INDIANAPOLIS - The leader of the Indiana Senate committee scheduled to review the governor's transportation plan said Wednesday he expects the committee to strip authority to build the Interstate 69 extension as a privately run toll road from the bill.
He also said the committee most likely will add another provision that would change the route of I-69 as it comes into Indianapolis.
Sen. Robert Meeks, R-Lagrange, is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which is scheduled to amend and vote on House Bill 1008 today. The bill allows the governor to lease the Indiana Toll Road and enter into future public-private contracts to build and run roads and bridges.
An Australian company joined with a Spanish company to bid $3.85 billion to lease the Indiana Toll Road for 75 years. And Gov. Mitch Daniels has repeatedly said the only other private-public partnership the administration wants to pursue is contracting with a private company that would help foot part of the construction bill to build I-69 in exchange for a lease to run it as a private toll road.
But Meeks said Wednesday that the committee will make several changes to the bill that he said are necessary to get enough votes to pass out of committee. He said committee members will strip the provision authorizing future private control beyond the Indiana Toll Road contract.
"We want (Daniels) to come back to the General Assembly for approval (of future contracts)," Meeks said. "We just think the people of Indiana deserve some checks and balances and we intend to put those in the bill."
Meeks said the Indiana Department of Transportation would still have the money from the Indiana Toll Road lease to begin I-69 construction. He said the highway could be built as a traditional freeway or the administration could return to the Legislature to seek permission to build it as a public toll road or as a privately run toll road.
Meeks said the committee will also include an amendment barring a multi-lane highway from running through a township that has a population in excess of 80,000, basically requiring INDOT to find an alternate path for I-69 through the south side of Indianapolis.
Meanwhile Senate Democrats held a news conference to release a more detailed critique of the bill.
They said internal documents show the companies seeking the lease expect to make a hefty profit but that lawmakers haven't been privy to detailed financial documents in order to analyze whether $3.85 billion is a fair price to lease the Indiana Toll Road.
"This is a great deal for (the consortium's) investors but it's a bad deal for Indiana," said Sen. Lindel Hume, D-Princeton.
The Democrats also question the administration's contention that if the leasing companies go bankrupt, the state could just take back the road. They argue that while the state may get the road back, investors could seek liens against future toll revenue.
And while Democratic votes to pass House Bill 1008 in the Senate seem off the table, Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, said that if the I-69 authorization is removed, the bill will lose her vote.
She said she's afraid that if Daniels has to come back to the Legislature to get approval of a bid to build and run I-69 as a toll road, he may run into problems and lose that funding. She said she can understand those who want more legislative oversight "because I think the governor is trying to privatize too much stuff."
"But I don't want to give him any excuses for not getting I-69 built," Becker said.