Governor Mitch Daniels takes oath of office
I Hope that both Kermit and Governor Daniels will be able to deal with “being green”.
Guv Cries Foul
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is not happy with the House Ways and Means Committee. This should come as no surprise since the Committee’s new budget calls for the inclusion of a comptroller general position that would review privatization efforts, and the Governor is not someone who believes in oversight on his sales pitches. His view [...]
Selling Government
The U.S. government is selling it’s responsibilities to the highest bidder. If this does not particularly surprise or bother you. When the largest federal contractor, Lockheed Martin, gets more government money per year than the Departments of Justice or Energy, when the cost in pay and benefits for a contractor is double that for a [...]
BMV On The Move
In a 7-5 vote, the House Roads and Transportation Committee sent HB1262, authored by Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, to the House floor. The bill would transfer control of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles from the governor’s office to the Secretary of State. Pelath believes that the change will force public accountability. He also thinks that [...]
Guv Holds Customer Service Seminar
Mitch Daniels sent about 60 top state managers from 12 different agencies to customer service school yesterday. The Governor told attendees that state agencies have an added burden of customer satisfaction because those customers have no alternative vendor to government services. I cannot disagree with Mitch on this issue, but it seems that those managers [...]
2008 Race Begins For Indiana Governor
Senate Minority Leader Richard Young (D-Milltown), has become the first candidate to declare for the 2008 governor’s race. Other potential Democratic candidates for governor are thought to include state Sen. Vi Simpson (D-Ellettsville), Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott, Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard, Evansville Mayor Jonathon Weinzapfel, former House speaker John Gregg, [...]
High-Cost Kindergarten
Gov. Mitch Daniels’ full-day Kindergarten plan will be extremely expensive. The plan would cost $54 million in the 2007-08 school year, but would balloon to $260 million by 2011-12. In addition, 82% of school districts need more faculty in order to implement the program, and 53% need more classrooms. Dan Clark, deputy director of the [...]
Governor To Privatize Benefits
Gov. Mitch Daniels will hold a press conference in his office at the Statehouse at 11 a.m. in order to announce his plans for privatization of the state’s benefits program, including eligibility for Medicaid, food stamps, and welfare. The contract is said to be worth $1 billion over 10 years. For months, the only negotiation [...]
Head-Hunting For Talent
It’s a war. No, not Iraq, a war between American cities to attract 25-34 year-old professionals to their town. Within 6 years, more than two workers will be leaving the workforce for every one coming in, and this college-educated demographic will be counted on to spark the future of the economy. What draws these people [...]
Bottom 5 Of ’06–Indiana
5. Kyle Hupfer–State DNR Director negotiated a settlement to allow canned hunting to continue in Indiana and attempted to build and privatize state park inns. 4. Joel Silverman–Former BMV Commissioner instituted glitch-prone computer upgrade that brought Bureau of Motor Vehicle operations to a virtual standstill for two months, and affected police, prosecution, and voting efficiency. [...]
