State Rep. Cherrish Pryor of Indianapolis issued the news release below on Tuesday (Feb. 18) and I wanted to make certain you received your own copy of it:
STATEHOUSE – Indiana House Republicans today rejected a proposal from State Rep. Cherrish Pryor (D-Indianapolis) that would have taken significant strides in getting the state to provide more accurate information on the effectiveness of its job creation programs.
Pryor unsuccessfully attempted to secure House approval for language that would have compelled the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) to include all projects in the annual Economic Incentives and Compliance Report it compiles each year. At present, the agency is required to report information on “active†projects.
“By making that specification, the IEDC is able to avoid reporting on projects it considers ‘inactive,’ which enables them to avoid listing those projects that failed to live up to the job creation requirements, even though some of them may have received millions of taxpayer dollars in incentives and subsidies,†Pryor said.
According to a recent investigation by WTHR-TV in Indianapolis, the IEDC is relying upon limited data in reporting the numbers of jobs being realized in Indiana. The station reported that the agency does not include failed or underperforming economic development deals in its calculations, and fails to include those projects in either the regular reports it issues or on the IEDC’s online transparency portal.
By eliminating inactive projects, the IEDC can claim it has created more than 50,000 jobs that did not become reality, according to the report.
“These disparities demonstrate the importance of being vigilant, because we are talking about the single highest priority we should have this session: creating and retaining good-paying jobs,†Pryor said.
“We have to be truthful about how we are doing, and there is ample evidence to indicate that we still are not meeting that goal, even with the recent efforts at becoming more transparent in our economic development reporting,†she continued.
Pryor noted that the House majority has had a checkered record this session in pursuing greater accountability from state government.
House Republicans did agree to a request made by the Indianapolis lawmaker to require the Indiana Attorney General to provide better information on all settlements and judgments made by that office that impact taxpayer dollars.
However, the majority also has rejected proposals asking Indiana’s inspector general to be more accountable to the public and for a cost-benefit study of the effectiveness of the state’s effort to privatize numerous services.
“This trend toward reducing the public’s right to know is very disturbing, and I would hope that there will be more opportunities throughout the rest of this session for those in control of state government to understand the importance of being up front with the people of Indiana about the way their tax dollars are being used, particularly when it comes to something as critical as job creation,†Pryor concluded.
I agree the IEDC should be reporting on all projects regardless of their status. I think Pryor is right on this one.
I agree, but we already have transparency. Sounds like one more study to be bought and put on the shelf to me.
We absolutely should do this. I’m not sure what legitimate arguments can be made against the proposal.
Apparently none.
https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t1/1607098_640490259319534_1614167342_n.jpg
Damn right about that.
http://www.taxpayer.net/library/learn-more/fact-sheets
___
The programs that State Rep. Cherrish Pryor and Rep. Gail Riecken are concerned about are in the public realm and the financial figures are available to both of these representatives and to individual citizens through public information requests.
Rep. Pryor may not have been successful in her attempt to compel the IEDC to “include” this information in their annual report, but nothing can stop her from publishing the information herself.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) is the State of Indiana’s lead economic development agency. The IEDC was officially established in February 2005 to replace the former Department of Commerce.
It is a public/private venture, but its use of public funds requires disclosure of its finances.
___
So from one view Pryor could go the Freedom Of Information route and the other is to make them (Pryor) do a lot of unnecessary legwork. Plausible but why make a Representative take such action? This whole thing could easily be resolved by the cooperation of the IEDC over such a trivial matter. I am being to sense this is nothing more than political nonsense.
Tangent alert: Is it good public policy to highjack the governemnt and ignore your sworn duties because you don’t agree with a piece of legislature? Is the correct course of action in our government to hide in a neighboring state to shut down our legislative process. Is it good public policy to show no remorse to the people that you serve and become the mouthpiece of such a digusting move? Is it good public policy to sue the taxpayers of Indiana to pay the fines that you incurred while neglecting your duties? I understand that the CCO is a business and sometimes have to do things to keep the ball rolling, but I would find it difficult for me to ever take a red cent from Gail Riecken and I could never endorse or support anything that she does until she apologizes to the people of Indiana.
Well you do have a valid point, the walk out was nothing short of the Democrats shirking their oaths, duties and responsibilities.
Gail Riecken is on the mark here. This area has never sent a finer person to the legislature. She will have her detractors and they will personally attack her. They don’t really want transparency. When their turn at the trough comes, if it ever does, they want to be able to take all they can before the light shines in.
Any action taken by Indiana legislators to slow the nasty social agenda that will be our recent legislature’s legacy is laudable. So is transparency and accurate accounting, especially when we dole out public money to scam artists.
The tenacity that certain posters here cling to the past with is a clear example of why Indiana in general, and Evansville in particular is going nowhere, fast. These are the same individuals who push hard to try to shove us back into the mold of our not-so-glorious yesterday instead of plowing ahead into an uncharted but possibility-filled future.
Some of our legislators took extraordinary actions to avoid letting what they found morally objectionable happen. They had the courage of their convictions. To those who lack comparable courage, I say, “Let it go. It’s over. Tomorrow isn’t looking so good. We need to work on making that better and stop fussing about water under the bridge.”
Gail has an Urbana size ketchup stain on her shirt. Until that stain is removed, the same water is flowing under the bridge.
Representative Riecken showed tremendous courage in fleeing to Illinois. In these dark days, many legislators would be ashamed to abandon the jobs that they were elected to do, but Representative Riecken, a true progressive, has the consummate shamelessness that more of our Democratic legislators need. Even more legislators would have been mortified to have their hotel bills subsidized by union funds and so seem to be entirely controlled by them, but fortunately, most of our Democratic legislators in Indiana are proud to take their marching orders from union leaders rather than their constituents. At a time where many Americans look askance at union violence, corruption, and the trail of wrecked industries and financially broken communities that they have left behind, it is wonderful to see progressive politicians embrace this sordid legacy and bring us to closer to the economic collapse we desperately need to bring about revolution!
J. Coddington “Comrade Hugo†Fetlock IV
Maximum co-coordinator
Organizing for Idiocy
Evansville Cell
Gail showed the same courage in running to Urbana with our constitution that a punk shows by running away after robbing the Cash and Dash Mini-Mart.
She has an Urbana sized ketchup stain that will not go a away for those who care more about the rule of law than agendas.
Right or wrong. One would have to look at what preceded their flight to Illinois. Demos had lost enough seats that past November election where the Rep. had the super majority. Between the time the votes were counted in November and the swearing in that next January, RTW became the major agenda among the elected Republicans. Demo’s were broad sided by this and had to react.
No mention of this RTW agenda to the voters while these legislators were campaigning that summer before. (promoting business friendly laws was not RTW agenda) Could had been they would had not got the votes to be elected if RTW was campaigned on? We don’t really know at that time.
Demo’s leaving the state house was not new. It had been reported that republicans had step out them selves several years prior.
Of course they stayed instate. Have to give those Demos credit for going outside the state so they could not be drugged back into the chambers by state law officials.
+1
(Elky)
Representative Reicken showed infinitely more courage than the bullying legislative majority with the cruel social agenda could ever muster. Her boldness was on behalf of the people not a plot against them, a foreign concept to the women-haters who enjoy denigrating her. She delayed and disrupted their war on Planned Parenthood. It still makes them angry to think about it. Ho ho ho.
She is a good legislator who has actually done meaningful things for her constituents. Contrast that with something like ADelph, as he sits in the dunce corner planning his next press announcement.
Laura, you prove time and time again that you lack the ability to be objective. I don’t care which party it is, when you flee from your responsibilities, you should be thrown out like yesterday’s garbage. If it were Republicans, I would say the same thing. Stop protecting the party and call it what it was, a neglect of the Indiana people. Anyone that tries to defend their actions does not deserve a spot in any conversation concerning politics and/or government.
Oh please you’re full of it. Your hypocrisy and double standard is sickening and you, evidently are blind as a bat to it.
Republicans hold secret meetings to block anything and everything Obama proposes, hold a record number of filibusters(by an order of magnitude), prevent an ATF director from being appointed(then turn around and have the unmitigated gall to ask why gun laws weren’t being enforced). On top of it many in the Senate openly stated they would block any nomination Obama made no matter who it was. That’s not advice and consent that is treachery. Further there are record nubmer of court vacancies and back log of cases.
The Indiana legislature defunded PP and lost and passed an ignornant immigration bill and lost, and the teakook Mourdock sued for less than he was offered and while he brayed about secured creditors you never once questioned why he would buy indiviual junk bonds in the first place and why he never performed due dilgence on the bonds that went belly up just weeks before he bought them and it cost Indiana millions, upon millions and you clowns were cheering for ALL OF IT the whole GD way. HOOK, LINE, SINKER.
Mitch’s IBM contract cost Indiana TAXPAYERS $40MILLION. He borrowed close to $2BILLION to shore up Indiana’s UI fund (a problem that wouldn’t have ever happened if we had listened to Dems and NOT lowered the rates during good times) and BILLIONS MORE came in from the “failed stimulue” and you gave the Indiana CIB and Lucas Oil stadium a $250B bailout while cutting $300M from IN schools and all the while you clowns slapped good ‘ol Mitch on the back and praised him mightly for his “fiscal conservatism”
All of that cost Indiana $100’s of MILLIONS more than then ill conceived walk out by the DEMS.
That’s no ketchup stain, that’s
ONE BIG FAT SH*T STAIN all over the face of the good ‘ol GOP
Phyllip you really think you’re objective???
Just stop.
Having a bad day there Good Guy Benton?
If republicans had ran off to Urbana you would have a different “objectivity.”
It is quite worrying to see people regarding themselves as progressives demonizing so-called “scam artists”. This is often a racist term often applied to progressive leaders such as President Barack Obama, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and the Reverend Al Sharpton. We should instead be praising these individuals for extracting tax money paid by conservative Republicans into the public coffers and redistributing it to themselves and other members of the progressive community. “Dole” is another word well associated with right-wing hatred of individuals who value leisure and exercise their rights to a state-subsidized lifestyle.
J. Coddington “Comrade Hugo” Fetlock IV
Maximum co-coordinator
Organizing for Idiocy
Evansville Cell
My scores:
A+ Sarcasm and acerbic wit
A- For creativity and Wit
F For repeating decades old republic yapping points,
myths and lies
F For the using the fallacy of affirming the consequent
about unions
F For sweeping generalizations about people on the dole(Who are mostly white and mostly vote republican which I proved yesterday)
There isn’t a low enough score for your race baiting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOzSL_VqTas
My fellow maximum co-coordinator, S. Buffy “Comrade Tania” Smithers-Clinton, and I have observed that those attempting to pass as a progressive elite in Evansville have a laughably high opinion of their abilities. There is indeed nothing in your posts that warrants an “A” grade of any kind for you. Although in the past, it would have been entirely appropriate to award yourself an “F” in many areas, as you have done here, I must remind you that one of the goals of the progressive movement is the elimination of ranking and performance standards. Your use of the A-F standard aligns you with the reactionaries Daniels and Pence and necessarily raises questions about your commitment to the movement.
I strongly recommend that you leave the ideological struggles with the Republicans to those of us who have the education, training, and theoretical and operational understanding required to effectively wage class warfare.
J. Coddington “Comrade Hugo” Fetlock IV
Maximum co-coordinator
Organizing for Idiocy
Evansville Cell
Armstrongres says:
February 23, 2014 at 5:47 pm
Right or wrong. One would have to look at what preceded their flight to Illinois. Demos had lost enough seats that past November election where the Rep. had the super majority. Between the time the votes were counted in November and the swearing in that next January, RTW became the major agenda among the elected Republicans. Demo’s were broad sided by this and had to react.
No mention of this RTW agenda to the voters while these legislators were campaigning that summer before. (promoting business friendly laws was not RTW agenda) Could had been they would had not got the votes to be elected if RTW was campaigned on? We don’t really know at that time.
Demo’s leaving the state house was not new. It had been reported that republicans had step out them selves several years prior.
Of course they stayed instate. Have to give those Demos credit for going outside the state so they could not be drugged back into the chambers by state law officials.
======================================================
Exactly.
During a candidates night at the old labor temple Wendy Mac asked what RTW was didn’t know and Cheryl Musgrave said that RTW rumors were a Dem conspiracy designed to whip up fear among union members.
The problem was they stayed out too long. A big mistake by Bauer. They called attention to the problem, got the media attention, showed their support for the unions, etc.
After that there was nothing more for them to do other than go back to Indy vote against it and let Indiana suffer the consequences.
No, the problem is that they left the state and Gail followed. Had they stayed out of chambers and allowed the constitution to work, Bosma’s only choice would have been to send the ISP to escort them back in for the inevitable vote.
Instead, they pandered to their union buddies for an Urbana hotel room and pizza.
Following Bauer to Urbana was Gail’s mistaken choice. That is her fault.
Had she chosen to stay, I would listen to what she has to say. Instead all I hear when she speaks is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGghswQgAzE
Keep in mind that the Repubs were pandered by their chamber of commerce buddies from election night to the day they were sworn in, for RTW.
“All” republicans were told to “toe the line” on this issue.
Had they campaigned on this issue and still won their seats, then I to would likely agree with you as well, but they did not campaign on this issue did they?
I’ll “bull up” on this issue as you. It will be a cold day in hell before a republican will ever get a vote from me again.
Again, the issue with me, “none” of them campaigned
on that issue, but all was locked in step that first day in January.
Are you suggesting that nothing can come up in session if it was not part of the candidate’s campaign talk? That’s ridiculous. The bottom line is that everyone in the IGA is there to do a job that we sent them to do. That is their job. If I walked out on my job, I would be fired. If you walked out on your job, you would be fired. Riecken walked out on her job, made sure that she got in front of every camera available, and then sued the taxpayers of Indiana to pay for the fines that she chose to incur.
Not saying that on normal issues. This was a
major issue. Funny how among all those republicans that there was not a fairly large
group of them campaigning on that issue beings it became the top issue came January
2nd or 3rd after that election.
Armstrongers,
IIT that the unions and democrats campaigned against RTW?
IIT that the unions and democrats knew it would be an issue?
IIT that informed voters knew RTW was going to be on the agenda?
IIT that had the republicans made it the center piece of their campaign the outcome would have still been the same?
IIT that even if the republicans had hid their agenda it does not justify the democrats fleebagging to Urbana?
IIT that the people of Indiana showed their dissatisfaction with the democrats’ fleebagging by giving republicans a super majority?
IIT that one can not campaign against a issue until it has been campaign on/introduced in legislation, by the opposite party?
Can not honestly answer that one. “Someone else’s man” mitch had hammered on the teachers union, and if memory serves correctly, mitch didn’t want to push the RTW at that time but the legislation did. So, yes demos may had known of the leaning towards it, but not a outright attack?
Speculation? Maybe in the inner circle of the republic party, but not all voters of this state.
Answer in previous post
IIT they were yellow to campaign on that agenda. Why hide a issue, knowing full well it was a hot potato? You do acknowledge that republicans had walk out several years prior?
True they picked up a few seats. With the 2010 census allowing gerrymandering of the 50 senate and 100 representative districts by the controlling party may had something to do with it?
Conclusion
I don’t think it makes very good government when one party or the other has a super majority. Seems it becomes a dictatorship style of government. Checks and balances are appears missing.
Transparent government should start during the campaign on major issues. Granted that issues could surface those two months after a election, but the issue here did not fall in that category.
On to better topics later?
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