INDIANAPOLIS | Nearly everyone has plans for spending money they don't yet have -- it's why the Hoosier Lottery exists -- but getting that money in a world other than lottery fantasyland typically requires a great deal of work.
That's the challenge a trio of region senators faces over the next six weeks as they scour the proposed state budget, House Bill 1001, for funding to make the House-approved plan for the future of the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority a paid-for reality.
State Sens. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso; Earline Rogers, D-Gary; and Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, met last week to map out how best to persuade their Senate colleagues to invest in the region and to look at where that money might come from.
"We were very happy that the House sent us over some proposed legislation; unfortunately they didn't send it over with any money in the House budget," Tallian said. "We're going to do everything we can to come home with train money."
For the past decade, the RDA has been funded, in part, by an annual $10 million state grant paid from proceeds of the Indiana Toll Road lease. That money runs out June 30.
House Bill 1618, sponsored in the Senate by Charbonneau and Tallian, proposes linking continued state support for the RDA to expanding the South Shore Line to Dyer and related transit-oriented development along the current and new commuter rail lines.
A second measure, House Bill 1398, sponsored by Charbonneau and Rogers, mandates the RDA focus on transportation, infrastructure and Marquette Plan lakeshore work, instead of general economic development efforts and requires more state oversight of RDA projects.
The two proposals are awaiting action by different Senate committees, but Charbonneau expects both ultimately will be merged with the state budget by the 13-member Senate Appropriations Committee, on which he, Rogers and Tallian all serve.
"I am 100 percent on board with this thing and have always been; it's just not an easy sell," Charbonneau said. "There's a lot of work that needs to be done between now and April 29 (the Legislature's adjournment date) to get this into a form that everybody can agree with."
Charbonneau said his current focus is triple-checking the RDA's claimed return on investment for the $571 million projected cost of extending the South Shore Line.
The agency believes the state will get back, within 20 years, at least twice the $9.4 million in annual matching grants the legislation calls for, through increased sales and income tax revenue as region residents take the train to Chicago and bring home and spend salaries far greater than they could earn in Indiana.
"I strongly believe that we have a good story to tell," Charbonneau said. "But how it's depicted, how it's perceived is going to be very critical and we need to make sure we have numbers that are beyond reproach."
Local delegation working for the money
Rogers said she is feeling the pressure to find the money and on Thursday jokingly told state Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, the Appropriations chairman, the region is doing all it can to win him over -- "including kissing your ring."
"They've certainly made their presence known and worked hard since last summer to get their issues in front of everybody," Kenley acknowledged. "The honest answer is, we're not quite sure what to do."
Kenley said it's still early in the Senate's budget-crafting process and lots of possibilities still are on the table, including directing money to the RDA from Gov. Mike Pence's Regional Cities Initiative, House Bill 1403, which also is sponsored by Charbonneau and Tallian.
However, Kenley said he's apprehensive about committing Indiana to the 30 years of RDA funding required to cover the borrowing necessary to build the South Shore extension.
RDA officials are scheduled to make their case to Kenley's Appropriations Committee on March 26.
"I don't have answers for you. All I've got are questions today," Kenley said. "We've got a lot of requests this year; it's kind of a squeeze. We'll see."
Charbonneau, who sits next to Kenley in the Senate chamber and has shown him maps comparing the economic impact of Illinois' many Metra commuter rail lines with Indiana's single South Shore Line, believes separating the money needed to build the train line and the proposed funds for transit-oriented development may bring Kenley on board, since that would reduce the amount to be borrowed.
"That's the key piece right now: Getting funding so we can bond for construction," Charbonneau said. "The TOD part, you have to have the TOD part long-term to make it work, but the critical, immediate piece is being able to bond to start the construction."
Tallian added that if LaPorte County chose to join Lake and Porter counties in the RDA, as permitted under current law, that would reduce the state's cost and produce more efficient development through the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission.
The Senate's version of the new, two-year state budget is set for an April 9 Appropriations Committee decision and a full chamber vote by April 15.
A select group of representatives and senators then will meet in a conference committee to finalize the state spending plan, which must be re-approved by both chambers prior to midnight on April 29 to go to the governor for his signature or veto.
RDA-South Shore money can be added -- or removed -- from the budget at any point in the process prior to the final House and Senate votes.