I’m not sure I agree with the effort, but a question posed by the leader of National Popular Vote does stop and make one think.

Barry Fadem is the man. He’s president of the organization trying to persaude state legislatures to implement a popular election of the president. His question: "Why are all the other elections in this country based on the popular vote except for the most important one – the presidency?"

Supporters say the goal is to spread the wealth among candidate campaigning, similar to what Indiana experienced this spring for the first time in 40 years. Critics counter that rural areas will suffer, with candidates focusing on the big cities with the higher vote totals.

Stateline.org has the most interesting story. What’s your preference: the tradition of the Electoral College or time for a change?

On a side note, the chairman of the National Popular Vote effort is a scientist best known for inventing scratch-off lottery tickets. If only I would have come up with that idea!

Acronyms in government are legendary. How about SAFETEA-LU? Of course, that’s the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users. You knew that, right?

Federal funding of transportation programs, by any name, is at a crossroads. Gas taxes, the traditional funding source, are not enough to meet future needs.

Kathy Ruffalo, a consultant who also has experience on the government side of the equation, lists the following transportation challenges:

·         Steady increase in congestion rates

·         Continued loss of life on our highways (43,000 deaths each year)

·         More freight tonnage moving by truck and rail

·         Global competitors with aggressive transportation policies

If that wasn’t enough, two federal commissions were created to address the growing funding gap and its consequences. Their daunting names – National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission and National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission. Good luck with that.

Ruffalo says many federal officials “need convinced” about tolling and public-private partnerships. Bottom line, she adds, about the current legislation that expires on September 30, 2009. “Extensions will be painful; there is no money for extensions. Business as usual is not going to work and doing nothing is not an option.”

How many trillion Btu of coal did Indiana produce in 2005? If we told you 769.1, would you be impressed — or just confused? How about if we said that was more than all but five other states? A little more impressive.

Indiana’s coal capabilities and reliance on the fossil fuel for energy needs is not a secret. The state now has an opportunity to be a clean coal technology leader as development of a Duke Energy coal gasification plant in Edwardsport moves closer to reality.

The Energy Information Association has released additional data on energy production in 2005. Indiana ranked 24th in natural gas and 23rd in crude oil, far behind national leaders Texas and Louisiana in both categories.

Our state is not a participant in nuclear production, but the coal prowess puts the state 20th in overall production at 836.8 Btu.

The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council provides the full story and tables.

Stateline.org does an overall excellent job of covering policy and political news from, as the name suggests, a state perspective. But the massive nature of its mission produces some not totally unexpected errors.

This week’s story about lawmaker bloggers includes a list of state legislators who have become active blog participants. For Indiana, it lists Rep. Ryan Dvorak (D-South Bend) and Sen. David Ford (R-Hartford City).

Ford, of course, passed away earlier this year after being diagnosed with cancer near the start of the legislative session. We forgive the news organization for the oversight and will use it as an opportunity to once again celebrate the accomplishments of Ford, who represented portions of Adams, Allen, Blackford, Grant and Wells counties.

Ford was the Indiana General Assembly’s technology pioneer. He spent countless hours working toward increased technical capabilities in schools and other venues throughout the state. He also worked hard to convince his colleagues about the importance of the issues that many self-admittedly did not understand.

Chairman of the Senate’s Economic Development and Technology committee, Ford was co-winner of the Chamber’s 2004 Government Leader of the Year award — among many honors. In an interview in late 2007, he said his laptop was indispensable and he was happy to see more members of the Senate and House utilizing technology.

There would be no argument, either, that Ford was one of the true gentlemen to serve in the Indiana Legislature.

The popular saying is that everything is big in Texas, but try these facts about California and its government burden on for size:

* 38 million people, including 22 million in an eight-county region in the southern portion of the state
* 207 languages spoken
* 13% of the total U.S. gross domestic product
* $19 billion a year in highway funding, with local and state resources providing 38% each and the remaining 24% coming from the federal government 

A top official with the California Department of Transportation shared these numbers and more during a recent presentation.

We may not have the beaches of Malibu, the vast mountainous regions, or the legend of Kurt Rambis, but I think I’ll stick with the Hoosier state.
 

Heartland Community Bank is a 10-year-plus success story in Johnson County (including placement on the Indiana Chamber’s Best Places to Work in Indiana list for 2008). But when veteran bankers Steve Bechman and Jeff Goben decided to venture out on their own to get back to the customer service roots that were so important, there were more than a few anxious moments.

After all, it takes money to be in the banking business. As part of their investor tour in the summer of 1997, they were prepared to meet with business and community colleagues at Greenwood’s well-known Jonathan Byrd’s cafeteria. They were warned, however, that thousands of invitations for such events might only yield 50 attendees.

When they pulled into a full parking lot, they weren’t sure if it was the dinner special or a special event attracting the crowd. They were pleasantly surprised that the approximately 300 people came to hear them — and invest in their new enterprise.

Goben recalls, "The who’s who of Johnson County and southern Marion County were in the room that night. It was a tremendous vote of confidence."

The rest, as they say, is history. BizVoice has the Heartland Community Bank story in its current edition.

Members of the Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform didn’t abandon the cause after coming up with their far-reaching and meaningful recommendations in late 2007. The six months of work in compiling the report obviously became personal for the commission members – co-chairs Joe Kernan and Randall Shephard along with Ian Rolland and John Stafford of Fort Wayne, Sue Ann Gilroy and Louie Mahern of Indianapolis, and Adam Herbert of Bloomington.

Kernan, at the Indiana Chamber’s request, jumped in early this year with a series of video messages and BizVoice magazine article emphasizing the need for reform and discussing the findings/recommendations in specific issue areas. The former governor – along with Shepard, Stafford and Mahern, in particular – has been out on the speaking circuit ever since the report was released. They, along with others, recognize the challenge. It’s fair to say they (again, along with proponents who understand the importance of modernizing a system that has been in place for more than 150 years) wished more progress had taken place during the General Assembly session, but as political veterans they also realize little could be done with the runaway train that became homeowner property tax relief.

It’s no secret that Gov. Daniels will be focusing on this topic in his re-election bid and, if successful, in the 2009 legislative agenda. The status quo must change – at all levels. The numbers are in the report; the message is the same as those four words from Kernan upon its release – “If not now, when?”