Local parties react to Gov. Daniels' performance report

Gov. Mitch Daniels' office released its first six-month budget performance report on Friday, outlining the governor's first steps toward reaching his goal of a streamlined state government and a balanced budget. \nThe 80-page report claims a saving of more than $150 million made through varied budget cuts and cost-saving measures in numerous departments.\nThe budget cuts keep in step with Daniels' reputation for fiscal frugality in the Office of Management and Budget during President Bush's first term, earning Daniels the moniker "The Blade." The report is an attempt to make good on Daniels' promise to bring a business-like accountability to Indiana's government and classifies agencies into three performance \ncategories: green (satisfactory), yellow (needs improvement) or red (unsatisfactory).\n"If you're not keeping score, you're just practicing," Daniels said in the report. The administration will release a performance report every six months. \nThe cuts and cost-saving measures are big, small and everywhere in between. They range from cutting back on water bottles at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to exchanging Ford Expeditions for the less expensive Chevy Trailblazers in the Department of Natural \nResources. \nBigger cost-saving measures include $11 million of savings in food service for prisoners by contracting a third-party provider and the consolidation of the State Personnel Department at a savings of $5 million.\nThe most controversial parts of the bill include slashes in funding to unemployment clerks and the closure of BMV locations. Democrats say these cuts come with reciprocal effects that are just starting to be seen. \nLocal Democrats also question money being saved, claiming there will be higher property taxes in the future. Lee Jones, vice chairman of the Monroe County Democrats, warned that "under Daniels, (the administration) will start funding through property taxes again. The voters need to know why their taxes are higher." \nState Sen. Vi Simpson, D-Bloomington, said she sees the governor taking unnecessary risks with Hoosiers' dollars. \n"We want to make sure services don't affect people's lives in a negative manner. Everybody wants a lean government, but I don't want a mean government," Simpson said. She points to cuts of unemployment clerks that have forced people to wait three to five weeks longer to receive checks than in the past. \n"For millionaires, like our governor, they can afford to skip a couple paychecks, but a lot of people can't," she added. \nIUPUI political science professor William Blomquist said he sees these criticisms as coming from those unhappy about election results and said he feels these measures are in step with Daniels' goal to streamline the government. \n"During the campaign, they said they will look for every saving and efficiency they could find," Blomquist said.\nMonroe County Republican Chairman John Shean agrees with Blomquist. Shean said he finds Democrats' complaints unfounded and urges Democrats to be patient in their criticism of the governor. \n"If we give him another year, we'll really see something," Shean said. "It's refreshing to see somebody carry through on their campaign." \nShean praises the cuts as the beginning of a change in Indiana's government. \n"The governor campaigned on making a change, on weeding the garden. That what he's doing now, weeding the garden," he said. \nThe Daniels' administration also sees these cuts as the first step as more than 85 percent of agency performances still fall in the unsatisfactory red or yellow color-coding categories. \nBetsy Burdick, Daniels' director of cabinet and agency affairs, wrote in a letter to the governor, "it may take years of unrelenting focus to 'get to green' but what is most critical is year-to-year improvement"