The extent to which senior Democrats in the Indiana House don’t get it is actually quite alarming.  House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Crawford is taking issue with administration plans to cut spending by an additional 5%.

Crawford just can’t understand why the administration would hold back revenue in light of the fact that there is a chance that revenue might magically recover before the state goes broke.  In a letter to state budget director Chris Ruhl, Crawford wrote:

I am bewildered, almost to the point of being nonplused, that an additional 5% reserve hold-back is necessary at this time with the inklings of a substantive revenue recovery potentially imminent as witnessed by the recent reporting of the April Revenue Collection numbers being $48 million dollars above forecast.

Inklings?  The Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the legislature’s chief budget author, is recommending that spending continue despite a drop in revenue because he is having inklings?

The new House Republican slogan for this election year should be, “Really?  I mean, seriously people?  Vote Republican.”

The economy is still struggling to grow, but when it comes to winning back the Indiana House and putting Pat Bauer into permanent retirement, Hoosiers are willing to dig a little deeper.  At a fundraising event last night for Aiming Higher PAC, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents came together under a common cause and purpose to continue Indiana’s comeback.  The take?  Over $650,000.

Gov. Mitch Daniels isn’t on the ballot this year, but he’s raising a boatload of cash for fellow Republicans.

His goal: Putting the Indiana House of Representatives back in GOP control.

Daniels’ political action committee, Aiming Higher, held a fundraising event Tuesday night in Carmel with about 700 people paying $250 to $10,000 to attend.

Money raised will be added to the more than $728,000 that Aiming Higher had in its war chest as of April 9, the end of the last campaign finance reporting period.

All the money, said Brian McGrath, executive director of Daniels’ PAC, will be used to help Republican candidates for the House. — Indianapolis Star

The line-up of candidates from around the state who have agreed to step up and take on entrenched Democrat incumbents was impressive.  You can find that list of future Representatives at our site, Frugal Hoosiers Road to 51.  There you can learn about the challengers, and get active in their campaigns.  Only hard work will overthrow Bauer’s regime, but the money sure helps too.

When it comes to winning back the majority and sending Speaker Pat Bauer into retirement, Gov. Daniels is finding a crowd of generous supporters willing to part with their hard-earned cash.  Something about the idea of Pat Bauer sitting in the back row of the legislature, or back home in South Bend, just makes people add an extra “0″ to their contribution.

Just how serious is Gov. Mitch Daniels about getting a Republican majority in the House for his final two years in office?

Serious enough to be raising a boatload of cash.

The governor’s Aiming Higher Political Action Committee has an impressive $728,000 on hand, according to the most recent campaign finance report filed April 16.

And more is coming.

On Tuesday, Daniels will hold another Aiming Higher fundraiser that could bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars. Those who choose to be a “host” of the event must pay $10,000 for signage and a table of eight. And already 39 hosts have signed on. — Journal Gazette

Aiming Higher should be able to pass the million dollar mark at an event on Tuesday, a full week before the primary election.  The money will be targeted at Indiana House races to help win the majority.  Republicans have 36 candidates filed to run against Democrat incumbents in all of the state’s most competitive seats.  Democrats have filed challengers in less than half that amount.

To catch up on the state’s top races, check out our site Frugal Hoosiers Road to 51.

The Road to 51 continued in Crown Point over the weekend as Republican Dan Klein officially kicked off his campaign for state representative.  The next Speaker of the House, Brian Bosma, was on hand to support Klein, who is the former mayor of Crown Point and currently serves as the Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity in Northwest Indiana.

Klein, 54, cited his priorities, with job creation at the top of the list.

“We’ve seen jobs in industry from the steel mills just evaporate,” he said. “We need a good work and business environment to let businesses flourish, and if that means tax credits, that’s what we need to do. We want to stop the brain drain.”

He also cited ethics. “In government, we want to make sure people are ethical and they don’t forget where they come from and what they stand for.”

Finally, Klein targeted taxes.

“We don’t want any more taxes,” he said. “We want to work within the budget,” he said, pointing out his budget experience as current executive director of Northwest Indiana Habitat for Humanity.

Former state Rep. Tim Fesko, who served 10 years before retiring from the the House, told the Post-Tribune he believes Klein has the, “political acumen to be a fine representative. He’s been to Indianapolis, he knows the process and what needs to be done.”

Whichever candidate wins the seat will be “hit right between the eyes with funding and putting together the Illiana Expressway,” Fesko said.

“It’s a major, major situation.” — Gary Post Tribune

To learn more about Dan Klein and to get hooked up with his campaign, visit his website on Frugal Hoosiers: Road to 51.

Rep. Vern Tincher, who is electorally challenged in off-year elections, announced this morning that he will not seek reelection.  This is big news for House Republicans, who have a well known candidate in Bob Heaton.  House District 46 is the number one target for Republicans.

Tincher was first elected in 1982 and served until 1994, when he lost.  He was reelected in 1996, and lost in 2002, before he was reelected in 2004.  Basically, he was put back in office by transient ISU students who come out and vote Democratic in presidential election years.  A candidacy this year would have been an exercise in history repeating itself.

If you’re not paying attention to the debate over the Illiana Expressway, you’re missing some great political theater.  The Northwest Indiana Times calls out Rep. Terri Austin, an Anderson Democrat, for her role in blocking the progress of legislation to authorize the construction of the Illiana Expressway.  The resulting fight among Democrats has made for this session’s most contentious.

Austin, who chairs the House Roads & Transportation Committee, seems bent on being a roadblock to construction.

Austin, D-Anderson, proposed a change in House Bill 1369 that would require any government entity touching the Illiana Expressway, at least the Indiana portion of it, to sign a memorandum of understanding on the construction. All it would take is one community to torpedo this important project.

Austin’s amendments are counterproductive. They could spell the death of the Illiana Expressway — and the jobs that would be created by constructing it.

This is a moment when the project should get the green light in Indianapolis. — NWI Times

For a legislator who loves to wring her hands about job creation, Rep. Austin sure seems content slaughtering thousands of good paying construction jobs with this blatantly political effort.  From what we can see, Rep. Austin dropped the Illiana-killing language into HB 1369 last week, and did so covertly in the House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee, of all places.  The bill passed out of committee on party lines.  When it came time for the full House to adopt the committee report, Rep. Chet Dobis, a Democrat from Merrillville, sided with Republicans who opposed the committee report, and it failed.  Republicans filed three minority reports that attempted to undo the damage inflicted by Rep. Austin, but all were rejected on party lines with the exception of Rep. Dobis who sided with Republicans.

Rep. Austin’s spin on her plan to destroy public-private partnerships (P3’s) is that she is simply taking the case-by-case decision over whether to authorize a P3 away from the legislature in favor of setting up a consistent regulatory structure with which all P3’s must comply.  What her bill really does is kill privately funded road projects.  Taxpayers and road builders rejoice.

The Times recommended this remedy:

Northwest Indiana’s delegation in the House – led by Chet Dobis – should hammer Austin and other members of the House Transportation Committee to give approval to the Senate version. This is not the time for playing partisan games.

That’s exactly what Rep. Dobis is doing, with bipartisan support from Region Republicans like Rep. Ed Soliday and Sen. Ed Charbonneau.  For daring to represent his constituents best interests instead of Rep. Austin’s job killing campaign, Dobis has been removed from his position in leadership as the House Speaker Pro Tempore by Speaker Pat Bauer.  That’s a risky move with a one seat majority, but Bauer seems content to let this session implode so he can go home and play catch up with House Republicans who are way ahead of their Democrat counterparts in the 2010 House races.  When Democrats are fighting with themselves, it’s best to just let them finish each other off.  Stay tuned.

If  you oppose Rep. Austin’s campaign to kill construction jobs with petty politics, visit Kim Builta’s website over at Frugal Hoosiers Road to 51.  Kim is a Republican running for the House in the district that is currently, and hopefully temporarily, occupied by Rep. Austin. Learn more about Kim and volunteer for her campaign by clicking here.

Last week a number of House Democrats voted against a constitutional amendment to cap homeowner’s property taxes, including Rep. Trent Van Haaften.  Apparently Rep. Van Haaften is only offended by tax relief when it applies to homeowners.

The Evansville Representative has filed HB 1241 to allow individuals who own private planes to sidestep Indiana sales and use taxes if they register their planes in Indiana this year.  What next, a bill to give tax breaks to golf club manufacturers?

We get it, giving private plane owners a pass on sales and use taxes so they can register planes in Indiana probably helps out some reliever airports and encourages pilots to keep them in Indiana.  There’s probably even some debatable economic impact, however small.

What is not debatable is the hundreds of millions of dollars of property tax relief that Hoosier taxpayers have received since 2008.  When it came time this session to permanently protect homeowners, Van Haaften opposed tax caps to preserve the option for future legislatures to raise property tax rates.  But when private plane owners are disadvantaged, it’s Rep. Van Haaften to the rescue.

If you’re on the side of homeowners, you’ll be interested to know that Rep. Trent Van Haaften has a strong challenger in Republican Wendy McNamara.  To learn more about Wendy and volunteer for her campaign, visit her web page at Frugal Hoosiers Road to 51.

Cheryl Musgrave filed her first campaign finance report yesterday (view it here, PDF warning), and it’s more bad news for Pat Bauer and company. Like Kyle Hupfer, whose $60,000 report we told you about the other day, Musgrave starts off strong with over $40,000 raised and $34,000 on hand.

Compare that her opponent in District 77, Gail Riecken, who raised just under $30,000 and spent about $25,000 in her first run in 2008. To be fair, Riecken did run unopposed that year. But that makes it impossible to gauge what exactly she is capable of (both from a fundraising standpoint, and a campaigning standpoint). The early (and, as Brian Howey called it earlier today in his Weekly Report, “robust”) filing by Musgrave puts the ball in Riecken’s court to prove she’s capable of defending her seat. In fact, for the multiple offices Riecken has ever run for, we’ve been told she’s never had a serious battle on her hands, something that looks likely to change this year. Musgrave, on the other hand, has never lost a race while running as a Republican in Democrat-leaning areas.

Despite being an incumbent, Riecken remains a large question mark when it comes to campaigning. Musgrave gets a huge leg up with this report, and shows that this race will be one to watch through the rest of 2010.

If the national mood, economic situation, and issues like property tax caps didn’t have Pat Bauer worried before, this post is sure to ruin his day. Then again, it’s likely to ruin his day even if he was already worried.

Much has been made the past few months about the strong candidates Republicans have been able to recruit as state representative challengers. To date, that strength has been perceived nearly entirely on biography. With annual finance reports due in the next week or so, there’s something more tangible to base that perception on.

Case in point: District 37 challenger Kyle Hupfer, the former head of Indiana’s Department of Natural Resources, who is running against Scott “Crybaby” Reske up in the Anderson area. Yesterday afternoon, Hupfer filed a finance report that’s sure to get some attention. While the report isn’t yet online on the state’s campaign finance site, FH managed to see a copy this morning.

Since he started raising money in the last week of September, Hupfer has already managed to pull in north of $60,000, banking $55,000 of it. At this pace, Hupfer could easily raise $250-300,000 by election day–and that’s without factoring in that his first take is almost a year out while few are paying attention.

By contrast, in 2008 Scott Reske outspent Republican Kelly Gaskill $271,000 to $266,000 in a fiercely competitive race that he only won by about 1,700 votes. While Hupfer’s fundraising so far puts him on track to match, and probably exceed, Gaskill, Reske won’t have the political atmosphere in 2010 that favored Democrats–and ultimately helped nudge him across the finish line–in 2008.

With Republicans contesting numerous races around the state, Reske is also likely to find that Bauer’s ability to move money to his race is spread thin. Add to that the fact that the status of contributions from the embattled Indiana State Teacher’s Assocation (the subject of a couple investigations, both state and federal) is in doubt, and Reske may realize that his funds have dried up as quickly as Democrat momentum has. Hupfer’s strong first showing is bad news for Reske, indeed.

But what’s bad news for Reske is even worse news for Pat Bauer: We’re told that Hupfer’s finance report is just the tip of the iceberg, and Republican challengers across the state will be posting solid numbers in the next week. 2010 is going to be a fun year to watch.

In a huge win for taxpayers, the Indiana House passed constitutional property tax caps (HJR1) by a whopping 75-23 margin yesterday.  It didn’t take long before vulnerable Democrats who voted against the caps were already playing defense.  The Evansville Courier & Press fills us in:

A handful of House Democrats from Southwestern Indiana who voted against the caps will defend their votes as prudent, even if not politically expedient.

And their Republican opponents will attempt to hang the decision around their necks, criticizing Democrats for what they will argue was an anti-taxpayer vote.

That much was clear when the political gamesmanship began just minutes after the Democratic-led Indiana House passed the constitutional caps — 1 percent of the assessed value for homes, 2 percent for farms and rental property and 3 percent for businesses — on a 75-23 vote Monday afternoon.

The caps are estimated to save Hoosiers, and cost local government units, about $450 million this year.

Since the caps’ passage is all but certain in the Republican-led Senate, the House vote clears the way for voters to make the final decision through a statewide referendum in November.

Seconds after Monday’s vote, the state GOP unleashed a deluge of statements from Republican candidates running in districts represented by Democrats.

It’s worth pausing a minute to note the strong shape Republicans are in as they look to take back the House in November. In addition to the class of 20-30 top-tier challenger candidates they’ve already recruited (in contrast to the scant handful on the Democrat side), we’re also hearing that the GOP hopefuls have already started raising some serious cash (look for a post on that later today). Yesterday we may have seen a huge organizational advantage coming in to play, as well, that allowed Republicans to respond with a “deluge of statements” so quickly. It doesn’t hurt to be the party standing with the taxpayers on issues like this, either. (Note: Follow the House races on our side-project, Road to 51).

Here’s a sampling of the statements mentioned in the Courier & Press article:

“Protecting taxpayers is fundamental to strong, representative leadership. It is disturbing to hear that Trent Van Haaften voted against providing this basic protection. What concerns me the most is that this action indicates that he is not interested hearing taxpayers’ opinions on the property tax cap legislation; otherwise, he would have allowed the issue to be put before a referendum.” -Wendy McNamara, running against Trent Van Haaften in District 76

“As a small business owner, I realize the profound effect that property taxes can have on economic development. As a voter I would like the opportunity to choose my destiny. That’s why I am encouraged to see the House of Representatives vote today to pass constitutional property tax caps and put the issue in the voters’ hands. But I am also disappointed that Rep. Avery chose to put partisan politics ahead of taxpayer protection by voting against releasing a referendum on property tax caps. Hoosiers in Southwest Indiana deserve leaders who will listen to and trust their opinion. Indiana deserves a government that works with business and industry fostering jobs and economic growth.” -Ron Bacon, running against Dennis Avery in District 74

“This is a huge win for Indiana taxpayers on multiple fronts. As someone who worked tirelessly on this issue while Commissioner at the Department of Local Government Finance, I’m excited that Hoosiers are now one step closer to being protected from skyrocketing property taxes and that they will be able to have their voices heard on the issue in a November referendum. Most importantly, however, this victory makes Indiana even more enticing to businesses looking to relocate and bring jobs to Southwest Indiana.” -Former DLGF Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave, running against Gail Riecken in District 77