Indiana election picks up speed
Indiana voters will have a lot to consider when deciding who to vote for in the state’s gubernatorial election in November. Incumbent Republican governor Mitch Daniels is going up against Democratic challenger Jill Long Thompson, and both campaigns are working to prove to the public that their candidate is the best choice for the state. Both campaigns will attempt to highlight the extensive experience in both politics and the private sector that Daniels and Long Thompson have accumulated over their years of public service.
Cutting through red tape
Fielding constituents’ complaints about Medicaid enrollment delays and other snags in the state welfare modernization program has taken up the majority of state Rep. Suzanne Crouch’s time recently. Crouch, R-Evansville, is a member of a legislative committee holding summer hearings on the automated welfare-eligibility project. To cut through red tape, Crouch and other lawmakers have intervened on behalf of constituents who applied for Medicaid and other state public assistance and encountered long delays or unexpected denials.
Effort grows to change face of government
That is the subtitle to last year’s report, authored by former Gov. Joe Kernan and Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard, on streamlining government in Indiana. It also is the mantra of a group spearheaded by business interests intent on bringing the state’s local government structure out of the 1850s. “The alliance will have as its purpose building grassroots support to enact the changes recommended by the Kernan-Shepard report,” said Mark Miles, president and CEO of the Central Indiana Corporation Partnership.
