Support still stuns veteran Hill

By Harold J. Adams
hjadams@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Many times before, Baron Hill has taken the congressional oath of office, including his official swearing in Thursday in Washington to become a member of the 110th Congress.

But Hill, D-9th District, was clearly nervous yesterday when he placed his hand on a Bible held by his wife, Betty, and U.S. District Judge David Hamilton administered the oath again in a ceremonial proceeding.

A standing ovation from a crowd of about 150 in the main courtroom of New Albany's Lee H. Hamilton Federal Building left Hill visibly moved as he entered.

"I'm a little trembly here," he said after taking the oath.

He said he was expecting perhaps 25 or 50 people. Instead, the triumphant return of Hill, who served three terms before he was defeated two years ago by Republican Mike Sodrel, drew a crowd that filled the court's gallery and jury seats and spilled out the door.

Completing the oath with an emphatic "So help me God!" Hill was congratulated by Judge Hamilton and received another standing ovation from his supporters.

Then he took to the podium and talked about his priorities during the second chance that voters handed him in November.

Hill said that since then, voters at various places have told him: "We've given you your chance. Don't disappoint us."

Hill said voters wanted change, and he said that's what Democrats have begun to deliver.

Read more on Baron Hill at the Courier-Journal website.

Statehouse issues that will impact you

• TWO-YEAR-BUDGET: Two Southern Indiana Democrats — New Albany’s Bill Cochran and Jeffersonville’s Steve Stemler — are holding key seats on the House’s Ways and Means budget subcommittee. Cochran is the subcommittee chair, meaning the buck stops at his desk for every piece of legislation with a price tag. Overall, lawmakers are projected to have about $26 billion to spend, or about $1.5 billion more than the current budget. Last year Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels appeared in Sellersburg touting a back-in-black state budget — he insists that the trend continues again this year.

• CIGARETTE TAX: Daniels wants to raise the current 55.5 cents per pack tax by at least 25 cents and use the extra revenue and money leveraged from the federal government to provide health insurance to more Hoosiers. Local lawmakers have expressed that they are in favor of providing health insurance to more Indiana residents but they realize that increasing taxes will be an uphill battle.

• FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN: Daniels wants to phase in optional full-day kindergarten over three years, starting with about 33,000 children eligible for free and reduced-price lunches. It would cost about $145 million in the next budget, growing to $260 million a year by 2011-12. The concept has some bipartisan support, but getting it made into law may not be as simple as Daniels might hope. Rep. Terry Goodin, a Crothersville Democrat whose district encompasses northern parts of Clark County, is the House’s Ways & Means K-12 Education Subcommittee chairman — and he’s already said that he doesn’t like the idea that’s been proposed. Goodin, who doubles as superintendent of Crothersville Community Schools, says Daniel’s proposal doesn’t account for hidden costs, such as hiring more teachers. Plus, he said, school programs are already underfunded, he doesn’t want this to be another program for which local school districts would be responsible for paying.

• PROPERTY TAXES: Daniels and many lawmakers want to give local governments more taxing options to reduce reliance on property taxes - something that has the support of local officials.

It all goes back to the so-called “2 percent circuit breaker,” which limits property taxes from exceeding 2 percent of the assessed value of the item being taxed. As a result, city officials are looking for new forms of revenue. Jeffersonville City Councilmen John Perkins, Democrat, and Ron Grooms, Republican, have voiced support for a piece of legislation called “Hometown Matters.” The proposal, backed by the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns, includes a number of proposals from setting up a rainy day fund to establishing a local sales tax to re-allocating tourism bureau dollars into local municipal budgets.

• PRIVATIZATION: The concept of using private business to administer state services has been embraced by Republican Daniels. But in Clark and Floyd counties every last one of our state Representatives and Senators are Democrats - and most have express distain for the concept to the News And Tribune at one time or another. Democrats want greater legislative oversight. The state’s welfare services and the Northern Indiana toll road were leased last year. The Hoosier Lottery and parts of the BMV license branches have been proposed as possibly being next in line for privatization.

Read more on the General Assembly at the New Albany Tribune website.

Jubilant Democrats Assume Control on Capitol Hill

By JOHN M. BRODER

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 — In a day of transition and pageantry, exultant Democrats on Thursday took control of both houses of Congress for the first time in a dozen years and elected the first woman to be speaker of the House.

Representative Nancy Pelosi of California took the speaker’s gavel at 2:08 p.m. from Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader, whom she defeated by a vote of 233 to 202, the 31-seat margin of the new Democratic majority. The floor and the packed galleries erupted in cheers when the vote was announced.

Even Republicans grudgingly acknowledged the unprecedented nature of the day on which a woman ascended to power on Capitol Hill by rising as one to applaud her.

“This is an historic moment,” Mrs. Pelosi said in her first remarks as speaker of the 110th Congress. “It’s an historic moment for the Congress. It’s an historic moment for the women of America. It is a moment for which we have waited for over 200 years.”

Earlier in the day, on the other side of the Capitol dome, Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, became majority leader, a result of his party’s one-seat victory margin in the November elections.

Both Senator Reid and Speaker Pelosi promised a new era of cooperation after years of partisan passion and gridlock. “Guided by the spirit of bipartisanship,” Mr. Reid said, “Democrats are ready to take this country in a new direction.”

The House opened the session by passing, by a large bipartisan margin, new ethics rules.

Read more on the openning of the 110th session of Congress at the New York Times.

Photo by Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

Hill returns, and 'it feels very good'

By James R. Carroll
jcarroll@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

WASHINGTON — He was at a private home three blocks from the U.S. Capitol, thanking friends and supporters, when the vote came yesterday.

So Rep. Baron Hill excused himself and walked back to the House chamber.

"It's like I never left," the Hoosier Democrat said yesterday, hours after being sworn in as the congressman from Indiana's 9th District. "It's the craziest feeling."

Hill is back after a two-year hiatus, when the seat was occupied by Republican Mike Sodrel.

"In some ways, it is better than the first time I ran," Hill said as he walked to vote. "There's something about winning, losing and coming back -- it feels very good."

First elected to the House in 1998, Hill said he remembered his first days back then as overwhelming as he learned the congressional system.

"I've still got an office to get ready, hire staff, and bring people on board to do all those things, but having done it once, it makes it a little bit easier the second time around," Hill said.

His wife, Betty, and one of their three daughters, Jenny Weiser, now finance director for the Indiana Democratic Party, came to Washington for Hill's swearing-in in the House chamber.

Many friends and supporters came from Indiana to celebrate with him.

Read more on Congressman Hill's return to Congress at the Courier-Journal.com