Statement for the Record Ryan Cummins, Adjunct Scholar Indiana Senate Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy February 8, 2011 Senator Banks and members of the committee: I am pleased to submit the following remarks regarding my experience dealing with inheritance tax, steps we had to take as a business, and the ramifications of these actions. My name is Ryan Cummins. I am the owner of a small business in Terre Haute called The Apple House,…

For release noon Feb. 8 and thereafter (621 words) The candidate announcements have begun. Every mayoral office and council seat in every city and town in Indiana will be on this next ballot. And the buzz has started for the 2012 gubernatorial race. So soon? Indiana just completed an arduous election cycle. And the results sent a clear message to those in state and federal government. What was that message? That it is time, long…

For release noon Feb. 1 and thereafter (800 words); note South Bend and Fort Wayne pegs. Carmel’s Center for the Performing Arts opened its doors last weekend with a glamorous debut. Featuring Indiana limestone and Italian stone beneath a Palladio dome, the center will last 500 years or longer, its website says, “creating a legacy that will be passed along to our children and grandchildren for generations to come.” That’s not all that will get…

For immediate release (667 words)   (Jan. 28, 2011) — Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) are collective-bargaining agreements that establish terms of employment for a specific project. PLAs typically require a contractor to hire workers through union halls and to follow union rules on pensions, working conditions, and conflict resolution. Non-union workers are usually required to pay union dues during the project. Obviously, PLAs make it more difficult and costly for non-union contractors to bid on…

For release noon Jan. 25 and thereafter (782 words)   Last weekend we observed “Religious Freedom Day” in the United States. The celebration commemorated the same day in 1786 when Virginia passed its “Statute of Religious Freedom.” Written by Thomas Jefferson, it protected what would later be enshrined in the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights. Government should neither “establish” a religion nor “prohibit the free exercise” of religion. Today, most Americans value religion,…

For release noon Jan. 18 and thereafter (663 words) A public school teacher I know makes the claim that teachers would consent to performance pay for their profession if state legislators accepted merit pay for theirs. As a practical matter, the two careers aren’t comparable. Teachers work full-time and can be assessed on results achieved by students in individual classrooms. Legislators are part-time and their work product comes from majority rule. But the idea got…

For release noon Jan. 11 and thereafter (549 words) One of Indiana’s most respected Republican politicians, a conservative by the popular measure, acknowledged recently that he had made a “whopper” of a mistake in public policy many years ago. Alas, one man’s mistake, if he is powerful enough, is another man’s disaster. This particular one abided a collective-bargaining system that now cripples Indiana finances even as it thwarts reform across the full spectrum of state…

Editors: For release noon Jan. 4 and thereafter (675 words); column is tied to Jan. 6 event in Congress. Note date reference in graph 6 Naysayers have dismissed the Republican plan to read the Constitution aloud at the start of the 112th Congress as “cosmetic,” a “media event” and “meaningless political theater.” Similar objections have been raised to a new House rule requiring every piece of legislation to include a statement from its sponsor citing…