Executives and the Assembly

Consistency is really too much to ask of politicians, but the behaviour of the Indiana General Assembly (especially the House) has been aggravating as of late. Specifically, their disparate actions on the priorities of the two (arguably) most important executives in the State: Gov. Daniels’ push for DST and Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson’s IndyWorks.
As has been suggested and argued numerous times, including here at ITA by Paul Musgrave, that local government consolidation is a prudent and necessary step. Most Republicans agree, yet IndyWorks never had a good shot in the General Assembly since most GOP lawmakers decried the plan as half-baked. There were not enough details in the consolidation plan, therefore they couldn’t pass it. Excuse me, but the legislation switching us to Adjusted Time doesn’t even specify which time zone we’re going to be in! (Though, it’s apparent Mitch wants us on Eastern.)
So the uncertainty about the shape of Indianapolis Works doomed it, even when weighed against the evidence showing its practicality. This is also in large part because so many Republicans found that evidence to be unconvincing. The phrase “fuzzy math” was resurrected to describe how Peterson’s staff came up with numbers showing the benefits of consolidation. To some degree, I think Republicans have a point. (I’m trained to be a policy analyst, so I have an addiction to numbers.) But let’s also consider the math Mitch used to show us that DST would save our economy: none. He offered absolutely no studies demonstrating the wisdom of switching our clocks, even going so far as to say something to the effect, ‘We have to try something, so let’s give it a shot.’ This was his number one priority. Maybe Peterson was just wasting his time having his staff brief the legislators, since no numbers are better than some.

A further point could be made about political capital. Mayor Peterson was in the tough position of being a Democrat with a Republican General Assembly. He had two major initiatives, Indy Works and a new Colts Stadium. However odious public funding of a sports complex might be, he did manage to get that through, which is quite a feather in his cap. And at least some of IndyWorks came through as well. Not bad considering his circumstances. Mitch on the other hand, prioritized DST just above a balanced budget, declaring in his State of the State address:

But that was an oath I took last week. That was a Bible I took it on. I have sworn to uphold a constitution that directs us to produce an honestly balanced budget, and I was hired by the people of this state on a pledge to meet that assignment.

And now, he has a half-baked plan to put us on DST and no immediately balanced budget. I think he clearly could have vetoed the current budget and wrangled with the Legislature, including accommodating Democratic objections, for a new one . . . if he hadn’t spent all his capital getting DST approved. It took an amazing amount of time, negotiations, and “cajoling,” to get that stupid bill through the Legislature. We can only marvel at where else those resources could have been spent.
And as Paul noted, the passage of DST may very well cost him the House, and if so, passing it may be the last thing he’ll ever do. Mayor Peterson’s powerbase, on the other hand, isn’t in such a precarious position.