Why I Am Suing over the Major Moves Legislation
April 14, 2006
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1. Respect for the Indiana State Constitution
Governments founded on the basis of written constitutions should not pass legislation or implement legislation that violates constitutional principles. When the government ignores the constitution, it has no legitimate claim against others who do the same. Article 10, Section 2 requires that all revenues derived from public works such as the toll road be applied toward the state's public debt before being spent on anything else. Whether such revenue is derived from the sale, lease, or operation of the public works in question is irrelevant.
2. Opposition to New Terrain I-69
The legislation commits proceeds of the lease to starting construction on the New Terrain route for the proposed Interstate 69 extension from Indianapolis to Evansville. Until Governor Daniels came up with the idea to lease the Northern Indiana Toll Road, neither major party knew where the funding for the New Terrain version of the I-69 extension would come from. But both major parties committed to the New Terrain route, despite countless public hearings in which the majority of citizens in attendance opposed the New Terrain route. Given the accelerated timeline for construction of the highway, and the commitment of both major parties to the New Terrain route, opponents of the New Terrain route for I-69 are left with no legal recourse other than to sue.
3. Support for Good, Long-lasting Jobs for Hoosiers
Major Moves is business as usual. And business as usual is why Indiana keeps losing good jobs while environmental quality deteriorates. Replacing good jobs that pay better than living wages and provide benefits, with low wage-dead-end-pollution-based jobs with little or no benefits, is economic development for the wealthy only. Policies that promote alternative energy, public transportation, and rail-based commercial transportation will create more long-lasting good jobs than will business as usual.
4. Poor Stewardship, Poor Leadership
Major Moves calls for building more roads, when we need to fix the roads we have. Expending public revenues on expansion of the state's roadways is simply bad stewardship. There are already more roads per square mile in Indiana than in almost all other states. Major Moves is based on continued and increasing long-term dependence on imported oil and other fossil fuels. Major Moves will therefore deliver to our children and grandchildren ticking ecological and economic time bombs. Dependence on fossil fuels leads to unjust wars. It fails the test of leadership because it fails to call upon citizens to recognize and act on the need for new and sustainable approaches to how we live, travel, and work.
5. Privatization
Privatization undermines the foundations of our shared citizenship. Hoosier tax payers have worked long and hard to build the public infrastructure we have. Instead of using the proceeds of that infrastructure to enrich private interests, in exchange for a short-term cash infusion to solve a fiscal crisis of our government's own making, we should retain public control over all of our hard-earned assets. If it remains under public control, the government can be held directly accountable for its management. Toll roads are a profitable asset class. Leasing a profitable toll road to a private entity, and handing over to that entity all of its revenues, at a time when state and local governments are staggering under the legacy of unnecessary tax-cuts, begs the question of whose interests are really being served.
Bill Stant can be reached at (812) 988-6793 or w.stant@worldnet.att.netSt. Joe Valley Greens, South Bend, IN