Gary airport project caught in Indiana Toll Road maelstrom

Gary Mayor Scott King rushed to Indianapolis on Wednesday in an attempt to salvage funding for his airport's runway extension and other projects in Northwest Indiana.

Just before meeting with Gov. Mitch Daniels, King said he had supported the governor's transportation initiative because it was suppose to result in full funding for the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority.

"What I want to see in Major Moves is maintaining the $10 million a year for each of the 10 years," King said. "We need to see that in the Senate because that's the basis of my support for it."

The Indiana Senate version of the Toll Road privatization bill strips that funding from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority and replaces it with $20 million.

Daniels on Wednesday came out in favor of an amendment from Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, that would restore the funding. But that amendment was one of 37 set to be introduced.

The governor and King met for about 30 minutes, said Jane Jankowski, a spokeswoman for the governor.

"The governor is the one who proposed and pushed for creation of the RDA, and time after time he has shown his commitment to the RDA and the region," Jankowski said.

For months, Daniels has promised to fund the RDA with $100 million over 10 years out of the $3.85 billion in proceeds from the Toll Road lease. That lease has become the linchpin of his Major Moves transportation initiative.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Meeks, R-LaGrange, deleted that funding from a House bill last week.

Wednesday's meeting with the governor came two weeks after the airport received final approval for $57.8 million in federal funding for the runway extension. But the airport must still come up with the rest of the money needed. The RDA was expected to provide about $15 million.

Without the RDA money, the federal funding also would be in jeopardy.

RDA Chairman John Clark on Wednesday told Northwest Indiana RDA members via conference call that he would be at the meeting with the governor.

Clark, a key adviser to Daniels, said he was disappointed by what he called the "dreary developments" in the Senate.

"We're kind of the tail on a big dog here," Clark told the RDA members. The RDA's accounting committee was meeting at the Purdue Technology Center of Northwest Indiana in Merrillville.

One year ago, Indianapolis-area legislators supported formation of a Northwest Indiana RDA in order to get Northwest Indiana Democrats to support funding for a new Indianapolis Colts stadium.

The quid pro quo was essential to getting the stadium bill passed.

On that occasion, Mayor King took Chicago Mayor Richard Daley to Indianapolis and the two met with Daniels to discuss the importance of the Gary airport project.

Now, the stadium project is safely on its way, but the RDA has been thrown into the political maelstrom surrounding the Toll Road lease.

"The Senate bill really guts the intent of the RDA," RDA board member Lou Martinez said Wednesday.

The problem is that without a secure source of long-term state funding, the RDA would find it difficult to bond for big projects. Also it could not secure the federal funds that would pay the bulk of project costs.

The RDA is funded with $14 million annually in casino funds from Hammond, East Chicago, Gary and Lake County. Porter County raises its $3.5 million share with a local income tax.

In two weeks, the RDA is expected to vote on funding requests from the Regional Bus Authority totaling $425,000. Then it will work its way up to more ambitious projects. The largest proposed project is the extension of the South Shore Line, estimated to cost $350 million.

Much of that money could come from federal transportation grants, but local funding from the RDA would be needed to secure those grants.

Times Statehouse Bureau Chief Patrick Guinane contributed to this story.