Indiana Sandwich Stackers....

South Bend Tribune

Court upholds voter ID law in Indiana
ACLU of Indiana legal director says he's disappointed by ruling.


DEANNA MARTIN
Associated Press Writer

INDIANAPOLIS -- Republicans hailed a federal court ruling upholding Indiana's voter ID law as a victory for voting reforms, while opponents of the law planned their next move.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled 2-1 last week that Indiana's law, which requires voters to show a photo ID at the polls, has the potential to do more good than harm.

The Republican-controlled Legislature approved the law in 2005, saying it would help prevent voter fraud. But the Indiana Democratic Party and the American Civil Liberties Union say the law unfairly affects people who may struggle to obtain a photo ID.


Ken Falk, legal director of the ACLU of Indiana, said he was disappointed with the ruling by the three-judge panel.

"I have not spoken with my clients yet, but I'm going to recommend a rehearing before the entire 7th Circuit," he said Thursday.

The three-judge panel questioned arguments that Indiana's rule is unfair to poor, elderly, minority and disabled voters, and pointed out that opponents could not find anyone unable to cast a ballot under the new law.

"No doubt there are at least a few such people in Indiana," wrote Judge Richard A. Posner, "but the inability of the sponsors of this litigation to find any such person to join as a plaintiff suggests that the motivation for the suit is simply that the law may require the Democratic Party and the other organizational plaintiffs to work harder to get every last one of their supporters to the polls."

Indy Star


Can 25¢ more a pack help us kick the habit?
Proposal to raise cigarette tax, insure 120,000 is poised to be one of the legislature's top issues

By Mary Beth Schneider
mary.beth.schneider@indystar.com

Dr. Judith Monroe, Indiana's health commissioner, calls the numbers "staggering."

The Indiana Legislature begins work today. A key decision this session will be whether to raise the cigarette tax, and by how much, in order to fund health care coverage for more Hoosiers. Hearings will be held in both the Senate Health and Provider Services Committee, and the House Public Health Committee on health coverage plans, while the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee will have to debate the cigarette tax.

The health care debate
The General Assembly will debate several proposals to provide health coverage for uninsured Hoosiers, including one by Gov. Mitch Daniels. His plan would:
• Create a voluntary program for Hoosiers who earn up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level and are not eligible to enroll in employer-sponsored health insurance and lacked insurance a minimum of six months.
• Enrollment would be on a first-come, first-served basis, with the number enrolled based on the amount of money the state has available.
• The program would be paid for in part by an increase in the cigarette tax of at least 25 cents. The higher the tax, the more people who could be covered, with 120,000 covered with a 25-cent cigarette tax increase and 200,000 with a 50-cent cigarette tax increase.
• Participants would contribute up to 5 percent of their gross family income.
• Participants would get up to $500 of preventive care each year. Dental, vision and outpatient mental health services would not be covered.
• Personal Wellness Responsibility -- or POWER -- accounts would be created for each participant of up to $1,100 per adult, which could be used for health expenses or eventually withdrawn for other needs as long as enrollees took advantage of the preventive care.
• Participants would get $300,000 in annual insurance coverage with a $1 million lifetime cap.
Source: Governor's office.

For starters, about $2 billion annually is spent in the state on health care costs related to cigarette smoking.
And there's the human toll. Each year, about 9,800 Hoosiers die from smoking-related illnesses.
(snip)
When the legislature convenes today, lawmakers will begin debating a proposal by Gov. Mitch Daniels calculated to address those numbers and one more: the state's more than 500,000 uninsured.
Daniels has proposed a minimum 25-cents-a-pack increase to Indiana's current 55.5-cent cigarette tax. That increase, he has said, would reduce the number of smokers and generate $95 million to create a health plan that would cover 120,000 Hoosiers.
The state's cigarette tax is among the lowest in the nation, and Monroe and others say it's one reason Indiana has the second-highest rate of smoking in the nation, trailing only Kentucky. They point to numerous studies showing that higher taxes have reduced smoking rates and boosted state revenues.

Ft Wayne Journal Gazette

Nothing of any interest. What a crappy paper.