This week was one big information dump, from study committees at the Statehouse to policy proposals by gubernatorial candidates to a guilty plea in a tantalizing public corruption case.
It's the kind of pace that reminds us Labor Day is just around the corner.
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THE MAIN EVENT: Noel pleads guilty
A well-connected Hoosier Republican pleaded guilty Monday in a massive corruption case that could earn him up to 15 years in prison.
Much is being whispered about former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel 's close ties to the top brass of Indiana politics, like former Gov. Mike Pence and current Gov. Eric Holcomb , whose reelection campaign he chaired. So far, the only other people to face charges in relation to the scandal are his wife, daughter and two former county councilors .
In terms of talk of the town, it's right up there with the casino corruption and conspiracy case in which former state Rep. Sean Eberhart pleaded guilty and, last week, began his 12-month federal prison sentence . Further indictments were implied but have yet to materialize.
UNDER THE DOME: Medicaid remains a mess
When the state Medicaid office discovered the $1 billion budget shortfall due to a forecasting error late last year, one of the cost-cutting solutions it came up with was to institute a waitlist for the waivers that provide home- and community-based services for Hoosiers needing nursing facility-level care.
On Tuesday, Medicaid Director Cora Steinmetz gave lawmakers an update: 13,700 Hoosiers are on these waiting lists. The Family and Social Services Administration is inviting roughly 925 individuals a month off the lists.
How it worked before, she said: "However many slots we needed, we brought it to (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services), and it was always approved." But the growth of these slots has been sharp in the last few years since: 32,000 people were on these waivers in 2022, which jumped to 42,000 in 2024.
Steinmetz said the agency is working with providers and looking at federal funding sources to try to assist more Hoosiers in limbo.
AT CITY HALL: Hogsett nixes a potential pay raise amid political fallout
A perhaps ill-timed Indianapolis City-County Council proposal that would have raised the pay of Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and other local officeholders created a stir this week.
The proposal attracted the attention of Hogsett’s critics, who questioned why the mayor would get a pay raise after the mayor himself apologized for how he handled sexual harassment allegations brought against his former chief deputy mayor , Thomas Cook .
Meanwhile, our friends at other local media outlets asked Hogsett on the record this week about some key lingering questions we had after IndyStar revealed Cook's alleged harassment in July. Mirror Indy has more here .
ELECTIONS 2024
Former state schools superintendent Jennifer McCormick , the Democratic nominee for governor, is getting specific about her plan for education policy in the Statehouse.
The big concepts: The pendulum has swung too far in the career-prep direction, and schools should return some focus to academic rigor; private and charter schools that receive public dollars in the form of vouchers should be held just as accountable for those dollars as traditional public schools; child care access should be expanded; preschool should be made universal; and teachers should be paid a salary floor of $60,000.
Responding to McCormick's plan, Libertarian candidate Donald Rainwater called it government overreach and said he supports universal school choice and rejects "conditional funding."
THE CHECKBOOK
This week at the Statehouse, the Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program out of Purdue shared results from a new analysis of road needs across the state, hot off the press.
Local roads ― those maintained by cities, counties and towns ― make up 89% of Indiana's total road mileage. Nearly a third of them are in "poor" condition.
To simply preserve what we have, these local governments need an estimated $1.2 billion a year over the next 10 years. To eliminate the poor roads, they'd need $2.7 billion a year. What do they currently get each year? Roughly $850 million. (Shameless plug: Kayla sounded the alarm about this back when she was on the transportation beat.)
Taxation will be a huge topic during the legislative session this year ― and expect road funding to be intertwined.
TLDR
- U.S. Rep. André Carson and Mayor Joe Hogsett announced Wednesday that Indianapolis will receive $15 million to install electric vehicle charging stations in underserved neighborhoods in the Circle City.
- Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced last week that he was suspending his presidential campaign and endorsed former President Donald Trump . But RFK Jr.'s name will remain on Indiana ballots in November ― and we have the details on why .
- It's budget season for local governments. Jake Allen has this story on Westfield's future financial investments , which includes more government employees and road projects.
- A Justice Department watchdog said this week that the FBI is failing to appropriately investigate child sexual abuse allegations , even years after the Larry Nassar scandal, which was first reported in 2016 by IndyStar.
- At 10 a.m. Tuesday, local civic leaders will unveil a monument to the late Sen. Richard Lugar at the Bicentennial Unity Plaza outside Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will give a keynote address.
- At 7 p.m. Wednesday, a caucus of Republican insiders will vote on a replacement for state Sen. Mark Messmer on the District 48 ballot, which includes Crawford, Dubois, Gibson, Perry, Pike and Spencer counties. Messmer is the Republican nominee for the 8th Congressional District.
WHAT WE'RE READING
Chalkbeat Indiana : While Indiana has used Dolly Parton 's Imagination Library as a way to boost children's literacy at a young age, there are several counties and ZIP codes across the state that don't have access to the program, including most of Marion County and all of Hamilton County. Chalkbeat Indiana breaks down the why .
Deseret News: Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels , who most recently lead Purdue University, spoke with the executive editor of the Deseret News about what he believes needs to be done to "save" higher education .
TAKE OF THE WEEK
IndyStar's Russ Pulliam writes this week about the impact late Indianapolis Mayor and U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar had during his many years of public service . Here's some of what Pulliam had to say in his column:
- "He served so long and well in the Senate that the public tended to forget how important he was to Indianapolis."
SEEN ON SOCIAL
There may be differing views on property taxes these days, but we can all agree that coupons and rebates bring Midwesterners together.
P.S. If you're a property owner willing to share your experience with your property tax bills, please reach out to Kayla at kdwyer@indystar.com.
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Checks and Balances is compiled and written by Brittany Carloni, Hayleigh Colombo, Kayla Dwyer and Kaitlin Lange on the IndyStar politics and government team. Send us tips or let us know what you think of the newsletter by emailing IndyStarPolitics@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Another public corruption case, infinite intrigue
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