INDIANAPOLIS | The legislative prospects for South Shore commuter rail expansion took a steep dive Tuesday amid an ugly display of regional factionalism.
The odds weren't great to start. Senate Tax Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, began the more than two-hour hearing by restating his opposition to the plan to divert $350 million in state sales tax money toward the $1 billion plan to extend South Shore lines to Lowell and Valparaiso.
Kenley said he hopes to "do something" with the legislation next week. But that something could mean inserting a regional tax hike, which Rep. Chet Dobis, D-Merrillville, said would sound the death knell for the funding bill.
"We're at a point where I believe we need to take action now," Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso, told Kenley and the rest of the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee. "My fear is that (the South Shore extension) will never be built."
Later testimony abetted that fear. Gary Mayor Rudy Clay and Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, continued to press for a $130 million rail link to Gary/Chicago International Airport. The plea for that costly add-on led to testy exchanges with Sen. Frank Mrvan, a Hammond Democrat who serves on the tax panel.
East Chicago lobbyist John Aguilera joined Clay in expressing concern the massive rail expansion would sap funding for other projects overseen by the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority. East Chicago wants the RDA to help bankroll the city's $270 million shoreline redevelopment plan.
The RDA, which is funded by $3.5 million in annual contributions from East Chicago, Gary, Hammond, Lake County and Porter County, was created in 2005 to unite the region behind key infrastructure projects. It served to do just the opposite Tuesday.
"It seems to me that we have a disagreement between the whole region," said Sen. Connie Sipes, D-New Albany. "Is this the proper place to discuss this?"
After the hearing, Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said he was embarrassed that the region had "aired its dirty laundry" in front of the committee. McDermott worked behind the scenes in recent weeks to secure a commitment for his city to receive a gateway station linking current and future South Shore lines if the expansion plan moves forward.
Clay later said the hub should be built in his city. He and Rogers argue the South Shore expansion, which would require $150 million from the RDA, would sap funding from the Gary airport. But RDA Chairman Leigh Morris told the Senate committee that the RDA could shoulder the cost without shortchanging other commitments.
Kenley said $150 million from the RDA isn't enough local "skin in the game" to warrant $350 million from state coffers. He told U.S Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., he doesn't "buy" the argument that the state should pony up the money just because $500 million in federal dollars are available for the project.
Kenley also noted that a 1 percent food and beverage sales tax in the four counties served by the South Shore could raise $15 million a year.
