PunchtheBag has a good entry about Daniels’ decision to appoint a Kentucky man to head up Indiana’s prison system. I think it’s probably a prelude to privatization. As PunchtheBag puts it:

So for fresh ideas we go to Kentucky? It’s bad enough that Kentucky has reduced the IU Hoosiers to nothing more than a scrimmage opponent, but why not raid Maine, Vermont, or even North Dakota for jail expertise? According to this ranking, those states barely have shoplifters.

Introduced Version, House Bill 1081 Phases out inheritance taxes between now and 2009. More or less a duplicate of SB 10. Shouldn’t we just phase out income tax or sales tax instead?

Introduced Version, House Bill 1076 States that only a named insured or someone seeking insured status can bring an action for declaration of coverage prior to judgment being entered on the underlying claim.

Can’t say I like this one very much. This would apparently stop someone who has been injured by a tortfeasor from obtaining a determination of whether the tortfeasor has any insurance coverage. So, let’s say someone blows a red light, T-bones your car, and causes you a whole lot of injuries. Maybe the driver’s insurer says that the latest premium was received a day or two late and there’s no coverage. The driver says he paid it on time. The insurer defends the driver under a reservation of rights. So, to obtain your judgment, you have to fight through the insurer-paid attorneys, but at the end of the day, there might not be any money to pay your judgment. Knowing whether your judgment is worthless or not could very well affect how much you put into your case, paying experts, taking depositions, etc.

Contrast that with a potentially much cheaper action against the insurer for determination of the question of whether they cover the driver or not. You lose that one, and you probably cut your losses, figuring a judgment against the driver is worthless. You win that one and you expend whatever resources you can afford and your injuries justify.

Daniels ponders sale of ‘extra’ state items

An Indianapolis Star article about Gov. Daniels’ proposal to sell off government assets and allow naming rights. I certainly have no problem with selling assets that the state doesn’t need. But there is also talk of selling the toll road (I-80/90) to private interests. I’m against selling critical infrastructure to non-government entities. (I’m generally against toll-roads themselves, for what it’s worth. Roads are a common good and should be paid for as such and accessed by the public as such.) But don’t get into the business of turning capital costs into operating costs by selling stuff you need to private interests and then leasing from them.