May 1, 2005
Indianapolis Star
STATEHOUSE SCORECARD
Daniels sees 'great start'
The governor got nearly all he went after during his first legislative go-around.
He even has the numbers to prove it.
By Mary Beth Schneider
mary.beth.schneider@indystar.com
Gov. Mitch Daniels believes in keeping score, and by his tally he has 73 wins
and 10 losses after his first legislative session as Indiana's chief executive.
Looking at his scorecard, which includes a historic daylight-saving time victory, economic development initiatives and a personally negotiated financing package for a new Colts stadium, it's hard to argue.
"It's just a start, but it's a great start," Daniels said Saturday morning, 10 hours after the Indiana General Assembly ended its four-month session.
Daniels, whose business suit of Friday was replaced Saturday by khakis and a tieless burgundy shirt, displayed large placards in his office listing 83 goals. Check marks indicated 68 were fully accomplished, including some by executive order; five -- including the state's new $24.3 billion budget -- he scored as partial victories; and 10 remain unfinished business to be revisited next year.
He ticked off the accomplishments. He'd won a new inspector general position to enforce tougher ethical standards in state government and laws to crack down on methamphetamine abuse. Among his losses were a plan to move ISTEP testing to the spring and eliminating state boards and commissions.
Still, he did something previous governors had only talked about doing. Daniels moved Indiana to daylight-saving time in one of his biggest battles.
"Indiana has decided we're ready to spring forward in ways that don't have anything to do with clocks," Daniels said.
He called the session "historic" by moving an "unprecedented amount of important legislation."
But the success didn't come without a lot of help from his friends -- and Daniels had a lot more of them than recent governors. For the first time since 1988, there was single-party control of Indiana government.
When Daniels was elected on Nov. 2, 2004, Indiana voters also gave him a Republican House and Senate as allies.
That, Daniels said Saturday, made a world of difference.
"It would have been very much more difficult, no question about it," Daniels said. "Many of the items with a checkmark (showing they were accomplished) would never have been heard at all. Many have been bottled up in the past. The outcome wouldn't have been nearly so positive."
Republicans won control of the House, 52-48, in November after a 10-year stint in the minority. The GOP, long in charge of the Senate, controls that chamber 33-17.
Republican control made things more difficult, though, for Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson.
"It certainly changed things," Peterson said. "In the past, both parties always had a stopper for anything that was terrible for them and their party. Now, obviously that's not there."
He had to cede control of a new Colts stadium to Daniels in order to get legislative approval of a financing package, which includes restaurant tax increases in Marion and surrounding counties.
And, even with Daniels' support for his government consolidation proposal, lawmakers handed Peterson a watered-down version that the mayor said wasn't worthy of the name "Indianapolis Works."
Peterson, though, credited Daniels for getting involved, especially in the stadium project.
"He expended some political capital. Really, there is nobody else in the state of Indiana that can make a regional tax in Indiana like that work," Peterson said.
Daniels differed with Republicans in the legislature on state tax increases. He used his first State of the State address in January to call for a temporary, 1-percentage-point income tax surcharge on higher earners in order to balance Indiana's budget in one year. Instead, the Republicans handed him a budget that could be balanced over two years with no tax increase.
And Daniels had a couple of sharp clashes with Democrats. At the session's midpoint in March, House Democrats boycotted the legislature, temporarily derailing many issues, in protest over bills they felt were power grabs by Daniels. He labeled their actions a "car-bombing."
Daniels avoided some partisan battles by compromising on some bills, including the one creating an inspector general, and eliminating others, including a bill that wasn't on his agenda but which gave him the power to appoint Marion County judges.
In other cases, he sided with his fellow Republicans, such as by signing a
bill that requires voters to show a government-issued photo ID.
There were ideological differences as well, especially on the budget.
The budget, charged House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, was "balanced on the backs of our children and property taxpayers. After years of bipartisan efforts to reform education and reduce property taxes, the Republicans and Governor Daniels have approved a budget that will cut funding for many schools and raise property taxes."
Daniels and Republicans said they have improved school funding overall and more fairly distributed it, and argue that it's up to local governments to find ways to keep property taxes from rising.
Some Democrats believe that Daniels and the Republicans overreached this session. The votes on daylight-saving time and the budget, Bauer said, will resonate in the 2006 legislative elections.
In fact, Bauer is literally counting the days -- 550 days, he said last week -- until Democrats are back in the majority.
Democrats say one of the biggest problems is that they were denied a voice in the budget-making process.
Republicans wanted to avoid new taxes and more gaming. Democrats wanted more money for education, said Sen. Vi Simpson, D-Bloomington.
But, Simpson said, there was no attempt to craft a bipartisan budget by getting Democrats' input.
Her first substantive meeting with Daniels didn't come until the budget was a done deal and the governor invited Senate Democrats to his office to clear the air and apologize for saying Democrats had had "zero interest" in the budget.
Daniels, she said, had a temper that got in the way of statesmanship.
Asked what he had learned in his first session as governor, Daniels quipped: "How much time do I have?"
But, he said, "I think I learned that in the last days of a session when people worked very hard, cared a lot about issues and nerves are taut, it's a good idea not to say very much."
Daniels, though, gets some strong praise from lawmakers for reaching out to
them -- and some of the strongest came from Democrats.
"Governor Daniels is a breath of fresh air," said Rep. Chet Dobis,
D-Merrillville.
Dobis said he's worked under six governors, three Republicans and three Democrats. With the exception of the most recent, Gov. Joe Kernan, "I have never experienced the type of cooperation as I have this time," he said.
Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, said she found Daniels' office "the most nonpartisan atmosphere in which I have worked."
She and Dobis worked with Daniels to win the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority package, which includes help for Gary's airport, in order to boost the region's economy.
"I had a seat at the table," she said. "I absolutely came to the conclusion that ideas were entertained based on their merit rather than where and who they came from. For me, this was a first."
And, Dobis said, Daniels never asked for anything in return. He noted he voted against two of Daniels' top priorities: the budget and daylight-saving time.
"They never, ever hinted at anything political. There was no quid pro quo," Dobis said. "That's unusual in this building, and it's refreshing."
On Saturday, Daniels spread the credit for that and other issues around, thanking
lawmakers in both parties for passing an ambitious agenda.
And, he said, he's just beginning.
At 3 p.m. Monday, Daniels and Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman will meet with their
legislative team to start planning next year's legislative agenda.
Call Star reporter Mary Beth Schneider at (317) 444-2772.
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