The Republic
RATIONALE for opposition to Gov. Mitch Daniels’ plan to lease the Indiana toll road to a private consortium is difficult to pin down.
The main opposition seems to be Hoosier Democrats who have been all over the park in citing reasons for their displeasure.
Some have argued that the governor is selling the state to foreign interests — an allusion to the Spanish-Australian consortium that is believed to be the leading bidder — but that kind of isolationist thinking is clearly out of step in the global marketplace of which Indiana is a part.
Challenges are being mounted on the argument that the $3.85 billion bid is a bad business deal that the state will eventually regret. Several Democrats argue the state can keep the asset and generate extra revenue through a complex fiscal plan involving bonds and borrowing against future federal highway allocations to the state.
That kind of fiscal thinking can get the state into a deeper financial hole than the one it occupies.
The philosophy behind outsourcing certain government functions to the private sector is one that has been embraced by Democrats and Republicans at all levels of government.
That is due to the simple recognition that in some cases the private sector can do the work better.
In this particular instance, the benefits look to be inescapable.
The $3.8 billion would be up-front money state can put to use immediately.
The money will allow the Department of Transportation to move ahead with scheduled projects that were in danger of being put on indefinite hold because of a projected $2.8 billion deficit for 130 road projects that were already in the pipeline and scheduled over the next 10 years.
That shortfall was real and led to such unconventional approaches by the Department of Transportation as asking individual legislators to prioritize road projects in their areas.
Theoretically, the $3.8 billion would give the state the opportunity to undertake all of those projects at once.
These projects are not luxury add-ons. They are improvements and additions that would clearly have an impact on the state’s economy. Think of what the projected expansion of National Road will do for the city of Columbus.
Put simply, this is a good deal for Indiana.