INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said Friday that a section in his transportation proposal that bars the Interstate 69 extension from running through Perry Township must be removed.
Daniels said he'd only be open to reviewing the route if it wouldn't slow down the planned extension of the interstate from Indianapolis to Evansville.
House Bill 1008, dubbed Major Moves, allows the administration to lease the Indiana Toll Road.
The House version also allows the state to enter into future public-private agreements.
A Spanish-Australian consortium has bid $3.85 billion for a 75-year lease of the Indiana Toll Road. The House passed the bill with language in it that asked Daniels to review the selected route for the I-69 extension as it enters the south side of Indianapolis.
At the request of Sen. Pat Miller, R-Indianapolis, the Senate then added stronger language that altogether bars I-69 from running through Perry Township in Indianapolis.
According to lawmakers, an attorney for the state of Indiana who works in Washington on federal regulation issues, told leaders this week that a change in the route would trigger more paperwork. The expert estimated the change could cause a two- to six-year delay.
"(A route change in Perry Township) would be perfectly acceptable to me with the proviso that we can't be adding three, five, six years or a huge uncertainty to the project," Daniels said. "I'm very open to changes as long as they don't add to the cost, to the timeline."
He said that means the bill's wording must be "refined."
"The legislation could easily say that this is our preference or that this is an option that must be explored," Daniels said. He also said he's open to adding language that would "minimize, perhaps to zero, passenger car tolls on parts of (I-69)."
When asked about differences that needed to be bridged between the House and Senate versions of the bill, House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, on Friday first talked about provisions affecting the commuters and counties along the Indiana Toll Road.
"It will require a lot of work," he said. "The changes made in the Senate definitely impact some of the votes that we successfully gathered to put the bill through in the House."
When prompted, Bosma also said I-69 provisions are sticking points. He said he was in the meeting with the Washington expert this week and found the low-end estimate of delays "minor" and the worst-case scenario delay "unacceptable."
Bosma said he didn't think it would be possible to reach a compromise that would completely please Perry Township or Evansville officials.
"We'll have to find that middle ground where as many people as possible are satisfied but, more importantly, that the best course of action is selected for the future of Indiana," Bosma said. "That's not yet been charted."
On Friday, both Bosma and Daniels downplayed the chances that House and Senate negotiators wouldn't reach a solution, possibly triggering a special session.
But House Democratic Leader B. Patrick Bauer of South Bend said the administration appears to be getting desperate because it offered two House Democrats jobs in the administration and asked a third House Democrat to vote for the bill in exchange for keeping open Silvercrest Children's Development Center in New Albany.
"I know that they're using political pressure in the governor's office, but I do think there are cracks in that," Bauer said. "It's not very good when they lob things back and forth (between the House and Senate).
"I could be a peacemaker for them."
Bosma said that delay and a special session only "play into the hands" of those opposed to House Bill 1008.
"Those who want to treat this solely as an issue of political gain or loss have every reason to try to delay the process," Bosma said.
"Delay gives them more time to shop their rhetoric of exclusion, their references to the public that are just designed to create emotion and reaction."
Bosma said "rational voices" will continue to try to explain to constituents, especially along the Indiana Toll Road, why the bill is a good deal.
But Bauer said Hoosiers understand the bill.
"People aren't stupid, they're against it," Bauer said.