A Citizen's Guide to Indiana

Masson's Blog

Hicks on the General Assembly’s Efforts to Control Indianapolis

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Michael Hicks, writing for Howey Politics, has an excellent column responding to efforts in the General Assembly to micromanage Indianapolis government. Some of the legislation applies to local government generally, but the real focus seems to be Indianapolis and the Indy metro area. The upshot is that the General Assembly wants to do this because state government is controlled by Republicans whereas the Republican Party, by and large, can’t win elections in Marion County anymore. Local control goes out the window when the wrong people are in control locally and/or those people are making the wrong policy decisions.

With respect to the impact of those policy decisions, Hicks points out a lot of metrics showing that Indianapolis and its metro area are doing much better than the rest of the state. The big city has created more and better jobs, resulting in more economic output. Among other things, “each year residents of Marion County send, on net, a bit more than $500 per person in tax revenues to residents of the rest of the state.” And people are voting with their feet — in the last twenty years, “a full 85% of the state’s population growth happened within the Indianapolis metro area.”

Obviously, I recommend that you go read the column.

The Second Impeachment

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“President Trump may not know a lot about the framers, but they certainly knew a lot about him.”

— Rep. Jamie Raskin, House Impeachment Manager.

That’s probably the quote that sticks with me the most through this second impeachment of Donald Trump. We don’t live in unprecedented times. History abounds with precedent. The Framers of our Constitution were smart guys who knew a lot of history. A would-be ruler riling up the mob to attack his opponents is Despot 101. The issue here is not whether Donald Trump committed high crimes and misdemeanors or whether he intended to negate an election. He did. His place in history is secure. He’ll occupy a position of disgrace with the likes of Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan.

The question is how the Senate will be remembered — and, let’s be candid — how the Republicans in the Senate will be remembered. Will they, at long last, have a sense of honor? Or do they, like so many of Trump’s followers, hate liberals more than they love America? Trump hates everyone, not just liberals. And he clearly doesn’t give a shit about America. But, he’s more than willing to take advantage of a reflexive hatred of liberals to hold on to power. Hell, he didn’t think twice about putting Mike Pence’s life in danger. We saw today just how close Mitt Romney came to Trump’s howling mob. At least one Capitol Police officer died and many others were injured defending these Senators.

How will the Senators respond — will they grovel before the wannabe strongman and ask for seconds? Or will they remember their pride, maybe show some respect for themselves, for the Senate, for the Framers and for the country? I mean, I suspect I know. There will probably be something like 56 votes for conviction with most of the Republican Senators finding a way to tell themselves that this was o.k. In our state, Sen. Braun is obviously a lost cause. His obsequious subservience to Trump knows no limits. I don’t hold out much hope for Sen. Young, but I think he does have a somewhat stronger sense of honor than does Sen. Braun. In the likely event that he votes to acquit, his conscience might at least bother him a bit.

This fealty by a major political party to a man who embodies malice, ignorance, and self-aggrandizement is unsustainable. Our country depends on having two healthy, viable political parties, divided by policy differences, but united by a love of our country and its people. What we have now is not the way.

 

 

 

No Prosecutions Yet for $86 Million Charter School Debacle

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Steve Hinnefeld has an update on the Indiana Virtual School / Indiana Virtual Pathways situation. The update seems to be that nothing has yet happened (at least publicly) in terms of prosecuting those responsible.  The Indiana State Board of Accounts issued a special report on the “Indiana Virtual Education Foundation, Inc. d/b/a Indiana Virtual School and Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy” reflecting its findings that (as Steve summarizes it): “state funds were misappropriated through ‘malfeasance, misfeasance, and/or nonfeasance.’ It said Indiana Virtual School and Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy inappropriately received more than $68.7 million by misrepresenting the number of students who were enrolled in the virtual schools. They spent more than $85.7 million with vendors who were connected with school officers or employees but failed to provide appropriate paperwork, according to the audit.”

Of some of the shenanigans involved, Indiana Chalkbeat reported:

Five years after two students moved to Florida, they reappeared on enrollment records for Indiana Virtual School and its sister school.

And nearly every one of the more than 900 students kicked out of Indiana Virtual School and its sister school in the 2017-18 school year for being inactive were re-enrolled the next school year, included in per-pupil funding calculations that netted the two online schools more than $34 million in public dollars last year.

These were among the ways that Indiana Virtual School and Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy allegedly inflated their enrollment to at least twice its actual size, according to the findings of a state examiner’s investigation released Monday.

Jonathan Weinzapfel, the unsuccessful candidate for Attorney General had pledged a criminal investigation. Todd Rokita, the successful candidate, has been more non-committal. His office stated, ““We are thoroughly reviewing the report and performing the necessary investigation to diligently pursue the charged parties.” The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office indicated that this would be a federal matter (which strikes me as a little odd, but maybe I don’t know the nuances.) The feds won’t confirm or deny anything. So, it could be that the shit will be hitting the fan eventually but the gears of justice are grinding slowly.

Meanwhile, the Indiana General Assembly remains bullish on charter schools. Per Steve, “Speaker Todd Huston said he expects legislators to change the law so virtual schools get just as much state funding as schools that provide instruction in person.” When it comes to “school choice,” the Indiana General Assembly is like a quack doctor. Having diagnosed traditional public schools as sick, it’s prescribing leeches. And when the leeches don’t seem to do anything good, its conclusion is that it simply hasn’t applied enough leeches.

 

HB 1540: “Wanna Buy Uninspected Meat from a Van on the Side of the Road?”

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HB 1540, introduced by Rep. Nisly, seems to open up brave new markets for uninspected roadside van meat. It creates something called “a custom exempt slaughter establishment” (which somehow puts me in mind of Krusty Partially Gelatinated Non-Dairy Gum-Based Beverages). (Actually, I can’t see where it actually defines the term and a quick search of the Indiana Code didn’t turn up the phrase.) I’m not going to spend a lot of time researching this one, so take my review with a grain of salt. Anyway, it allows meat slaughtered at a “custom exempt slaughter establishment” to be sold at, among other places, “a roadside stand” without any kind of inspection. A roadside stand is anyplace where an individual farmer sells directly to customers.

It seems to be intended for small producers, purporting to impose limits of 20,000 poultry, 100 hogs, 50 cattle, and 500 sheep & goats.

Welcome to the Jungle.

HB 1546: “We Really Hate Teacher’s Unions”

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HB 1546, introduced by Rep. Goodrich and co-authored by Rep. Behning, would remove the requirement that, at a teacher’s request, schools withhold union dues from a teacher’s paycheck and would, instead, prohibit schools from withholding such dues from the paycheck. Keep in mind that, per IC 22-2-6,  employers can — at an employee’s request — withhold money from a paycheck that an employee wants to send to a nonprofit, use as dues for other types of unions, purchase goods from the employer, repay an employer loan, and a number of other things.  So, this prohibition on withholding union dues looks to be nothing more than mean-spirited. Oh, and “an emergency is declared for this act.” Because, of course it is.

The Road Goes Ever On

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At last they rode over the downs and took the East Road, and then Merry and Pippin rode on to Buckland; and already they were singing again as they went. But Sam turned to Bywater, and so came back up the Hill as day was ending once more. And he went on, and there was yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected. And Rose drew him in, and set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap.

He drew a deep breath. ‘Well, I’m back,’ he said.”

I’m not exactly sure why the Biden inauguration has me in a Tolkien state of mind. I suppose it’s something about that ending where Sam takes a deep breath and takes comfort in the danger having passed. However, that comfort and relief is in the context of a world that is diminished and scarred from the evil that has been forced to depart.

I’m not one given to alarm or hyperbole, but I truly do shudder at the thought of what might have come to pass if the election had gone the other way; or if it had been closer; or if the leadership of the House or Senate had been different. Democracy lives to fight another day, but it felt a little closer than I anticipated. The durability of our country’s institutions feel a little less inevitable than they did a few years ago. Which, upon reflection, is a valuable education for me. Ultimately, we can be absolutely confident that, one day, our democratic institutions and our country will fall. Entropy always wins. I’m currently reading a book about Bronze Age civilizations — civilizations which lasted centuries and about which I — a bit of a history nerd — have barely any conception. Given enough time, civilizations always fall.

But that’s no reason for nihilism or despair. We can’t worry too much about what’s going to happen 100 years from now, let alone 1,000 years from now. One day entropy will win, but that’s all the more reason to fight it — to delay that day & preserve our little bubble of comfort and order in the broad expanse of time and space that’s largely chaotic and uncaring. Perhaps knowing that, if we’re not careful, a lot of the institutions we take for granted could disappear will cause us to take more care to appreciate what we have. Our resentments can make smashing the existing order seem appealing. But I think the universe of scenarios in which the smashed machinery is re-assembled into something more desirable is far smaller than the universe of scenarios in which the smashed machinery is broken beyond repair or is assembled into something far worse than what we have now. Joe Biden seems like a reasonable choice for trying to fix what we have and making it more sustainable. I mean, who knows — his approach might not work for long; but it seems like a better choice than someone who wants to stoke our resentments, smash the existing machinery, and rebuild from scratch (or just loot the wreckage.)

Or hell, things might even get better. Maybe we’re not a Fallen people doomed to looking back on past greatness or condemned to wearing hair shirts to repent for our sins. Maybe we’re a capable people who can test everything, hold fast to what is good, and make better what is not. Guess we’ll find out.

SB 200 – “Noncompliant Prosecuting Attorney”

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Sen. Young has introduced SB 200 concerning “non-compliant” prosecuting attorneys. I expect this arises out of the Marion County Prosecutor’s determination that he wasn’t going to waste resources pursuing marijuana crimes involving amounts under an ounce. It creates a process whereby new Attorney General, Todd Rokita, could second guess that determination and ask the Supreme Court to appoint a trial court judge outside of the relevant county to consider whether to, in turn, appoint a special prosecutor who is a senior prosecuctor or prosecutor from outside of the county to seek out marijuana convictions or whatever the class of crimes not being enforced by the elected prosecutor may be.

The cherry on top is that the County whose authority is being usurped has to pay for the honor of getting a special prosecutor. Normally, the State pays prosecutor salaries.

Hinnefeld on HB 1005: School Voucher Expansion and Educational Savings Accounts

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Steve Hinnefeld, who you should follow if you are interested in education matters, has a good run down of HB 1005, introduced by Rep. Behning — the primary architect of Indiana’s school privatization efforts over the last decade or more. The short version: a family of five making $172k or less could be eligible for school voucher money. Educational Savings Accounts would be permitted as a vehicle for certain classes of students — a limitation which probably doesn’t matter much, since we’ve seen the M.O. of school privatization in Indiana has been to get the camel’s nose under the tent in one session, then invite him in during the next — to get state funding and deposit tax advantaged donations for the purpose of paying for “private school tuition, mentoring and tutoring services, college and university fees, online courses, career education and other education-related costs.”

But, definitely go read Steve’s post for a better explanation.

Second Impeachment of Donald Trump

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Donald Trump has become the first President to be impeached twice. As I write this, the vote appears to be 231 votes in favor of impeachment, including 10 Republicans versus 197 against (all Republican) and 5 not voting. Following is the text of the Impeachment Resolution:

Resolved, the Donald John Trump, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and that the following article of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:

Article of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against Donald John Trump, President of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.

ARTICLE 1: INCITEMENT OF INSURRECTION

The Constitution provides that the House of Representatives “shall have the sole Power of Impeachment” and that the President “shall be removed from Office on Impeachment, for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Further, section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits any person who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the United States from “hold[ing] and office … under the United States.’ In his conduct while President of the United States — and in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, provide, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed — Donald John Trump engaged in high Crimes and Misdemeanors by inciting violence against the Government of the United States, in that:

President Trump’s conduct on January 6, 2021, followed his prior efforts to subvert and obstruct the certification of the results of the 2020 Presidential election. Those prior efforts included a phone call on January 2, 2021, during which President Trump urged the secretary of state of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, to “find” enough votes to overturn the Georgia Presidential election results and threatened Secretary Raffensperger if he failed to do so.

In all this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.

Wherefore, Donald John Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. Donald John Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.

It’s clear that the facts stated in bold are true and that they are impeachable offenses. Trump intentionally incited a mob, and it was entirely foreseeable that they would act violently.

 

SB 34: Unlawful Assembly, Rioting, Defunding Police

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Sen. Tomes has introduced SB 34 which seems mostly to be a way for him to express his unhappiness with the Black Lives Matter protests this summer. It provides that the State and local unites of government may not hire and must fire someone convicted of rioting. “Rioting” is already on the books and is defined as, “A person who, being a member of an unlawful assembly, recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally engages in tumultuous conduct.” “Unlawful assembly” is currently defined as, “an assembly of five (5) or more persons whose common object is to commit an unlawful act, or a lawful act by unlawful means.” And, “tumultuous conduct” is defined as “conduct that results in, or is likely to result in, serious bodily injury to a person or substantial damage to property.”

SB 34 also provides that state and local government can’t provide a “state or local benefit” to someone who has been convicted of rioting. Such benefits are defined pretty broadly to include most public spending directed to an individual. However, the prohibition does not extend to, among other things, emergency medical treatment, assistance with vaccine, and short-term noncash emergency relief.

The normal protection given to law enforcement against civil liability for enforcing or failing to enforce a law would not extend to “failure to enforce a law in connection with an unlawful assembly” if such failure rose to the level of gross negligence. So, that would give law enforcement incentive to prioritize breaking up assemblies “of five or more people whose common object is to commit an unlawful act” since people who were harmed or had property damaged as a result of the assembly could look to local government to compensate them for the damage caused by the people assembling. Property used by a person to finance or facilitate a crime committed while the person was part of an unlawful assembly could be seized under the civil forfeiture statute. Someone charged with unlawful assembly could not be released on bail by the Sheriff according to a bail schedule. Rather, the statute would require a bail determination in court for such charges.

Finally, it prohibits a unit of local government from “defunding law enforcement” unless the reduction in funds can be shown to be a function of a decline in revenue for the unit, a decline in the crime rate, or the availability of other sources of funding. There’s a rebuttable presumption that defunding has happened if the funding available to the law enforcement agency has declined by 5%. If a court determines that defunding has happened, it is to order that funding be restored in the amount provided in the last fiscal year plus an additional amount to cover inflation.

The legislation would enhance penalties for the crimes of criminal mischief, obstruction of traffic, rioting, and/or disorderly conduct if committed in connection with unlawful assembly.