s proposed increase in the admission tax, which he said could adversely affect the most affordable sports option for families,

Representatives Dennis Avery (D-Evansville) and Eric Turner (R-Marion) raised questions over Ballard’s proposed $2 million increase in the Professional Sports Development Area (PSDA) from $8 million to $10 million.  These additional funds would come to the CIB via the retention of more funds – as opposed to going into the state coffers.  These two legislators were concerned with how this would look to other cities like Fort Wayne and Evansville with professional sports teams but already receiving significantly less funding. 

Meanwhile, Rep. Jeff Espich (R-Uniondale) worried that helping the CIB “would open it up for others to try to fix gaming and other issues elsewhere ….we will be doomed if that happens.”

One voice of reason in all of this was Sen. Lindel Hume (D-Princeton), who seemed to be tired of hearing that no one outside of Marion County truly cared about the CIB funding woes. 

“I live in rural Princeton and I care.  The CIB represents a significant investment in future revenue for Indiana,” he notes.  “If we don’t do something, Circle Centre (mall) will close; we will lose dollars.  If we don’t do something, the conventions will leave; we will lose dollars.  This is as important as a large manufacturer to the state.”

But perhaps Rep. Cherrish Pryor (D-Indianapolis) made the best case for providing the CIB with the requested money.  “The state receives a much greater amount in return – roughly half a billion dollars – than what CIB is asking us for.”

It would appear then that some common ground must be reached and CIB funding included in the state budget, despite the shortness of time. (Crawford noted a bill must be printed by Sunday to present to the House.)

Money money money money MONEY. Some people got to have it.
 
For Democrats working on the state budget, that last lyric has been amended to: Some districts got to have it.   
 
The D’s are pushing hard to protect K-12 school funding for districts rather than students. In other words, enrollment numbers be damned; urban districts, which have historically received higher funding levels than others, should stay that way regardless!
 
Thanks to items called the “minimum guarantee” and the “deghoster,” declining districts like Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) have continued year after year to receive annual funding increases – even as enrollment levels have declined dramatically. Today, most of these urban districts get far more funding per student than rural or suburban schools. 
 
The Indiana Chamber’s education expert, Derek Redelman, notes that the state currently provides IPS with over $8,500 per student – far more than the $6,500 state average. When federal funds are included, the total for IPS rises to more than $9,400 per student, while the state average is just over $6,700. The numbers are even higher – over $15,000 for IPS – when local property taxes are included.
 
Yet, IPS Superintendent Eugene White today (one of a seemingly endless stream of testifiers, most of whom can now venture to the Statehouse committee rooms in their sleep) came before the budget conference committee with his hands out for more. Despite fewer and fewer students and additional increases in per pupil funding, White contends the money IPS gets from the state is still not enough. 
 
White had no answer for Rep. Brandt Hershman (R-Monticello) when asked what districts should be cut to give IPS more money or whether he would support a tax increase to give his district more money. 

According to Redelman, “This is the epicenter of our current budget debate. Democrats firmly back districts while Republicans want to fund students.”
 
Just how wide is the gap?
 
After it was noted that IPS funding would take a cut under the Senate budget bill (though it would get one of the largest increases per pupil) while the growing Hamilton Southeastern district would see an increase (but a cut on a per pupil basis), Rep. Bill Crawford (D-Indianapolis) imparted this bit of logic:

“We (the Democrats) are looking for a way to make K-12 education (funding) more equitable. If we have to bring the top (funded schools in the Senate plan) down to bring the bottom up, I’m for it.”

The budget bill will be in conference committee the next few days – perhaps even through Sunday. Lawmakers will officially return at 9:30 this morning, although most negotiations and compromises take place well out of the public view.

A few basic things to keep in mind about a conference committee:

The makeup is two members (“conferees”) each from the House and Senate as well as “advisors” – all appointed by House Speaker Pat Bauer and Senate Pro Tem David Long. These conferees and advisors may be removed at any time by the respective House and Senate leaders (generally only done if the appointee is threatening to go against the party line).

The conference committee process is less structured than the regular committee process. Conference committees may meet within one (Senate rule) or two (House rule) hours after notice of the meeting is posted (on the bulletin boards outside the respective Senate and House chambers) and are open to the public “whenever feasible.” No further posting is required if additional meetings are necessary, and it is within the chair’s discretion to be forthcoming about time and place of any additional meetings.

A bill may pass out of a conference committee only with unanimous consent of the conferees. This is called the conference report. If it passes out of the conference committee, both chambers vote on the final version.

Late yesterday it was revealed that the General Assembly has 14 new bills to contend with… or do they?

Four of the measures introduced by House members are procedural in nature: the vehicle bills.  The remaining 10 appear to be hot-button issues that couldn’t find their way to passage during the regular session.  Among them:

• Elimination of townships outside Marion County
• Smoking ban in public places
• Constitutional property tax cap amendment
• Declaration that marriage is between a man and woman

So why bother with them now during the special session, with less than a week before a state budget needs to be finalized?

It’s called going through the motions says Indiana Chamber health care lobbyist Mike Ripley, himself a former state representative.

“The legislators know realistically these bills are not going to move – maybe they have a 1% chance – and that leadership probably can only deal with the budget matters,” he states. “This comes down to legislators wanting to keep the issues that are most important to them out there, and going on record like this is one way to do that.”

The Indiana Senate definitely plays nicer than the House. Instead of zingers flying fast and furious, there was predominately a civil tone to today’s activity.  I lost track of how many times a variation of the word “respect” was used by both parties. Quite frankly, it made for some very boring talks. 

Still, when it came time for the Senate to vote on its version of the budget bill (SS 1001), the outcome was predictable – much like the House action last week – and had a distinct partisan flair to it. 

The Senate passed SS 1001 33-17; the catch being that one Democrat – Sen. Frank Mrvan of Hammond – voted for it, while Republican Vaneta Becker of Evansville voted no. 

The so-called budget contingency plan (SS 1) – in case an actual budget fails to pass by June 30 – moved from the Senate on a 32-18 vote (Republican Jean Leising of Oldenburg opposed it).

During today’s proceedings, Senate Pro Tem David Long (R-Fort Wayne) said his goal was to have the Senate vote on a finalized budget by no later than June 29. Of course, in order to do that, the House must play nice. Think they can?

The latest: Gov. Daniels issued a plea to the House Democrats to avoid a conference committee and to take a vote on the Senate version of SS 1001. The statement from the governor:

“The Senate compromise, while significantly different from either of my two proposals, protects taxpayers within the limits I’ve requested and I would sign it.  I know there are many House Democrats who would prefer a budget that keeps Indiana in the black to one that takes us into bankruptcy, and we invite them to join this compromise now and bring the special session to a successful close. Mr. Speaker, please just free your followers to vote their conscience and let’s go home.”

I don’t know who wouldn’t want these work hours.  The House of Representatives is done for the day – at noon. 

Heard today were amendments to the budget bill. Among them were pet projects and technical tweaks – many of which involve additional funding requests. House Republicans did register their complaints, saying this session is about establishing the state budget and not a time to keep spending on other things.

The budget measure (SS 1001) was moved to third reading; the House could vote on it as soon as tomorrow, when it is set to reconvene in the morning.

One added bit of drama came courtesy of Rep. Jeff Espich of Uniondale and Rep. Bill Crawford of Indianapolis, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, who exchanged barbs on the House floor. 

The topic was the way the Capital Improvement Board (CIB) bill was handled/manhandled – you can choose your own term – in committee yesterday. 

Espich wanted it known that the Republicans didn’t want the measure withdrawn as Crawford had done (due to lack of bipartisan support).  In his rebuttal, Crawford stated emphatically that “the CIB business now must be addressed in the Senate … it was my call to kill it and my call is it’s dead.”

And that, ladies and gentlemen, marked the end of today’s proceedings.