State Representative - District 63

 John G. Burger (D), Farmer, Self-Owned

1)    During the next session of the Indiana General Assembly, a new biennial budget will be developed. If elected, what priorities would you advocate in this process? 

A. Property Tax Relief   

B. Affordable Health Care                                      

 C. Improving Public Education

2) As the construction of the Interstate 69 has begun in Indiana, will you pledge to support appropriation of the $700 million in funding designated for the project through the Major Moves transportation plan?

Yes

As a follow-up, what is your plan to fund the remainder of the Interstate 69 project in Indiana, including the new 1-69 Ohio River bridge?

I would encourage the federal government to provide more funding.

3) In 2007, the bi-partisan Kernan-Shepard Commission made numerous recommendations to reform and restructure local government in Indiana, such as creation of a single county executive and legislative body, as well as transferring the responsibilities of townships to the county level. Do you support implementation of these recommendations?

I support:

A. Transfer and funding responsibility for state’s court system to the state.

B. Moving municipal and school board elections to an even year cycle.

C. Prohibiting employees of a local government unit from serving as elected officials in that unit.

4) As economic development becomes increasingly competitive on the regional and national level, how best can our state position itself to attract new business and retention and expansion of Indiana-based companies?

A. Lower property taxes.

B. Streamline government regulation of business.

C. Improve infrastructure / expand broadband connectivity.

D. Increase vocational training & advanced manufacturing training.

5) As the national debate continues, what role can Indiana play in the   discussion and development of a new national energy policy?

A. Promote use of biofuels and other alternative energy sources.

As a follow-up, what should the State of Indiana do to address the issue of increasing energy costs?

A. Eliminate sales tax on gasoline.

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Mark Messmer (R), Messmer Mechanical, Vice President

1)    During the next session of the Indiana General Assembly, a new biennial budget will be developed. If elected, what priorities would you advocate in this process? 

The top budget priority needs to be keeping government spending as low as possible and delivering all services as cost effective as possible. I will push to keep any new spending ideas from being added to the budget. There are plenty of ways that we can be more efficient in how services are provided. Any wasted tax dollars are no different than stealing from you and me.

The property tax proposal passed last session will need a lot more work and should probably be thrown out and started over. I do not like the tiered circuit breaker caps. Homes, rentals, farms and businesses should all have the same cap. I want to see lower the caps from current levels but the amount needs to be the same for all tax payers. The tiered caps are nothing more than class envy and trying to patronize the bigger pool of voters.

2) As the construction of the Interstate 69 has begun in Indiana, will you pledge to support appropriation of the $700 million in funding designated for the project through the Major Moves transportation plan?

1 will support the full $700 million in funding for 1-69. The games that were played with the road funding two years ago is exactly why I decided to seek the District 63 State Representative seat. There is no more critical project for the jobs growth potential of southwestern Indiana than 1-69. Crane NSWC survival also depends on 1-69 being constructed. There are about 5000 high paying jobs at Crane that are vital to the economy of this part of the state. We need to do whatever we can to protect those jobs.

As a follow-up, what is your plan to fund the remainder of the Interstate 69 project in Indiana, including the new 1-69 Ohio River bridge?

Given the option of increased fuel tax or taking out a 20-year bond to finish paying for the last portion of the road, I would favor the bonding option. I would definitely be open to another creative financing method like Major Moves if one were available.

3) In 2007, the bi-partisan Kernan-Shepard Commission made numerous recommendations to reform and restructure local government in Indiana, such as creation of a single county executive and legislative body, as well as transferring the responsibilities of townships to the county level. Do you support implementation of these recommendations?

I do not support across the board enactment of the Kernan-Shepard proposal. My basic measure is that the changes must definitely save the taxpayer money and deliver better service or don't make the change. I do not like a single executive concept. Depending on the quality of the individual, you may get better service, you may get worse and I see no money saving potential. I really like the change in the Council being the legislative body. I do not like the appointment of all county offices. The auditing functions and treasurer functions need to be separate departments with checks and balances to prevent fraud and abuse and need to be elected based on the amount of responsibility these departments are given.

The school reform, consolidating school administrations, has the potential to cause a lot of small communities to loose their schools in the long run and I would not support this concept without a way to prevent small communities from loosing schools. When you close a school, it is a slow death for that community and not to be taken lightly. I am all for efficiency measures that can be taken to make our education dollars more effective. We need to get more dollars into the classroom and less of a percentage on buildings and administration.

Moving election cycles for cities to match other statewide elections makes sense and could definitely save money. Most of the efficiency recommendations in items 14 through 27 make economic sense and would be items I would support.

4) As economic development becomes increasingly competitive on the regional and national level, how best can our state position itself to attract new business and retention and expansion of Indiana-based companies?

Tax policy needs to reward business investment and risk taking in starting new businesses. This is why I do not like the 3% circuit breaker cap on businesses. We made great strides on making our businesses more competitive by eliminating the inventory tax and have regressed with the tiered property tax proposal.  

As a State we need to continue to push for tax abatements to attract new companies and improve infrastructure and utilities so we have the resources that manufacturers need. It is important for our leadership to continue to seek the foreign investment that has taken place the last couple of years.

5) As the national debate continues, what role can Indiana play in the   discussion and development of a new national energy policy?

We still have an abundant supply of coal in this state and need to be a leader in encouraging companies that develop coal technologies as an alternative to oil and natural gas. We also need to be a leader in developing nuclear power plant use again, including streamlining the regulatory barriers that make it prohibitive now.

Energy costs are driven by supply and demand forces, like any other commodity, and by excessive regulatory burdens. As a state, we can be proactive in allowing development of increased refining capacity and encouraging development of alternative fuel technologies that utilize coal that would increase the supply. We can also use a little more common sense in the regulatory burdens we heap upon companies that are trying to be a solution to the supply of energy to our country.

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