Indiana’s unemployment rate holds at 9%

On Tuesday, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) announced that Indiana’s unemployment rate for November 2011 stood  at 9 percent, while the U.S. rate declined significantly to 8.6  percent.

Indiana’s unemployment rate remains lower than neighboring states Illinois (10 percent), Kentucky (9.4 percent) and Michigan (9.8 percent) however, is now higher than the unemployment rate in Ohio (8.5 percent).

• County with the highest unemployment rate: Fayette 11.9%
• County with the lowest unemployment rate: Dubois 5.9%

Employment Report (LAUS)

• Labor Force Estimates for U.S., Indiana, MSAs, Counties, Cities
• Ranking of Indiana Counties by Unemployment Rate
• Indiana County Map with Unemployment Rates

Jobs Report (CES)

• Seasonally – Adjusted Employment Table for Indiana
• Non-Seasonally – Adjusted Employment Table for Indiana
• Detail Employment Listing – Statewide & MSAs

Senate Democrats’ 2012 legislative priorities: jobs, education and voter protection

The members of the Indiana Senate Democratic Caucus released their 2012 legislative agenda today, highlighting the pressing need to fuel job creation, strengthen early education and protect Indiana voters as their top priorities.  Below are a number of the key legislative initiatives Senate Democrats will carry in the upcoming session.

Download the full report (PDF)

Hear more from Senator Simpson: “Again this year the Senate Democrat Caucus has put forward a package of several bills laying out the priorities…” (00:39)

Download: Simpson.CaucusAgenda.121311.MP3

Video: Sen. Lanane eager to advance job creation initiatives

Sen. Tim Lanane (D-Anderson) discusses the events of Organization Day, emphasizes the need to fully evaluate the long term effect of potential “Right to Work” legislation on wages and invites constituents to reach out to his office with their input.

Budget Brief: The final piece of the Budget Breakdown

The agencies and state operations listed among the “other” designation of the budget include public safety (excluding corrections), economic development, conservation and the environment, transportation, gaming and redistributions to local units.

Transportation: The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is responsible for the maintenance, preservation and construction of the state’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Transportation funding is largely a product of federal and dedicated funds. The 2011 budget appropriated $4.5 billion of primarily dedicated and federal funds in FY12 and FY13. The amount marked a 23 percent decrease from the total combined appropriation for transportation in FY10 and FY11 of $5.9 billion and was the result of significantly lower support from dedicated funds in FY12 and especially FY13.

Economic Development Committee update

The Study Committee on Economic Development met for the second time today at the Statehouse. Sen. Sue Errington of Muncie said the testimony during this meeting focused on Indiana’s advantages and disadvantages in promoting job creation. The committee is scheduled to meet again on October 5 at the Purdue Technology Center.

Watch Sen. Errington’s brief update on today’s meeting:

No news is… no news. A report from the State Budget Committee meeting

No news on state program cuts

The State Budget Committee met on Wednesday, Sept. 8, at the Statehouse. Despite “Fiscal Year 2010 Close-Out” on the agenda, no new information on state program cuts was presented by the State Budget Agency. Instead, committee members were presented with a series of graphs illustrating the overall status of Indiana’s state finances.

No further details on program cuts were available to legislators or the public. The State Budget Agency rests on information provided by agencies in response to Senate Democrat Leader Vi Simpson’s June 1 request. Read more from the June 1 announcement>>.

Only 10 of 62 responses answered all five of Simpson’s requested items. Some agency letters left all of the questions unanswered, including the primary information sought by legislators and the public -  “A list of your agency’s implemented and proposed cuts and withheld distributions for FY 2010 and 2011 by program.” Read the agency responses>>

The call for transparency in state spending continues. Read more about the Indiana Open Government Initiative>>

Timing just right: Move forward on capital projects, create jobs

Also on the agenda were state projects awaiting final funding approval, including a small number of university capital projects. Democrats on the committee pushed to get more capital projects at state universities underway as soon as possible, saying the projects would create as many as 2,000 jobs and push as much as $100 million in personal earnings into local economies.

Simpson calls for transparency; cites executive branch culture of secrecy

Senate Democrat Leader Vi Simpson announced in a media availability today that Senate Democrats plan to introduce legislation to enhance transparency in state government budgeting and spending.

Citing a culture of secrecy within the executive branch, Simpson said there is a critical need for transparency. Specifically, Simpson says she is shocked by the lack of public information available on program cuts and on the use of taxpayer money for economic development incentives.

The governor refers to Indiana as the island of prosperity. We’re the island of secrets. - Senate Democrat Leader Vi Simpson

LISTEN: Simpson says, “It is really a matter of trust…”

Download: Simpson.MediaAvailMatteroftrust.6110.MP3

In her statements to the press, Simpson outlined previous requests dating back to January asking for a comprehensive list of cuts made to state services and programs. The State Budget Agency has indicated that a comprehensive list of cuts does not exist.

Today Simpson sent letters to the head of each state agency asking for a list of the agency’s implemented and proposed cuts by program, the methodology used to determine how the cuts are made, implementation dates of all budget cuts and personnel layoffs, expected reversions by program, and the estimated impact of cuts on people served by each program. State agencies were ordered to cut 10% in FY2010 and were notified in April that the governor wants 15% budget reversions from each agency’s budget in FY2011.

Wish you were here: Put Illinois to Work program

Illinois is moving forward with the “Put Illinois to Work” program, an initiative that leverages federal dollars to fill as many as 15,000 full-time positions at Illinois companies with unemployed workers.

According to an announcement by the Illinois Senate Democrats,

Employers will receive extra employees at no cost to them: the program is funded by state and federal stimulus dollars, and Heartland Human Care Services Inc. will handle payroll and guarantees no wage expenses for employers.

A similar program in Indiana was authorized by the General Assembly this year, but FSSA has yet to act on implementing the program. Under the Helping Indiana Restart Employment (H.I.R.E) program, which was included in SEA 23, nearly 10,000 unemployed Hoosiers could be rehired.

The program calls for tapping $100 million available in federal stimulus funds that otherwise will be left on the table. The Indiana program was modeled after the Mississippi STEPs program, implemented by Republican Governor Haley Barbour.

Why the rush? 
The federal funding – available through the TANF Emergency Fund established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 – is set to expire on September 30.  By that time many Hoosiers will have exhausted their unemployment benefits. Indiana’s unemployment rate has hovered above the national average and is now at 9.9%.

How other states are using the funds
Some 42 states have had their applications for TANF Emergency Funds approved and additional states have applications in the works. As of April 1, 26 states had been authorized to use TANF Emergency Funds to establish new or expand subsidized employment programs: Alabama, California, Delaware, D.C., Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.

These states have plans in place to provide subsidized jobs to about 160,000 individuals by the end of September.

Here are a few examples of how other states are leveraging the federal funds:

• Tennessee, for example, has focused job creation efforts on areas of very high unemployment. The creation of subsidized jobs in rural Perry County helped to lower its unemployment rate from 27.3 percent in January 2009 to 18.6 percent in August 2009.
• New York has mounted an initiative to create “green jobs,” expand health care outreach, and subsidize private-sector employers who hire new permanent employees.
• California is creating subsidized employment programs through an initiative in 43 of its 52 counties that aims to eventually place about 20,000 individuals in subsidized jobs. As of January 2010, there were about 15,000 active placements in counties throughout the state.

See a report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities for more examples from other states.

Final negotiations: What’s still moving through the General Assembly

Unemployment Insurance: Senate Bill 23. The Senate-passed version delayed by one year changes to the tax that employers pay to shore up the state’s unemployment insurance fund. The fund deficit now stands at $1.6B, an amount loaned to Indiana by the federal government.  The House-passed version repealed the tax changes altogether; expanded eligibility for jobless benefits that will allow Indiana to draw down $148M in stimulus funds; increased the maximum weekly benefit; and suspended the requirement that individuals submit at least one application per week while drawing unemployment when the statewide unemployment rate for the previous year was 7.5% or higher. (Indiana’s statewide unemployment rate is 9.9%.)

Ethics and Lobby Reform: House Bill 1001. Considered a “bipartisan, bicameral” agreement, this bill still has a few sticking points to be worked out in the coming days. In particular, House Speaker Pat Bauer says he is disappointed that the Senate cut the “pay-to-play” provision, which would prohibit vendors holding or seeking state contracts from donating to state campaigns. Read last week’s post on this bill for more information.

Smoking Ban: Senate Bill 175. A proposed statewide smoking ban was resurrected in the House last week by an amendment to SB 175.  The ban as it now stands would prohibit smoking in all public places except casinos. The original bill was killed in the Senate (never given a hearing by the Chair of the Senate Commerce & Public Policy Committee), so the prospects of its survival this week are questionable.

Illiana Expressway: Senate Bill 382. Allows the Illiana Expressway – a connector between Interstate 57 in Illinois and Interstate 65 in Northwest Indiana – to be built as a public-private partnership. The bill was amended in the House to include similar projects on the Indiana-Kentucky border.

Alcohol Sales: Senate Bill 75. The original bill would allow microbreweries to sell their own product for carryout on Sundays. House amendments added provisions to allow alcohol sales on Election Day and extended Sunday sales in restaurants from 10am-12:30am to 7am-3am.

Job Creation and Small Business Assistance: Senate Bill 396. The House passed a last-minute amendment to this bill last week that is packed with job incentives. Included in the bill is a job creation tax credit to small businesses; a new employer tax credit to businesses that open in Indiana; the Helping Indiana Restart Employment Program to reimburse employers for wages paid to new hires using federal stimulus funds; $1.5M in current state appropriations to help small businesses secure loans; and preference for Hoosier workers in public works contracts.

Local Government Reform: House Bill 1181. The Senate-passed version would eliminate township advisory boards in 2013 and prohibits nepotism by township officers. The House version of this bill called for a Nov. 2010 general election township-by-township referendum to keep or eliminate township trustees and 3-member advisory boards. A separate bill, the Senate-passed version of House Bill 1030, calls for county referendums to replace the board of county commissioners with an elected county chief executive officer; prohibits public employees of a local unit from serving as the elected executive officer or as a member of local council or board; prohibits nepotism in any local government if the relatives are in a direct supervisory or subordinate situation; allows any county to establish vote centers.

To see if a bill is still alive, visit the General Assembly’s list of “live bills”.

Milton-Madison Bridge Project and Indianapolis Cultural Trail receive federal stimulus grants

Today the U.S. Dept. of Transportation announced that Indiana will receive two grants including $20 million for the replacement of the Milton-Madison Bridge and $20.5 million for the Indianapolis Cultural Trail. The grants are part of a larger $1.5 billion in TIGER grant funding for over 50 high-priority, innovative transportation projects across the country. The grants are funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and seek to foster job creation and economic development while promoting communities that are safer, cleaner and more livable.

The Milton-Madison Bridge Replacement Project, supported by both Kentucky and Indiana, will replace the existing Milton-Madison Bridge (US 421) which has become structurally deficient and functionally obsolete and estimated to have less than 10 years of serviceable life left. The bridge will provide a vital link between the communities of Madison, Indiana and Milton, Kentucky and provide benefits in an economically distressed community.

Learn more about the Milton-Madison Bridge Project >

The Indianapolis Cultural Trail is a revitalized eight-mile bicycle and pedestrian network in downtown Indianapolis that will connect the downtown districts of Mass Avenue, Indiana Avenue, the Canal Walk and White River State Park, the Wholesale District, and Fountain Square. The network will foster sustainability and improve livability by connecting commercial, residential and cultural venues in Indianapolis. These improvements are expected to boost downtown revenue as well as encourage healthier lifestyles.

Learn more about the Indianapolis Cultural Trail >

Read the full report and learn about all of the TIGER grants >