INDIANAPOLIS - Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels welcomed a change made to his privatized toll-road plan by a Senate Democrat, calling it a "constructive addition."
Daniels' plan to pay for the rest of Interstate 69 construction through Southwestern Indiana hinges on the Legislature transferring tolling authority from I-69 to two new privatized toll roads he has proposed: the Illiana Expressway in the northwest corner of the state and the Indiana Commerce Connector in the east and south suburbs of Indianapolis
The connector toll road, in particular, has sparked opposition from residents, fearing the loss of homes or farms through eminent domain.
Daniels' proposal, Senate Bill 1, was passed by the Senate Transportation Committee this week, 8-3. A Democratic legislator, Sen. Earline Rogers of Gary, got an amendment passed to address some of the concerns of opponents.
Rogers' amendment creates oversight committees of legislators to monitor route-selection and other aspects of the roads. One committee would oversee the Illiana Expressway, the other the Commerce Connector. Each eight-member panel could hold the Indiana Department of Transportation accountable through public hearings, for example.
At a news conference Thursday, Daniels said Rogers' amendment did not give him any separation-of-powers concerns. "I know there's a constitutional line there that you can't be involved in active approval and so forth. But I'm fine with some active oversight here and input, both as to any transactions that might go forward for Illiana or the Connector, and for the routes."
The governor said he has had "multiple conversations with interested legislators" about the Legislature having ongoing input and oversight in to the two toll-road projects.
"I think that some mechanism like the one (Rogers) devised will give yet another opportunity for public input and, I hope, would create greater public confidence in the projects; so I thought it was a constructive addition," Daniels said. "I had encouraged her and other legislators to work on some formulation like that."
The amendment passed the committee 11-0.
Senate Transportation Chairman Thomas Wyss, R-Fort Wayne, said the bill would be eligible for "second reading" starting Tuesday on the Senate floor, meaning other senators could try to attach amendments to it. Wyss said a Senate vote could be later next week or in the following week. Republicans control the state Senate, 33-17. Democrats have the majority in the House, 51-49.
Daniels has proposed allowing a private entity to pay the state for the rights to build and operate the Commerce Connector, a 75-mile tollway.
Last year's Major Moves lease of the northern Indiana toll road to a foreign consortium generated $3.86 billion for the state, of which $700 million will be used on the Interstate 69 extension through Southwestern Indiana.
That latter amount is enough to build I-69 from Evansville to the Crane warfare center; but Daniels has said more funding is needed to finish the interstate from Crane to Indianapolis. He proposed the connector as the means to fund I-69 as a freeway, not a tollway.
The Illiana Expressway is planned as a privatized tollway through Lake and Porter counties linking Michigan City, Ind., to the Chicago suburbs.
Rogers has discouraged the idea of using proceeds from the Illiana Expressway to fund the I-69 project, noting that unlike the Commerce Connector, the Illiana would not be physically connected to I-69. She has said there would be little support in northwest Indiana for using Illiana funds in that manner.
Daniels said he did not have a "fixed view" on that question. "I think that assuming that there were a premium paid on the Illiana - which is not at all unlikely - you would expect for those to be re-invested, at least heavily, in the area affected (in northwest Indiana)," the governor said.
"But I would think the first conversation ought to be about opportunities to invest those monies in northwest Indiana, or in roads that directly affect that or projects that directly affect that. And there are a number of possibilities, not limited to highways."
INDOT has held meetings around the state concerning the Connector and Illiana proposals - some that drew standing-room-only crowds. INDOT spokesman Gary Abell said the agency still is trying to schedule such a meeting in Evansville, though the date and details have not been finalized.