High court rules Legislative Council open primary analysis accurate

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

Legislative Council’s analysis of the open primary ballot measure was cleared by the Arizona Supreme Court for the state publicity pamphlet, reversing a lower court’s finding that the summary was misleading. Make Elections Fair sued the legislative council after the approved analysis led with the provision allowing for ranked choice voting as opposed to the key change to the primary. Superior Court Judge Melissa Julian, a Ducey appointee, agreed and found the council’s summary “selectively emphasizes the Initiative’s voter ranking  provisions” and “inaccurately suggests that its enactment would mandate the use of voter ranking to determine the winning candidate in all future elections.” Julian wrote, “Such a strategy is ‘tinged with partisan coloring’ and violates the requirement of neutrality.” On appeal, the Arizona Supreme Court unanimously found the analysis “substantially complies” with state law requiring analysis to be impartial, clear and concise. “The analysis, including the first numbered paragraph, accurately describes the Initiative,” Chief Justice Ann Timmer wrote. “The analysis describes the changes in separately numbered, short paragraphs, which permits an interested voter to understand the proposed amendments. It is not for the courts to decide what aspects of the Initiative are most important and deserving of description in the analysis’ initial paragraphs.” The court ordered the SoS to print the analysis as submitted. “We, of course, disagree with the Court’s ruling but are not surprised that again they have acted contrary to our wishes and the lower court’s ruling,” Chuck Coughlin, treasurer for Make Elections Fair PAC, said in a statement. “The analysis provided by Legislative Council which we objected to is both prejudicial, arbitrary and capricious. Any analysis should begin by explaining what the initiative does and then explain what the initiative may do.” Make Elections Fair faces one more legal challenge to its signatures before securing its place on the ballot. In an order on August 21, the Supreme Court remanded a signature challenge back to the Superior Court and ordered the admission and review of evidence allegedly showing duplicate signatures.

Hotel housing continued in Scottsdale over vice mayor’s objections

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

Scottsdale City Council members continued a program that has drawn criticism from some Republicans at the Capitol during the city’s last council meeting, approving a resolution that continues the city’s hotel bridge housing program. Gress and B. Parker raised concerns last year with hotel housing programs that Scottsdale and Mesa have used, leading to a House Appro subcommittee hearing that Gress led in Scottsdale to examine the city’s program. While council members extended the program through May 31, 2025, they also reduced the number of rooms available for participants from 10 to five hotel rooms with $190,000 from the Dept. of Housing in grant funds that must be spent by Sept. 30. “The only thing I’m really sorry about is that we’re only going to have five rooms instead of 10, and I’m hoping we can reverse that in the next grant phase,” said Scottsdale Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield. The council voted 5-1 with the one nay vote coming from Vice Mayor Barry Graham, who asked city staff several questions about the effectiveness and operation of the program. After about five minutes of Graham’s questioning, Mayor David Ortega interjected and the two argued for about 10 minutes about whether Graham was out of order. According to the city, the bridge housing program has an 86% success rate, with 132 exiting the program into a safe living situation since it started. The only people eligible for the program are seniors and single parents with minor children whose last residential address was in Scottsdale. Councilman Tom Durham confirmed with city staff that no individuals from “The Zone” in Phoenix participated in the program. “It’s not just a ‘housing first’ program as Rep. Gress claimed,” Durham said. Gress didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from our reporter Wednesday. Gress ran a bill in the 2024 session that would have prohibited state and local money from being used for mixed hoteling while further regulating homeless services with a proposed homeless shelter and services fund. The bill, H2782 (homeless shelter fund; performance audit), didn’t receive a hearing in the Senate. Shamp attempted to revive the bill with a strike-everything amendment to S1238 (performance audit; homeless shelter fund), but that measure also didn’t get a floor hearing in the House.

New heat-related deaths for 2023 if you know to look for them

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

The Arizona Department of Health Services quietly released data on heat deaths in the state during 2023 after previously saying a report would come sometime in the fall. According to the data posted on the ADHS website on Aug. 16, Arizona saw 990 heat-related deaths and 460 heat-caused deaths in 2023. The majority – 60% – of 2023’s heat-related deaths occurred in July, when Phoenix shattered multiple records for high temperatures. The numbers were a significant increase from 2022, when the state saw 671 heat-related deaths and 359 heat-caused deaths. A spokesperson for ADHS did not respond to a question about why the 2023 data was posted to the website without notification to the press or public. The agency sent out a press release about the data a few hours after our reporter reached out. It’s unclear how many people have died due to heat this year because ADHS does not track that information in real time across the state. However, Maricopa County has reported 150 heat-related or heat-caused deaths so far this year and says 443 more deaths are under investigation for potential heat-related causes. ADHS does track the number of heat-related emergency department visits in the state but says there’s a two-week lag time in data reporting to ensure accuracy. According to that dashboard, there have been 4,418 heat-related visits to emergency departments as of Aug. 25, when the dashboard was last updated. ADHS has been working to implement Hobbs’ Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan, which was announced in March of this year. The plan includes the appointment of the state’s first Chief Heat Officer, expansion of cooling centers and increased funding for housing and shelters. It won’t be clear how the plan has impacted heat deaths in the state until the report for this year is released, but Chief Heat Officer Eugene Livar told our reporter earlier this month that results cannot be expected immediately. “We’re not going to solve all the problems that are happening in heat season within three, six or 12 months,” Livar said. “This is going to be an ongoing effort. We’re going to have to evaluate these best practices and our approaches and see how we can come out better and better within our state.”

Court: Phoenix must keep ‘The Zone’ homeless camp cleared

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

In an opinion issued Tuesday, the Arizona Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s permanent injunction requiring the City of Phoenix to keep the area that formerly housed the homeless camp “The Zone” clear of tents, crime and biohazards. Though the court, and the plaintiffs in the suit found the city had “largely complied” with the permanent injunction, the appellate court decided to keep the order in place given a requirement that the city “maintain” the area. And in the opinion, the judges found the injunction was sufficiently specific, though made one tweak in clarifying the meaning of public property. “Stated simply, the City must abate the public nuisance on land it owns and controls in the Zone, but not land in the Zone owned or controlled by others. Because an injunction is not automatically void for lack of specificity … this court affirms the permanent injunction with the clarification that the “public property” referred to is limited to public property in the Zone that the City owns and controls,” Judge Samuel Thumma wrote. The court further rejected arguments from the city that the injunction constituted a political question and treaded on the city’s legislative discretion. Thumma wrote, “The City has not shown how requiring a municipality to abate a public nuisance on property it owns and controls and prohibiting a municipality from maintaining a public nuisance on that property impermissibly intrudes on that municipality’s autonomy or will, as the City argues, ‘extends the application of nuisance law as a weapon to compel police action, with far-reaching implications throughout Arizona and potentially the United States.’”

‘I take full responsibility’: Statehouse security overhaul behind schedule, over budget

Posted on by Matt Resnick

A long-planned overhaul of the Statehouse’s physical security apparatus is over-budget and behind schedule, according to Frank Burnam, director of the Kansas Office of Facilities and Property Management.

Burnam delivered the news on Tuesday to the Joint Committee on Information Technology. The project’s scope includes replacement of the Statehouse’s electronic surveillance cameras and card access control system. 

The project was originally scheduled to take 12 months and be fully completed in January. Now it is estimated to conclude in December, Burnam said. The initial price tag of roughly $1.65 million is now approximately $1.84 million and is being bankrolled via American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Burnam said the project’s full scope extended to other buildings affiliated with the Capitol Complex, which includes the Curtis State Office Building. Security upgrades to those facilities have been completed, according to Burnam. He also expressed confidence that the project will be wrapped prior to the start of the 2025 Legislative session.

“Ultimately, we will be done before the start of the legislative session,” Burnam said. 

Timeline hiccups 

Planning efforts for the project began in 2021, Burnam said, adding the project was developed jointly between the Department of Administration, Office of Information Technology Services, and the Kansas Highway Patrol —  in consultation with Kansas City-based security consulting firm Burns & McDonnell. Burnam attributed the project’s interrupted timeline to supply chain issues. 

“We were coming out of a pandemic and fighting for a lot of the same components that a lot of other vendors were for similar projects,” Burnam said, adding that early on the focus shifted to “installation of wiring and pulling of new fiber.”

Burnam said the timeline was further hindered because data related to all card holders had to be manually entered into the new system, “adding months to the project” while increasing its price tag. 

“Our system was more of a handbuilt data system with thousands of user-groups — different hours and different cards,” he said. “And that all had to be manually entered into this new system.” 

Another wrinkle hampering the timeline was the inclusion of “blackout dates,” which precluded the project from proceeding to avoid interference with the legislative session. 

“We simply were not going to allow them to initiate the Statehouse work during the legislative session,” Burnam said of contractor American Digital Security. “So we asked them to hold off on that until the conclusion of the special session.”

Burnam also discussed the installation of “more sophisticated” cameras that weren’t included in the project’s original scope. He added that a confluence of issues resulted in substantial delays. 

“I take full responsibility for the decisions that were made to push the contractor back; I told them to hold off in specific areas and to make sure we were going to do this the right way and have a great system when it was done,” he said. 

Burnam said the contractor is solely responsible for all security-related “maintenance and upkeep” for the next three to five years. 

Feedback from the committee was brief and mostly centered on the multilevel underground parking garage. Rep. Barb Wasinger, R-Hays, said she was appreciative of the upgraded lighting. 

“It’s made a huge difference — instead of trying to feel your way to your car,” she said. 

She also inquired about cellphone connectivity in the parking garage, noting that the emergency phone is not located in close proximity to all parked vehicles. 

“If you are in an emergency over in the corner by Jackson and Eighth [streets], you may not make it to the emergency phone booth,” she said. “So I would like that to be a priority.” 

Wasinger said she’d also like to see lobbyists issued a uniquely colored name card to allow easier entrance through Statehouse security since they’ve already been vetted. 

“Is that reasonable? Unreasonable?” Wasinger asked. “Do I need to talk to more people — bug more people?” 

Burnam said that he’s looking into “a fast pass process” that would allow lobbyists and possibly others to enter the building without passing through the metal detector. 

“To allow those individuals to move through a little more rapidly while we can focus on people with bags and other stuff as part of that security,” he said. 

Burnam also said his team is in the process of issuing upgraded security badges — entailing a gradual roll out to all state employees in Shawnee County. He said that he may implement a requirement that security badges be updated every four years with a current photo of the individual. 

Burnam was also quizzed about the process of locking down the entire Statehouse. He said there are options in place, but declined to elaborate in a public forum. He was also asked if Burns & McDonnell conducted a full-scale security assessment “or just an assessment of the system.” 

“They did a comprehensive security assessment of all of our facilities,” he said. “Including the grounds, points-of-entry, blind spots and camera surveillance.” 

He added that the firm’s thorough “top-to-bottom” assessment “drove the approval” of the American Rescue Plan funding.

“That’s why we brought in a third-party, and they did a very nice job,” Burnam said. 

Rep. Carl Turner, R-Leawood, said “it seems like we’re replacing a like-system with a like-system.” He cited facial recognition technology as an example, as opposed to merely upgrading security badges. 

“Going through parking, your facial recognition of course wouldn’t change, regardless of vehicle and all the rest of things,” he said. 

Turner added that not everybody plays by the same rules. 

“Like in the lower-level parking,” he said. “If I go in through the gate, I have to present something to open it. But if I go in the other way, there is nothing to stop me — just [enter through] the exit. 

“Things like that always puzzle me. Whether we’re truly looking at security or if we’re saying, ‘Well, look, we need to replace our badge system with a new badge system.’”

Matt Resnick is a statehouse reporter at State Affairs Pro Kansas/Hawver’s Capitol Report. Reach him at [email protected]

Statehouse Briefs: Primary’s 16.9% turnout fails to meet preelection estimates

Posted on by Bryan Richardson

Kansas reported a 16.9% voter turnout in August’s primary election, falling below the preelection estimate of 24%.

The State Board of Canvassers met Wednesday to certify the results of the election, which had 336,139 votes. Of those, 33.5%, or 112,576, were from advance ballots — 62,918 in person and 58,348 by mail.

“While voter turnout was lower than Kansas experienced in recent primary election cycles, we are anticipating a more robust participation in the November general election when voters will be deciding the presidential elections, as well as significantly more legislative and local races,” the canvass report said.

Secretary of State Scott Schwab previously estimated this year’s primary would have the same voter turnout as 2016.

The actual number fell below the turnout for that year as well as 2018 (27%), 2020 (33%) and 2022 (47%).

The Secretary of State’s Office anticipated a lower turnout this year because of a lack of major drivers such as the Value Them Both abortion referendum in 2022 and the gubernatorial primaries in 2018.

This year’s primary election included 25 contested races in the House, 16 in the Senate, four in the U.S. House and two in the State Board of Education.

The election results led to a close-race audit in the House District 51 Republican primary and a recount in the District Magistrate Judge, District 17, Position 1 race. Neither result changed after the closer examination.

State distributes $5.7M for food supply chain projects

Forty-nine projects will receive $5.7 million to strengthen food supply chain operations, Gov. Laura Kelly announced Wednesday.

“Kansas’ central location and abundant agriculture production are critical to the nation’s food supply chain,” Kelly said in a news release. “By investing in our producers and businesses in this sector, we are strengthening economic growth across the state.”

Eight grants will improve infrastructure, and the other 41 will go toward equipment.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program facilitated the distribution of the grants.

State Agriculture Secretary Mike Beam said the grants will create “diverse local and regional market options and more economic opportunities.”

“With this financial support, we will see improvements across the middle of our state’s food supply chain, including increased food processing infrastructure, producer aggregation points, and product storage,” he said in the release.

This funding is part of the $420 million available through the federal American Rescue Plan.

Bryan Richardson is the managing editor at State Affairs Pro Kansas/Hawver’s Capitol Report. Reach him at [email protected] or on X @RichInNews.

Pody pulls out of role as unpaid pitchman for D.T. McCall & Sons

Posted on by Andy Sher

State Sen. Mark Pody’s career as a voluntary pitchman for Middle Tennessee furniture and appliance store chain D.T. McCall & Sons turned out to be brief.

The Lebanon Republican told The Tennessee Journal he was inspired to make the offer to the chain after purchasing a washer and dryer at what he thought was a pretty reasonable price. But he had second thoughts after taping the spot.

“Somebody said that might not be right, so I sent them a note and told them that I’m not allowed, that I shouldn’t be in those,” said Pody, who did not elaborate on who raised the issue to him. “And I said if it’s not right or if people feel it’s not, just not to do it.”

The chain — it traces its founding back some two centuries — has stores in multiple Middle Tennessee counties. A.J. McCall, a prominent Republican donor, is the chain’s managing general partner. Former Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver, R-Lancaster, sang at the funeral of McCall’s father, A.P., last year. The younger McCall made an unsuccessful bid for the state House in 2008, losing to incumbent Democrat Stratton Bone.

Pody is an insurance agent by trade. The Journal was tipped off about the spot featuring Pody on television by someone who saw the television ad and raised questions. 

“We shopped and that was the best price, that was the place, and he did everything,” Pody said of the store manager. “And so we were happy with it.  And I told him, I said you know if you want me to tell people that I would. So he said, ‘Shoot this,’ and I did.”

Pody said he was not paid for his appearance.

“No money, no nothing. We paid full price. He (A.J.) didn’t even know we were buying it,” the senator said. “I didn’t come to him until after we bought it, just to give him feedback that they did a great job.”

Bill Young, the executive director of the Tennessee Election Registry and Ethics Commission, said no one had raised questions to him about Pody’s appearance in the ad. 

“Of course the Ethics Commission’s sworn complaints are all confidential so I couldn’t say,” he said. “ But [there’s] nothing before the Registry which is not confidential. And certainly he hasn’t asked or anyone else asked our opinion, a staff opinion on that issue. And quite frankly, I know nothing about it.” 

Young said various officials have asked questions in the past if they can promote charitable organizations such as allowing their names to be used. 

“We’ve always cautioned against that, not that it would cause a legal problem but just for the reason that you know if you use your name once, everyone in your district wants to use your name for fundraising purposes,” he said. “But again, it would depend on the facts as to whether there’s an issue on campaign finance or ethics.”

Supporters of rival gubernatorial campaigns in 2018 complained about spots Bill Lee filmed before entering the race for his family HVAC company, with the state Capitol serving as a backdrop.

Daytime television viewers have been taken aback by recent ads for a stem cell center in Franklin featuring former Republican state Sens. Mae Beavers of Mt. Juliet and Jim Tracy of Shelbyville. Beavers, a former gubernatorial candidate who serves on the state Board of Parole, says in a testimonial that she was successfully treated with her own stem cells to relieve lingering pain from a long-ago broken ankle. Tracy, who is a senior adviser in the state Department of Commerce & Insurance, says stem cells and platelet-rich plasma injections erased lower back pain and allowed him to return to the golf course.

Lawmakers ask if more resources would accelerate Medicaid waiver waitlist process

Posted on by Jarred Meeks

State lawmakers on Tuesday questioned whether the state could speed up its newly implemented Medicaid waiver waitlists by providing additional resources.

Indiana Medicaid Director Cora Steinmetz, who presented updates Tuesday before the Medicaid Oversight Committee, indicated it was a possibility: “It’s really twofold: It’s both on the administrative side with processing, and it’s also on the Medicaid assistance funding side — is there funding for the number of slots that would need to be increased.”

Steinmetz said the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration is working through waitlists for the state’s Health and Wellness Waiver and PathWays for Aging Waiver as quickly as possible but is limited, in part, by “the complexity of processing individuals onto the waiver[s].” For example, additional care assessments are needed to ensure those trying to get on the waivers qualify. The waivers are exclusively for eligible Hoosiers who need nursing-facility levels of care.

An administration spokesperson told State Affairs that even with additional funding, the steps involved in the process “take a certain amount of time both for the parties and the individuals seeking services.”

Asked whether the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would approve additional waiver slots if the state allocated more money to cover them, Steinmetz said the federal agency had “always” done so when Indiana had made similar requests. The administration spokesperson said more funding would be needed to add waiver slots “if/when the number of people exceeds the number of slots available.”

Rep. Gregory Porter, D-Indianapolis, told State Affairs after the meeting that lawmakers need to have the possibility of providing more resources “on the table” for the upcoming budget session.

After revealing it had made a nearly $1 billion Medicaid forecasting error in 2023, the Family and Social Services Administration announced in January that it might implement a waitlist for the Indiana’s Aged and Disabled Waiver to ensure the state stayed within a federally approved participant count.

Capping the Medicaid waiver’s slots was one of the administration’s many cost-saving strategies shared that month. The administration had pinpointed the Aged and Disabled Waiver as a leading cause of increased expenditures.

Expenditures under the waiver were $2.23 billion in fiscal year 2024, up from $1.07 billion in fiscal year 2023, Steinmetz said. The waiver’s enrollment had also climbed in recent years.

In April, the administration implemented a waitlist for the waiver because it had reached “maximum capacity.” And in July, the waiver became two separate waiver programs — the Health and Wellness Waiver for Hoosiers aged 59 and younger, and the PathWays for Aging Waiver for Hoosiers aged 60 and older — as the state started its PathWays for Aging program.

More than 9,000 Hoosiers are on a waitlist for the PathWays for Aging Waiver, and more than 4,000 hope to get on the Health and Wellness Waiver as of this month, according to the administration. (Hoosiers currently receiving waiver services do not have to go through the process.)

While thousands of slots remain available — nearly enough for all Hoosiers on the waitlists to join the waiver programs — the administration has limited invitations to the programs: The administration plans to invite 800 Hoosiers each month to the PathWays for Aging Waiver and 125 individuals each month to the Health and Wellness Waiver.

“As of July 1, we have been inviting individuals onto the two waivers at a rate that is consistent with our prior year’s monthly enrollment onto the waivers,” Steinmetz said.

But even if the administration filled all of the available waiver slots, more than 1,000 Hoosiers on the Pathways for Aging Waiver waitlist and almost as many on the Health and Wellness Waiver waitlist would miss out because of capacity limits, according to data presented Tuesday.

Last week, the administration launched a new waitlist dashboard to show how many Hoosiers on the waitlists have been processed. Yet some worry the state is not moving fast enough — risking the health of Hoosiers in need of services now.

“People are getting hurt in this process. That’s the No. 1 thing we should be concerned about,” Sen. David Niezgodski, D-South Bend, said.

Kim Dodson, CEO of the Arc of Indiana, a nonprofit advocacy group for Hoosiers with disabilities, voiced similar concerns in July. She claimed some Hoosiers could remain on a waitlist for years.

During the meeting, Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, asked how those seeking the waivers who have “spent down their assets” can navigate the process.

Hoosiers who are transitioning from a nursing facility and are also on Medicaid get priority status when moving onto the waivers, Steinmetz said.

“The assisted living facility is where we see more challenges in this regard because that is a waiver-only service, so an individual must be on the waiver to have it reimbursed by Medicaid,” Steinmetz said.

Steinmetz said the administration is working with the assisted living facilities to determine “what process improvements can we put in place to help work through the waitlist more quickly” and “what financial support might be available through ARPA [American Rescue Plan Act] dollars that we still have to help bridge that gap for individuals who may be in the assisted living facility … and have now spent down but are not able to get onto the waiver.”

Steinmetz was unable to give an exact figure for the available American Rescue Plan Act funds during the meeting. The administration spokesperson did not immediately respond to a State Affairs request for the figure.

Contact Jarred Meeks on X @jarredsmeeks or email him at [email protected].

Opinion: 3 property tax plans with 3 problems

Posted on by Michael Hicks

MUNCIE, Ind. — Indiana voters have now seen three property tax plans from candidates running for governor and lieutenant governor. All three offer insights into some of the fiscal philosophies of the candidates, the quality of their policy development process and the respect they have for Hoosier taxpayers.

The Libertarian — Donald Rainwater/Tonya Hudson — property tax plan is not really a tax plan. Their proposal is to eliminate all residential property taxes and instead tack on 7% sales tax to your home. I view their proposal as political posturing against the promiscuous use of tax abatements and tax-increment financing.

If you are tired of huge tax breaks for large companies, Indiana’s Libertarian Party is focused on your concerns. But their plan fails to consider things like the need to fund police protection and fire departments or provide heat to school buildings in winter.

The Republican — Mike Braun/Micah Beckwith — tax plan seems to have done two things. I say “seems” because it went through five major changes in three days after it was first announced. So, nailing down facts is not a trivial task.

The first thing this plan offers is the addition of a much larger exemption to homeowners. While this sounds alluring, it really has little or no effect on individual tax liability. Property taxes in Indiana are based on local government budgets, with caps placed on the value of the property, not the exemptions. So, for most Hoosiers, the first version of the Braun/Beckwith plan (or Beckwith/Braun plan according to the lieutenant governor candidate’s social media) had little or no effect on tax liabilities for most homeowners.

Later iterations of the tax plan, a result of major criticism, rolled back property tax obligations to 2021 levels, or that of the original plan, whichever was lower. The tax plan also cut growth rates for taxes on seniors and veterans.

The real problem with this tax plan is that it did one of two things: It either cut local government tax revenues or shifted taxes to other taxpayers — primarily farmers and businesses. Within farming communities, the property tax shift was enormous. Some farmers would see 70% tax increases.

The best way to summarize the Braun/Beckwith tax plan is that rural communities would see huge increases in farm taxes. Urban places would see big cuts in public services because of property tax caps, and suburban communities would need to pass school referendums to maintain bus service.

Several cities performed initial assessments of the revenue impact of the Braun/Beckwith plan. Elkhart reported double-digit cuts to the police department and called the proposal the “defund the police plan.” That’s probably typical.

Columnist and writer Abdul-Hakim Shabazz quipped, “Which had the worst rollout — the Hindenburg, the Titanic or the Braun/Beckwith tax plan?”

I’ll wait for the movie.

The final tax plan was released by the Democrat team of Jennifer McCormick/Terry Goodin. They propose cutting property taxes by roughly the same amount as the Braun/Beckwith plan, but doing so in a way that doesn’t shift tax liability to farmers, renters or businesses. They also ensured that local governments — schools, libraries, police and fire departments, and parks — would not face deep revenue losses.

Their plan has two distinguishing features. The first is that almost every element was analyzed by the Legislative Services Agency, with much of it taken from existing property tax proposals the legislature has been working on for the past 18 months. This means we know how much taxpayers would save, and how much and to whom the lost tax revenue will flow.

The second key feature of the McCormick/Goodin plan is that most of the revenue losses are borne by state, not local government. That was accomplished by allowing taxpayers to deduct more of their property taxes from their income taxes rather than simply cutting city, county and school budgets. Notably, the Democratic plan actually caps property tax growth for individual taxpayers at a reasonable level.

Each of these tax proposals has three problems. 

The first is that Hoosiers are not overtaxed. Local government employment per resident in Indiana is lower now than at any time for which we have data — at least a half century. We pay low property taxes.

Second, the huge property value spikes that accompanied COVID-19 are behind us. Property values across Indiana peaked a year ago and are now receding. Most of us will see lower property taxes next year regardless of legislative action.

Finally, and most important, Indiana’s economic and population growth are stymied not by high taxes but by low-quality public services. The debate in Indiana should be about how to improve schools, reduce crime, cut health care costs, send more kids to college and make more cities and towns places where young people want to build a life.

That is what we should be focusing on, not saving the typical Hoosier family $300 a year, which is what the GOP and Democratic plans might accomplish.

Michael J. Hicks, Ph.D., is the director of the Center for Business and Economic Research and the George and Frances Ball distinguished professor of economics in the Miller College of Business at Ball State University. Reach him at [email protected].

Sports wagering panel warns that proxy betting is illegal in Tennessee

Posted on by Andy Sher

It’s football time in Tennessee, as they say, and the state’s Sports Wagering Council is issuing a stern reminder — better make that a warning — to bettors.

Placing wagers through a third party is a legal no-no. 

“Proxy wagering, or the act of one individual betting on behalf of another, is a criminal offense,” officials said in a news release. It’s a misdemeanor punishable up to 30 days in jail for first offenders. And the council, apparently apprehensive about private sector competition, notes it is also illegal to place a sports bet with a bookie, taking pains to explain that’s someone who takes bets offline and then pays out winnings.

“And the SWC wants the wagering public to be aware of Tennessee law,” the release says.

“The [agency’s] primary role is the protection of the public interest through a safe, regulated environment,” said Executive Director Mary Beth Thomas. “And those who wager on behalf of another in Tennessee directly contribute to an unsafe environment that can lead to risky gambling behavior as well as sports integrity and age-related issues.”

The agency cites a 2023 NCAA survey of 3,500 18 to 22-year-olds that found 58% of them having engaged in at least one sports betting activity. Additionally, current NCAA rules say prospective student athletes who have been solicited by colleges are banned from sports betting and face automatic revocation of their eligibility if caught doing so.

Tennessee is now the largest “online-only” sports betting market in the U.S., according to the council. Between 1.5 million to 2 million bettors are wagering more than $4 billion a year in the Volunteer State. People must be at least 21 years old to wager legally.

According to the council, licensed sportsbooks have controls in place to identify and deter illegal activity with an obligation to inform the council of suspicious or illegal wagering activity. Once notified, investigators can determine what evidence there is that criminal activity has occurred and the information is passed along to state and federal law enforcement for potential prosecution.

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