State may buy flooded homes
Moving its schedule ahead by several years, the state this week will begin offering to buy homes needed to build the I-69 extension in Martinsville in an effort to help residents whose homes were ravaged by flooding.The move comes after homeowners along Ind. 37 in Martinsville approached Gov. Mitch Daniels with the request during his tour of water-logged communities earlier this month.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080618/LOCAL/806180409/1001/NEWS
Gubernatorial bid launched for ‘Taxpayers’
A Republican state lawmaker from Southwestern Indiana launched a third-party bid for governor Tuesday, trying to position himself as the candidate of property tax repeal supporters. Sen. John Waterman, R-Shelburn, said he will run for governor under the label of the “Taxpayers Party.” To get their names on the November ballot, Waterman and his running mate, Glenna Jehl, have less than two weeks to collect nearly 33,000 signatures of registered voters by the June 30 deadline.
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/jun/18/gubernatorial-bid-launchedfor-taxpayers/
Oxley’s more than a twang and a prayer
State Rep. Dennie Oxley’s southern twang isn’t the only thing he brings to Jill Long Thompson’s campaign for governor. But it might be the most important. “We need a governor who understands what families are going through,” Oxley said Monday morning, his twang slowing every syllable. “We need a governor who can restore Indiana’s promise.”
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080618/NEWS08/806180411/1101/NEWS08
Smoking and taxes
In late 2006, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels proposed the creation of a two-edged sword for improving the health of Hoosiers. He wanted to make health insurance available to low-income working Hoosiers, and he wanted to encourage smokers to stop or curtail their habits. Indiana did, and still does, rank high for the number of smokers, so the method for funding the insurance would be a healthy increase in the state’s 55.5- cent-per-pack cigarette tax. A lot of Indiana lawmakers didn’t like the idea because they don’t favor tax increases of any kind. But in the end, in the 2007 session, enough legislators bit the bullet, voted in favor of a 44-cent-per-pack increase and passed the legislation. The total tax now stands at nearly $1 per pack, and it seems to have worked.
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/jun/18/smoking-and-taxes-the-issue-indiana-shows-drop/
Samuel R. Turpin
