Letters to the Editor

 

Austin: General Assembly has a chance to do the right thing for Hoosier jobs

To the Editor:
As we head into the final days of the 2010 session of the Indiana General Assembly, lawmakers now have their chance to pass legislation that can get Hoosiers back to work.
In recent days, House members have approved a series of initiatives to create new jobs, help Indiana’s small businesses and raise the bar on corporate accountability and responsibility.
Reaching a final decision on this legislation should be the primary objective for the Legislature as we near the end of this session. We now expect to be finished several days before our mandatory March 14 deadline.
Here are the provisions that make up the only jobs plan currently before the Legislature. This bill passed the House on Thursday on a unanimous vote.
Job Creation Tax Credit for Small Business – I have mentioned the need to put a greater emphasis on assisting Indiana’s small businesses, which employ 1.3 million Hoosiers. Through a job creation tax credit, we hope to give businesses with fewer than 150 workers the chance to hire new employees, with an eye toward hiring unemployed Hoosiers and veterans.
Other small business-friendly proposals create a state ombudsman to help owners navigate their way through government regulations and provide greater access to EDGE (Economic Development for a Growing Economy) credits and low-interest loans.
New Employer Tax Credit – The plan provides a new employer tax credit encouraging companies to come to Indiana. We are asking state government to make sure that incentive packages place a priority on getting new businesses to locate in counties where unemployment is high. This proposal works in concert with our commitment to making sure that all taxpayer-funded public works projects hire Hoosiers first.
Incentives for Employers – The House plan also calls for Indiana to join 21 other states in establishing a program – to be called Helping Indiana Restart Employment (HIRE) – that will use $100 million in federal stimulus funding to provide incentives to private and public employers to hire dislocated Hoosiers for good-paying jobs. This funding is being left on the table in Washington. Why not bring it back to Indiana and use it to fund job creation?
Finally, we want to make sure companies that rely upon tax breaks financed by Indiana taxpayers live up to their end of the bargain. If these companies do not fulfill promises to create jobs, then the state gains the ability to “clawback” the incentives paid for by you and me.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle realize that something has to be done. All of these provisions passed with strong, bipartisan margins. Even members who spoke against some of these proposals turned around and voted for them when the roll was called.
Legislators understand the need to act now. There are 300,000 Hoosiers who are looking for work right now. There are thousands more who aren’t even counted in that total because their unemployment benefits have run out. Even more are uncounted because they have given up hope of ever finding another job.
I feel all of these proposals have the potential to pay for themselves, by creating thousands of jobs at a time when so many are out of work.
This bipartisan job creation plan now will be studied in House-Senate conference committees, where legislators from both chambers will attempt to reach final agreements on all issues that remain unresolved this session.
There will be talk about education and unemployment compensation and many other subjects, but the one issue that will define the success of the 2010 session of the Indiana General Assembly is getting Hoosiers back to work.
Now that concrete proposals are on the table, there is no reason not to act in the days we have left.
In these final days of the 2010 session, you can contact me in several ways. Call the toll-free Statehouse telephone number of 1-800-382-9842, write to me in care of the Indiana House of Representatives, 200 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204, or send a message to my web site at www.in.gov/H36. While visiting my web site, you also can sign up to receive regular e-mail updates from the Legislature.
State Rep. Terri Austin

 

Lanane: harnessing state’s renewable energy will create new jobs

To the editor:
During this session of the General Assembly, my colleagues and I have put forth a number of initiatives designed to grow our economy. From education, to property taxes, to economic development, we are singularly focused on moving our state forward in these tough times.
Harnessing our state’s abundance of renewable energy is one significant way we are looking to create new jobs – and strengthening a specific state policy this session will go a long way toward jumpstarting that job creation. The policy is called “net metering” and it allows businesses and homeowners to generate their own electricity through clean energy sources, such as the sun and wind, and get credit on their monthly bills when they return any extra power to the electric grid. That’s good news for consumers and for our environment.
Net metering also boosts job growth for the Hoosier state. Renewable energy sources simply put people to work, touching nearly every industry in our state. From manufacturing parts for wind turbines; to installing solar panels on homes and businesses; to marketing clean energy technologies; to farmers supplying the corn, wood or switchgrass to power biomass energy systems, Indiana stands to benefit.
Indiana already has a net metering policy in place; however, it is one of the most restrictive policies in the Midwest, which prevents most Hoosiers from participating. Both the Senate and the House have passed bills that strengthen our net metering policy and expand it to include consumers, schools, industrial operations, large farms and municipalities. In the last days of session, we are making every effort to work in a bipartisan way to move this legislation forward.
A robust net metering policy opens the door for future renewable energy legislation. In fact, one study estimates that Indiana has the second highest potential in the country for clean manufacturing job creation – the potential for nearly 45,000 new jobs. Utilizing renewable energy and our natural resources also has the potential to decrease our reliance on foreign oil and put us on a path to greater energy independence.
As the legislative session comes to a close, I remain committed to working for you in the Statehouse to grow our economy and create new jobs. Working together, I look forward to putting our district on the path toward greater economic prosperity.
State Sen. Tim Lanane

 

Alex theater proposal carries over in Pepsi Refresh Project
To the Editor:
The Pepsi Refresh Project has been tremendous for Alexandria. People nationwide are talking about our community.
Last night we had a huge surge in our votes – THANK YOU. We finished 17th and we carried over to March. We have a tremendous voting team in place and it would be great to expand that and win this thing.
The entire city of Alexandria would appreciate if you would help us again for the month of March. And this time any creative ideas anyone might have about how to get more recognition and voters ... we would love to have your input.
Again, thank you and please continue to vote.
John Dockrey
Alexandria
Economic Development