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Sunday, September 30, 2007

Ind. Gov't. - More on: - Should legislators be allowed to serve as officers or directors of state universities and schools?

The ILB posted this entry on Oct. 8, 2006, quoting from several earlier entries, including: "The fact that Ivy Tech employs both the Senate President Pro Tem and the House Minority Leader (or Speaker, depending on the year) has been a subject of conversation for years. But nothing has been done about it." This ILB entry from March 30, 2007 is headed "More on "Ivy Tech’s troubled roots: Political entanglements deter community college mission". This ILB entry from April 17, 2007 describes the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting this year:

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING: BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE, The Birmingham News

Mr. Blackledge, 43, won for his work exposing extensive corruption and cronyism in Alabama’s network of 26 two-year colleges and training schools.

Mr. Blackledge’s reporting has led to the chancellor’s dismissal and to a move by the governor to ban the hiring of any state legislator by any of the colleges.

Today's top story in the Indianapolis Star, reported by Brendan O'Shaughnessy, is headed: "Does Monroe Gray have two different jobs? The council president draws two paychecks, but the city can't produce work from his Fire Department job." But it includes plenty of mention of the long-time situation at Ivy Tech, including:
His dual role is an example of a larger issue in Indiana: the potential conflict of interest that can result when state and local laws allow elected officials to work in government jobs.

Other states, including Ohio and Kentucky, have made it illegal for public employees to hold office in the same jurisdiction in which they work. State law changes in 1981 and 1995 made it legal to hold dual roles in Indiana. * * *

Gray is not the only public official working in a potentially conflicting role. Others include House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, and Rep. Bill Crawford, D-Indianapolis, who are among legislators who collect paychecks from Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana and from the legislature while voting on measures that affect state colleges. Bauer earns $137,289 for the two roles; Crawford earns $106,153 for them.

The Star's newly updated government salaries database, released last week, remedies the shortcomings of last year's database, as the ILB wrote in this entry last Sunday, salaries of Ivy Tech employees are included in this year's database.

A side-bar to today's front-page Star story restates the updated salary information:

House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend; Rep. Bill Crawford, D-Indianapolis; and former Senate President Pro Tem Robert D. Garton, R-Columbus, received more than $40,000 each annually for their service to the Indiana General Assembly and receive additional pay for working for Ivy Tech, a state college funded by taxpayer dollars. Bauer earns a total of $137,289 for both jobs; Crawford, $106,153. All three men have voted on the budget, which includes state college funding.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 30, 2007 09:27 AM
Posted to Indiana Government