Hoosier Park faces possible shutdown
Hoosier Park could be a victim of Indiana’s budget crisis, at least temporarily. “We are all watching and waiting and hopeful we don’t have to broach that subject,” said Jim Brown, general manager for gaming at Hoosier Park. The casino and racetrack — and all other licensed gambling operations in Indiana — could be forced to close if lawmakers in Indianapolis are unable to approve a new state budget or pass a continuing resolution to pay for state operations. Indiana’s biennial budget expires at midnight tonight.
Indiana prison population hits 99 percent of capacity
Indiana is running so short on prison space that it has just 26 beds available for its worst offenders. Inmates are already sleeping in beds stacked three high in one prison, and officials are considering renovating common areas like gymnasiums into cells. Department of Correction leaders thought their prison crowding problem would be alleviated – at least a bit – when Gov. Mitch Daniels proposed expanding two prisons to add 1,200 beds. Daniels said it was a priority because Indiana’s prisons are at about 99 percent of capacity.
Partial state government shutdown looms if no budget
State lawmakers are due back at work today as they face a deadline of midnight Tuesday to pass a new state spending plan. Without a budget or a stopgap funding measure, much of state government would shut down on Wednesday. That includes state parks, BMV branches and most state offices. Lawmakers return to work Monday with little time left to settle their differences and reach a budget agreement. Gov. Mitch Daniels says there is legal authority to keep essential services like state police and prisons running, but most of the state’s nearly 31,000 employees would be furloughed.
Daniels credited for nudge on welfare
Though he opposed efforts by Southwestern Indiana lawmakers dealing with the subject, Gov. Mitch Daniels played a key role in convincing contractors hired by Indiana’s welfare agency to take steps to bolster a modernization project. During a stop in Evansville last week, Daniels said he has been “very dissatisfied with at least certain aspects” of the plan to have the state’s Family and Social Services Administration use call centers and process documents online. The state signed a 10-year, $1.16 billion contract with a team led by IBM Corp. and Affiliated Computer Services Inc. to complete the project. “And that’s why we’ve had more than one very direct conversation with IBM and their partners,” he said
