A Citizen's Guide to Indiana

Masson's Blog

School Funding Provisions Help Only A Little

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Meranda Watling, writing for the Lafayette Journal & Courier, has a story about how the passage of HB 1367 will affect schools in the Lafayette area.

The bill allows schools to transfer a percentage of their maintenance and capital projects funds to cover operating expesnes. Turns out it won’t be a great deal of help for our local schools. At the Tippecanoe School Corporation, it will allow transfer of only about $1.8 million as compared to the $3.1 million the state shorted TSC this year. And, even for that $1.8 million, it sounds like they had a mechanism available to transfer the money even in the absence of the legislation. West Lafayette could transfer about $200,000 as compared to a $586,000 shortfall in state funding. And Lafayette School Corp. could transfer $350,000 as compared to a $2.2 million state shortfall.

Public education is sucking wind. And, once again, it bears mentioning that this is a consequence of shifting school funding away from local property taxes to the more volatile state level income and sales tax. The ballot language on property tax caps in the Constitution is pretty simplistic: just mentioning the 1%, 2%, 3%. I think it should come with something that looks like the disclaimers for prescription medication (or Happy Fun Ball): “Caution – may cause extreme revenue volatility, making school financial planning impossible.”

At a personal level, I feel like grousing because I paid into the school system for roughly 14 years without kids of my own in the system – which I’m absolutely cool with. I benefit greatly from a population that knows how to read, write, and the rest of it. However, now, going into the second year of having my kid in the system, the system starts crumbling because of short sighted tax policy and they slash teachers.

Control the Present; Control the Past; Control the Future

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Who controls the past, controls the future. Who controls the present, controls the past.

I don’t know how bad it really is, but this article about the Texas State School Board’s decision to modify the history curriculum to reflect a more conservative-friendly vision of the past brought to mind Orwell’s quote.

The curriculum will now, apparently:

#Cut Thomas Jefferson from a list of figures whose writings inspired revolutions in the late 18th century and 19th century.

#Revise silly notions about the separation of Church & State.

#Emphasize the conservative resurgence of the 80s and 90s.

#Emphasize Black Panther violence as part of the Civil Rights movement and Republican votes in favor of Civil Rights legislation.

#Require studying “unintended consequences of Great Society and affirmative action legislation.

#Rehabilitate Joseph McCarthy.

#Not require teaching that “the founding fathers protected religious freedom in America by barring the government from promoting or disfavoring any particular religion above all others.”

#Replace references to ‘capitalism’ with ‘free-enterprise system.’

#Add Milton Friedman to economists who should be studied along side Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes.

Back To Double Fast Time Tomorrow

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Tomorrow is the time to change our clocks back to double fast time.[*] Not much to say that I haven’t already. Here is the archive.

Still, I was beginning to enjoy the morning light. Oh, and studies show it might cause heart attacks.

[*]So called because you get +1 fast time for moving from Central Standard Time to Eastern Standard Time and +2 fast time for moving from Standard Time to Daylight Time.

End of Session Negotiations Successful

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Legislators finally reached a deal that primarily involved the Unemployment Insurance Fund and schools. The deal means about $500 million for businesses and give schools some flexibility to deal with about $300 million in cut state funding.

On the business end of things, legislation will delay implementation of a 2009 deal raising unemployment insurance obligations of businesses. This will require the state to borrow about $360 million more to fund unemployment insurance than it otherwise would have and to pay an additional $150 in interest.

On the education side of things, schools had to deal with a $300 million cut in state funding that arose, at least in part, from the decision a couple of years ago to fund schools with sales and income taxes at the state level instead of from property taxes at the local level. This legislation would allow schools to mitigate the loss of money by using funds normally dedicated to transportation and building projects to fund operating expenses. Obviously, this isn’t a long term solution. But, I guess the hope is that the state funding shortfall isn’t a long term problem either.

Specifically action took place yesterday on the following bills:

SB 23 – Unemployment insurance and economic development. Passed the Senate 50 – 0, House 85 – 12. This was the unemployment insurance bill. It also has a number of provisions related to the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, including creation of a small business ombudsman and monitoring to determine whether businesses are complying with requirements of incentive packages they receive. It provides for emergency TANF funding and allows the Department of Workforce Development to implement a subsidized employment program. Requires the Department of Labor to develop guidelines and procedures for investigating questions and complaints concerning employee classification and make recommendations concerning necessary legislation. It makes some changes to the unemployment benefits process. For example, an ALJ making determinations on unemployment benefits has to be a licensed attorney. If an employer gets an initial determination in favor of an employee reversed but the reversal is based on information the employer didn’t provide initially, the employer’s UI account can still be charged a percentage of the benefits paid out.

HB 1367 – Education. Passed the Senate 50-0, House 97-0. It makes changes concerning school participation in the state employee health plan. Requires additional information concerning ISTEP performance and student retention be included on a school corporation’s annual performance report. Requires schools to prioritize allocation of resources going to remediating kids with trouble reading in grades K-3. If remediation efforts have a fiscal impact, school superintendents have to come to the General Assembly for an appropriation; if not, they can implement them following a public hearing. Beginning in 2012-2013, school years have to start after Labor Day and end before June 10. Grants an exception for schools that are year round or that coordinate schedules with a college. Allows transfer of up to 10% of capital projects funds to operating funds if teachers aren’t getting raises in 2010-2011.

HB 1086 – State and local administration. Passed the Senate 50-0, House 89-7. This is a grab bag of stuff. Youth advisory council; boxing regulations; property tax assessment procedures; library administration; golf course and aircraft taxes; veteran’s home eligibility; and ballot language for proposed property tax Constitutional Amendment.

HB 1336 – Mortgages and public deposits. Passed the Senate 50-0; House 95-0. Allows for voluntary participation in a five star mortgage program which, it looks like, would involve people with good equity in their homes, a fixed interest rate, and a 30 year term. Basically, it looks like it creates a level of trust that it’s a basic mortgage, with more or less creditworthy borrowers, from a more or less trustworthy lender. Allows PERF and TERF to engage in some joint management of their funds. Allows local government to make certain investments. And it changes some other financial regulations I don’t have time, inclination, or probably knowledge to comment on.

SB 396 – Assessment of agricultural land. Passed the Senate 50-0; House 97-1. For the assessment of agricultural land, it requires the DLGF that uses a 6 year average with the highest year thrown out. (If you’re using this approach, shouldn’t you also throw out the lowest year too to avoid artificially lowering the assessed value of agricultural land to the detriment of other property tax payers?)

Ninth Circuit Keeps America Safe From Godless Communists

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It looks like Michael Newdow lost another round in his crusade against the 1954 legislation which injected the words “under God” into the original Pledge of Allegiance to keep us safe from the godless Cold War communists.

As I posted in the comments over at Opening Arguments, I think Newdow is clearly correct that the 1954 legislation injecting “under God” into the Pledge was something the United States Government had no business doing. But, I also don’t think it’s worth wasting a lot of energy on – except that the addition messes up the cadence of the original pledge.

I’m a little bemused by the idea, however, that tossing God into the middle of our Pledge or our currency is useful to anybody. Mostly, I see it as an attempt by a certain, vocal subset of Christians to mark territory.

SB 73 – Control Signals

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SB 73 is ready for the governor’s signature. It is primarily concerned with railroad crossings – making it an infraction for failing to obey the instructions of a railroad flagman to stop the vehicle and requiring a motorist to stop at a railroad crossing upon the approach of on-track equipment. But, it also has a law of more general concern – what to do with those flashing pedestrian walk signs.

Flashing “don’t walk” means a pedestrian may not start to cross the roadway in the direction of the signal. A pedestrian who has already started to cross on the “walk” signal shall proceed to a sidewalk or safety island. If a countdown pedestrian signal indication is also shown, a pedestrian may cross if the pedestrian is able to proceed to the sidewalk or safety island by the time the steady “don’t walk” signal is shown, and a person who drives a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to the pedestrian.

This is pretty much the same instruction given for the “don’t walk” signal. Sometimes you wonder if the whole traffic code should be scrapped for a one line statute that says “be careful.”

Abdul: Rep. Fry at Spring Training

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Abdul is reporting that Rep. Fry (D-Mishawaka) is out of town at Spring Training, the result being that the House Democrats (also missing the sick Dennie Oxley Sr.) can’t get to 51 on the proposed compromises the House Democrats have worked out with the Senate Republicans.

The fact that these compromises can, apparently, get the votes of a majority of the Republicans in the Senate suggests that House Republicans are just being obstinate if a few of them can’t be persuaded to join their Senate brethren in voting on these things.

Should be interesting to get the story on this one and see if Abdul’s sources hold up.

Update The South Bend Tribune reports that it’s the health of Rep. Fry’s father that has him in Florida.

Rep. Craig Fry, D-Mishawaka, is in Florida with his 81-year-old father, who is experiencing serious health problems, Fry said in a phone interview this morning.

“I’m here because he has a health-related issue and it’s been getting worse,” Fry said of his father. “My family and my father’s health are more important than anything.”
. . .
Fry said he and his father went to two games earlier in the week during the House’s five-day break, but he would have been willing to return to Indianapolis on Wednesday or Thursday if Democrats needed him to be the 51st vote.

Glenn Beck, Social Justice, and Supply Side Jesus

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I realize even talking about this is futile. Facts, logic, and other trivial details of rational analysis are utterly lost on anyone who finds Beck persuasive. And Beck himself is laughing all the way to the bank. But, whatever.

His recent bit of idiocy was to condemn any church that advocates social justice.

“I beg you, look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church web site,” Beck urged his audience. “If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!”

Today, Beck returned to the subject, insisting that the notion of social justice is “a perversion of the Gospel,” and “not what Jesus would say.” He wasn’t kidding.

The Slacktivist had some nice commentary on how utterly stupid this was.

Glenn Beck continued his attack on “social justice” today, arguing that it entails “a perversion of the gospel” and is “not what Jesus would say” (MediaMatters has the audio).

This is an astonishing claim to anyone who’s ever had a Bible and their eyes open at the same time. Justice is an inescapable, relentless, pervasive, nearly omnipresent theme of that entire volume. It is impossible to read the law and the prophets, the Gospels and epistles, the histories, wisdom literature and apocalypse without being confronted incessantly with the theme of justice, justice, justice, justice, justice, justice, justice.

That accounts for justice, in the Christian teaching of every Christian church, being regarded as a cardinal virtue and an attribute of God.

But, for my part, I think Al Franken pre-emptively disposed of this kind of crap when he wrote The Gospel of Supply Side Jesus.

It is easier for a rich man to enter heaven seated comfortably on the back of a camel than it is for a poor man to pass through the eye of a needle. . . . if you are prosperous on earth, that means that God is rewarding your rugged individualism. If you are poor, it is a sign that God frowns on your reliance on handouts.

More on Vote Centers Set to Expire

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HB 1106 contains a provision that would extend the status of Tippecanoe, Wayne, and Cass counties as “vote center pilot counties.” Under the original legislation passed a few years ago, the pilot status is set to expire. From my personal perspective, vote centers have been a great thing, and I think they have been well regarded in general. They allow you to vote anywhere in the county, regardless of your precinct. You get a precinct-specific ballot.

The Palladium-Item has an article on the snags for passage of the legislation.

State Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, said in a press release an amendment on no-fault, absentee voting is threatening to derail the bill continuing the vote centers. The amendment would allow voters anywhere to cast early ballots by mail, even if they don’t meet existing criteria for voting absentee.
. . .
“Hoosier voters and the local units of government operating in the three pilot program counties shouldn’t be punished because agreements can’t be made about absentee balloting,” Alting said. “The issue of absentee balloting should not hold this bill hostage, but rather absentee voting provisions should stand on their own in a separate bill.”

A study by the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute showed the centers save significant costs.

I hope they can work this out.