The problem with Senate Bill 1 isn't what's in it but what's not in it, Illiana protesters say.
"The bill has nothing to do with a study," Citizens Against the Privatized Illiana Tollroad Vice President Laura Blaney said. "It alludes to a study but it doesn't provide for a study."
Blaney said public officials have sent mixed messages over the last couple months of heated debate. Support for a study is one thing. But support for SB 1 is support for the road's construction, Blaney said.
State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Portage, voted in favor of SB 1. She defended her vote by saying she supports a study.
And within the last couple weeks, state Sen. Vic Heinold, R-Kouts, has backed down from his previous support, including a favorable vote, for SB 1.
Heinold openly admits Senate Bill 1 provides for much more than a study.
"It's far-reaching, yes it is," Heinold said.
Opponents of Illiana Expressway, including CAPIT leaders, fear SB 1 gives the expressway the green light. In other words, except for the roadway's exact location, they say it's a "done deal."
Heinold said that's not far from the truth.
But in a news release dated Feb. 12, the day SB 1 passed out of the Senate, Heinold said all the bill does is give INDOT and the governor "authority to study the feasibility of building the roads as public-private partnerships," pointing to legislative oversight amended into the bill.
Heinold has since changed his stance. Though he doesn't want to act as a roadblock to the Indiana Commerce Connector in central Indiana or the Illiana Expressway from Interstate 65 west into Illinois, Heinold said he wants to "decouple" the Porter County portion of the expressway.
"The way it was introduced initially, it has to be all or nothing," Heinold said. "I just don't feel that way after learning from our discussions."
Heinold now acknowledges that SB 1, as now written, would allow for private contractors to bid on the expressway project and for construction to begin.
Aside from a section that includes Heinold's amendment on a legislative review committee, the bill makes no mention of a study.
In actuality, the study is a result of an agreement reached between INDOT and the Illinois Department of Transportation that will include an environmental impact study, a toll and revenue study and an economic impact study.
Herein lies the connection between a study and SB 1.
Gary Abell, INDOT spokesman, said the study can't take place without the passage of SB 1. Abell said the study, which will cost between $2 million and $4 million with Indiana footing about 75 percent of the bill, will be funded with INDOT study money.
"Private companies are not going to invest in the project unless we know we're able to build the road," Abell said.
Illiana Expressway opponents claim passing the bill before completing a study falls in line with putting the proverbial cart before the horse.
State Rep. Bob Kuzman, D-Crown Point, agrees with the analogy. Kuzman said he supports a study but opposes legislation that allows for a public-private partnership and the resulting acceptance of project proposals.
"It's a two-step process," Kuzman said. "One, is there a need for this? Two, if there is a need, where exactly is it going to go?
"Let's establish that before we talk about the funding and a public-private partnership."