By Lesley Weidenbener
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS – Just weeks after his first pick abruptly resigned the office, Gov. Mike Pence appointed Rep. Suzanne Crouch to be the new state auditor, saying she is “uniquely” qualified for the office.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence on Monday named Republican Suzanne Crouch, a state representative from Evansville, to serve as the state’s new auditor. Photo by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com

Crouch is a former county auditor, a former Vanderburgh County commissioner and has served in the Indiana House for eight years. She’ll take over the post on Jan. 2.

“This is a unique opportunity to work with state government,” Crouch said Monday. “It’s an opportunity to work with the governor’s office, it’s an opportunity to work with the legislature and with local governments. It’s kind of the best of all worlds.”

Pence said he recruited Crouch to the job, a change from the way he filled it the first time.

That was back in August when Pence picked then-Brownsburg Town Councilman Dwayne Sawyer from a long list of candidates who’d expressed interest in the job. At that time, the governor said “again and again it was Dwayne Sawyer who emerged as the best choice for all the people of Indiana.”

A few months later, Sawyer resigned citing personal reasons.

This time, Pence said he reconsidered some of those original candidates. But then he decided to talk to someone he hadn’t even interviewed during the first round.

“I called her,” Pence said of Crouch. “As I looked at her background, as I reflected on the time that we spent during the last session of the General Assembly, as I reflected on her career, I just concluded that she was someone we ought to ask to consider to serve in this role.”

The governor called Crouch a “consequential lawmaker.” She served as vice chair of the budget-writing House Ways & Means Committee and co-authored legislation authorizing the lease of the Indiana Toll Road, which helped finance former Gov. Mitch Daniels’ Major Moves transportation plan.

Crouch said Monday that Pence’s call about the auditor’s position came out of the blue but she ultimately decided it was the “next thing I should do in public service.”

Crouch said she will also run for the post next year. That means asking Republicans at their state convention next June to elect her to be the GOP nominee. If they do, she could face accountant Mike Claytor, who has announced he is seeking the Democratic nomination.

The auditor’s position came open last summer when Republican Tim Berry – who had been elected to the post – resigned to become chairman of the Indiana Republican Party.

On Monday, Berry called Crouch “an excellent choice” and said her experience as a county auditor will serve her well in the state post.

House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said Crouch “will certainly be missed as a member of our caucus and a fiscal leader on our Ways and Means Committee.”

This space is provided by the City County Observer for our readers to make any comments they wish regarding the poll we are taking on the Indiana 8th District Congressional Election. The assumed candidates for this poll are Incumbent Republican Larry Bucshon, Vanderburgh County Sheriff Democrat Eric Williams, and Libertarian Andrew Horning.

We request that you keep your comments civil and support your statements with the deeds of these three gentlemen.

As Mr. Horning was placed into the poll when the count was Bucshon 28 – Williams 21, if anyone posts a comment to change your vote we will do so manually. Our apologies to the Libertarian Party and to Mr. Horning for our oversight.

By Lesley Weidenbener
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Mike Pence wants to boost spending on highways and transportation next year by freeing up some $400 million lawmakers set aside for projects during the 2013 legislative session.

It’s a key part of the Republican’s legislative agenda – and one place where he can spend substantially more cash without potentially taking it away from something else.

Lawmakers did the hard financial work earlier this year when they opted to save the cash instead of spending it – or giving it away through one of Pence’s proposed tax cuts.

But that doesn’t mean Pence is going to have an easy time spending it.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley – a GOP architect of the budget that include the set-aside for highways – said he’s not ready to give the governor the authority to spend the money just yet.

“I really am pushing back on that,” Kenley said.

Lawmakers set that money aside for some specific projects that aren’t likely to be funded through the state’s normal transportation budget, which combines state and federal money for highway and bridge maintenance and construction across the state.

Specifically, Kenley is talking about making Interstate 70 a six-lane road from the Ohio border west to Illinois and making I-65 a six-lane road from Kentucky almost to Lake Michigan.

He said finishing construction of I-69 is on that list too.

The projects are so expensive that they could drain the state’s regular transportation budget, leaving no money for smaller road and bridge repairs and construction that are needed in other communities.

Still, Kenley said they are crucial for the state’s future.

“Indiana’s economy relies to a great extent on our crossroads position and our transportation infrastructure,” Kenley said. “If Indiana can suck it up and find a way to get (these projects) done, then Indiana would be leaps and bounds ahead of everybody else.”

He doesn’t think the state can pay the entire expense of the highway expansions. In fact, he said Indiana will likely have to use state money to leverage other funding – from private sources or tolling or other options. But he said putting the $400 million that’s already been set aside into the normal transportation funding stream is a mistake.

Pence has been mum about specifically how he wants to spend the money.

In an interview Friday, he said only that, “what we will seek to do in the session is to free up those resources so we can put them to work building more roads in Indiana.”

“If you’re going to say you’re the Crossroads of America, you better have the roads to back it up,” he said.

But the governor acknowledged that – unlike most transportation appropriations – he can’t spend this $400 million for roads without legislative permission.

That means Pence will have to make a convincing case for how he wants to spend the money.

After all, the current budget already allocates $215 million more for state and local road projects annually – dollars that Pence does not need legislative permission to spend.

Kenley said he talked to the governor about his plans for the $400 million but hasn’t seen any specific proposals and isn’t convinced freeing up the money is the right move.

“He’s just talking about taking money and spending it on other road projects on the wait list today,” Kenley said. “The money wasn’t set aside for that ordinary of a purpose.”

But as powerful as Kenley, he’s still just one vote. So it’s up to Pence to make his case to the full General Assembly.

Lesley Weidenbener is executive editor of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

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