Post-Tribune
Members of the Indiana General Assembly — in some respects — will be voting on Northwest Indiana’s economic future before they head home next week.
At stake is Gov. Mitch Daniels’ Major Moves proposal that may be the most ambitious highway construction project in the history of the state.
Whether Major Moves becomes a reality hinges on the 75-year lease of the Toll Road for $3.85 billion. Key to NWI is that $100 million of that money will go to the Regional Development Authority over 10 years. Highways here will benefit, too.
The Senate took the $100 million off the table a week ago, but that was little more than a ploy to get NWI legislators to agree to the Toll Road lease.
Unfortunately, Major Moves has become a political issue, with Republicans largely in support and Democrats adamantly opposed. It’s not Daniels’ highway plan that is at the heart of the controversy, but the lease of the Toll Road to a Spanish-Australian compact.
We suspect the controversy would be considerably less if the leasing of the Toll Road hadn’t gotten caught up in the furor over President Bush’s plan to have an Arab company operate six East Coast ports. It’s senseless to compare the two because the Toll Road lease isn’t a security issue.
Other lease opponents argue that the deal will lead to toll increases. That stance, too, is lame in that the state surely will hike tolls if it maintains operation of the Toll Road.
We do understand a concern about the future of those working for the Toll Road. Legislation can protect those employees.
Given what NWI stands to gain through RDA projects and highway development, it would be foolhardy for area legislators to oppose Major Moves for purely political reasons.