BY PATRICK GUINANE, Times of Northwest Indiana
pguinane@nwitimes.com
INDIANAPOLIS | With negotiations over the governor's highway plan heading down to the wire, a key Democrat says she may be willing to break party ranks to salvage funding for the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority.
Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, on Wednesday said she would support Major Move -- the 10-year, $10.6 billion transportation plan predicated on leasing the Indiana Toll Road -- if negotiators agree to give the RDA $100 million over 10 years.
They also would have to reduce to writing Gov. Mitch Daniels' promise to find comparable jobs for the Toll Road's 600 workers. And Rogers wants to secure job-training funds, which she said would help minorities reap the benefit of what Daniels calls "the jobs vote of a generation."
"I think that those three points would be enough of a reason for me to support it," Rogers said.
So far, support for Major Moves has split along party lines, with Republican majorities in the House and Senate muscling the plan into a final round of negotiations.
Rogers would join Sen. Glenn Howard, an Indianapolis Democrat lured across party lines by the promise of thousands of new construction jobs.
In general, Northwest Indiana Democrats find themselves in a compromised bargaining position. They want to secure the long-term funding the RDA needs to improve regional busing, revitalize the Lake Michigan shoreline and secure a major expansion of the Gary/Chicago International Airport. Their political party, however, remains steadfastly opposed to leasing the Toll Road.
Sen. Frank Mrvan, D-Hammond, said he will remain a "No" vote, though he understand the concessions Rogers is after.
"That's a good trade, I guess," he said.
Rogers serves as a nonvoting adviser to the committee working toward a compromise on Major Moves. The massive road construction program hinges on Daniels' plan to lease the Toll Road to Cintra-Macquarie, a Spanish-Australian partnership offering $3.85 billion for a 75-year lease. The Republican-controlled House and Senate must approve a compromise by Tuesday's adjournment.
"It's been very, very difficult on the legislators from northern Indiana," said Sen. Robert Meeks, R-LaGrange, the Senate sponsor of Major Moves. "Several told me that they now go to church and nobody will talk to them."
Meeks said the governor must compromise on plans to build a tollway connecting Indianapolis and Evansviille. The proposed Interstate 69 extension would slice up a southern Marion County township and residents farther south detest the idea of paying tolls.
Those concerns could cost enough GOP votes to sink Major Moves in the Senate, Meeks said.
Most of the remaining negotiations center on how to shield commuters from the nearly doubling of tolls that will accompany Major Moves and how to divvy up the lease proceeds.
"Sen. Rogers up there is very insistent on trying to get the $100 million (for the RDA)," Meeks said. "That might depend on whether or not she votes for it."
In related news, LaPorte Mayor Leigh Morris on Wednesday circulated a letter detailing "strong support" for LaPorte County to join Lake and Porter counties in the RDA.
The General Assembly could vote on the matter before adjourning Tuesday.