Illiana Expressway

Indiana’s governor defends Merrillville Rep. Chet Dobis’ Illiana Expressway vote that cost Dobis his number two position with the House Democrats.

The Post-Tribune reports Gov. Mitch Daniels said the supporters of an Illiana Expressway bill that would have required local municipalities to approve the highway proposed to connect I-65 in Lake County with I-57 in Illinois were “anti-growth, they’re anti-jobs.”

Said Mitch Daniels:

” … I noticed that it led to this strange situation involving Rep. Dobis, who was simply trying to create jobs and progress in his own district.”  …

“Chet Dobis was right twice,” Daniels said. “One, he’s better equipped to judge what’s best for his area, not somebody from 100-some miles away. Secondly, he was on the side of having more options and more possibilities for getting a very expensive project done.

“You put those conditions on, and it means there will be no project.”

An Indiana Senate Illiana Expressway bill might go to the Indiana House for approval, reports the newspaper. The Senate bill authored by Valparaiso’s Ed Charbonneau is the Senate version of Dobis’ Illiana Expressway legislation.

Merrillville state representative Chet Dobis has been forced out of his number 2 position in the Indiana House because of his vote against an Illiana Expressway committee report.  East Chicago’s Earl Harris was promoted to take over Chet Dobis’ job as speaker pro tempore.

The House committee report, if it had been approved, could have slowed or halted the Illiana Expressway project.

Rep. Dobis’ vote with the GOP killed the anti-Illiana Expressway legislation in the House, reports the Times’ Dan Carden.

Dobis’ vote with Republicans on the report led to a 49-49 tie, and the report wasn’t approved, killing the legislation.

Dobis told The Times he had no comment on the change in leadership because Bauer had yet to directly tell him he is out.

Despite the passage of a bill approving the Illiana Expressway in the Indiana Senate on Thursday, the Indiana House could be the end of forward progress toward the approval of a new Northwest Indiana highway connecting I-65 with I-57 in Northeast Illinois.

State Representative Ed Soliday has sounded the warning that downstate Democrats have inserted legislative provisions designed to poison the Illiana Expressway legislation.

Writes the Post-Tribune’s Jon Seidel:

A public/private partnership to build the Illiana Expressway won overwhelming support Thursday in the state Senate, but that vote belied a storm of political gamesmanship in the House that brings serious doubt to its chances.

While the Senate’s Illiana bill was on cruise control, a House version authored by Rep. Chet Dobis, D-Merrillville, and co-authored by Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, failed to even win a hearing in the transportation committee this month.

Meanwhile, Soliday said Rep. Terri Austin, D-Anderson, quietly filed Illiana language into a vehicle bill that included several “poison pills” he said are sure to kill the project.

Later, Rep. Soliday said Rep. Terri Austin had “lied” about legislative items inserted into the House’ Illiana Expressway bill — items that include environmental impact studies and provisions for local government repayments.

Writes the Post-Tribune’s Teresa Auch Schultz:

An Anderson state representative said she just wants to make sure the state includes local governments in talks for the proposed Illiana Expressway, but state Rep. Ed Soliday says that’s not true.

“She lied, and she lied, and she lied, and she lied,” he said, referring to state Rep. Terri Austin.
The proposed roadway

Austin, D-Anderson, filed a bill that includes language that calls for an environmental study for the Illiana and memorandums of understanding with any governmental groups that the proposed highway touches.