By Ronald Hawkins, Reporter-Times
rhawkins@reportert.com
The Indiana Commerce Connector will be an economic boon for central Indiana, State Sen. Richard Bray, R- Martinsviile, said Saturday.
Bray made his comments at a Third House session Saturday. State Rep. Robert Behning, R-Indianapolis, also appeared at the morning gathering, sponsored by Morgan County Farm Bureau Inc. and the Greater Martinsville Chamber of Commerce.
"I think it (the Commerce Connector) will be a tremendous economic boon to every county it touches," Bray said.
Bray's comment was followed by an immediate question from the audience.
"Pardon me, but where's your proof of that?" a member of the audience asked.
"You can't prove the future," Bray answered.
The Commerce Connector is another innovative idea of Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, Bray said.
"He's maybe the most innovative governor we've had since Otis Bowen," Bray said.
In part, the Commerce Connector is the governor's response to Bray's and others' objections to making Interstate 69 a toll road, the state senator said. The idea of the Connector is not new, but the approach is, Bray said.
"We'll do this without raising taxes," Bray said. "That I like. It's an attempt to build a highway with private money."
Bray added there is a possibility the road won't be built. A bill transferring the tolling authority from I-69 to the Connector and authorizing a feasibility study has passed the Senate and is awaiting action by the Democratic-controlled House.
When asked if his constituents support the Connector concept, Bray said he isn't sure. He added that 55 percent of people responding to a poll at his state Web site say they oppose it.
Bray said the new highway could bring better employment opportunities like those at TOA USA LLC in Martinsville.
WellSpring director of education and communication Jennifer Blankenship responded that some of her agency's clients work at TOA. Those clients' families live at WellSpring, a homeless shelter and transitional housing facility, she said.
Money needs to be dedicated to educational efforts of agencies such as WellSpring, Blankenship said.
Bray said if management of the state lottery is sold to a private company it is the governor's intent to use that money for education. Bray is opposed to the extension of gambling, but this is a way to find more money for education, he said.
In comments following Bray's, Behning said lack of skills and education for many Morgan County workers is a problem. What were once jobs at factories that didn't require a high school diploma now require employees to at least be high school graduates, Behning said.
"We're not just competing against other states, we're competing against other countries," Behning said.
At the Grade 4 level, U.S. students' academic progress is competitive with those of children in any other country, Behning said. By the eighth grade, however, U.S. students fall to the middle of the pack, he said.
"This has to change," Behning said. "We're not graduating enough physicians, engineers and scientists."
Behning criticized Democrats, who are in the majority in the House, for freezing Major Moves funds for two years, granting no increase in Medicaid funding and not providing state funding for all-day kindergarten.