Tom Bennington has contemplated running for the state's House of Representatives for quite some time -- but it took about $3 billion dollars to convince him to run.
The money is not his, but instead belongs to the state. In the last half of the 1990s, Indiana had accrued a surplus of more than $2 billion. Today, the state is trying to recover from a $1.3 billion dollar deficit.
And Bennington blames his opponent, Representative R. Tiny Adams, and many current legislators for the sapped surplus.
"My parents always taught me, if you think there is something wrong, you should get involved and be part of the solution," Bennington said.
Adams, however, said most of the surplus went back to the people -- via tax deductions, exemptions and credits. Another significant chunk was allocated to one-time projects.
"These were all Democrat ideas in giving people back their money," Adams said.
Adams, a Democrat, and Bennington, a Republican, are vying for the 34th District seat, which covers Ball State.
Currently, the Democrats maintain a lead in the House, but only four seats separate the Republicans from taking control. Of the 100 seats in the House, 19 are guaranteed to Republicans due to uncontested races. Democrats have only 10.
As the incumbent, Adams has served on the Ways and Means committee, which drafts the state's budget, for six years. He attended Indiana University and the University of Evansville; he graduated from Muncie Southside High School in 1963.
Bennington has no legislative experience, but he has served as the maintenance supervisor for the Muncie Sanitary District and superintendent of Anderson's sewage utility. He graduated from Muncie Central High School and received a degree from Ball State in 1987 with an emphasis in business, economics and political science.
Both competitors are calling for priorities in state spending -- including for higher education.
Bennington said he would never cut higher education funding, though he would hold funding steady if necessary. He was also against the O'Bannon administration withholding $550,000 in payments to Indiana's universities.
But he questioned why the university continued seeking money for buildings. He said other venues, including technology spending, should be emphasized.
"We need to hold the line right now on spending, and I think we need better accountability from administrators," Bennington said.
Like his opponent, Adams said universities' boards of trustees need to focus away from capital projects. If they don't, he would be willing to take measures at the state level to "get their attention."
Adams has supported Ball State's previous capital requests, including the Music Instructional Building, but a line needs to be drawn during these economic times, he said.
"There's nothing wrong with the upkeep of buildings, but we need to put some priorities on our spending. These boards of trustees have to take some responsibilities and make some tough decisions. There has got to be some responsibility on the (Ball State) Board of Trustees to make some decisions and to stand up to the president and administration and remember who they represent."
Neither men, however, think the state should have more power to dictate how universities spend their money.
Beyond the university level, the candidates disagree on state spending. During a public forum Tuesday, Bennington insisted the state only spend 99 percent of its expected revenue -- a demand he said he'll fight to implement if elected.
He said he also supports legislation regulating abortion clinics and changing the ISTEP to two one-day tests at the beginning and end of the year.
He also said the state should need a super majority to increase any taxes and criticized Adams for his own taxing policy.
"My opponent has voted for every tax increase, except for the last one (House Bill 1001, which was passed this summer), and he didn't vote for it because it wasn't big enough," Bennington said.
Adams did not vote for the most recent tax increase because it cut services for the "little people," he said. It cut provisions for health care and child care and a patients' bill of rights. He did support the gasoline and sales tax increase, but he was not in favor of the initial proposal to increase cigarette taxes by 50 cents.
As for Bennington's insistence that the state spend only 99 percent of expected revenues, Adams called it pure party rhetoric.
"All he is, is a puppet for the state party, saying whatever they want to tell him," Adams said.
Adams said he has no one issue he plans on pursuing when legislators convene in January, but he will push hard, he said, to get approval of a casino near French Lick. The revenue he said would help subsidize the state.
"I can see black from white, and in these times of needs, I can see that as a way to help balance the budget. This could have been a quick fix, not a permanent fix," he said. "I'll continue to support sin taxes and user fees to help balance the budget, and not on the back of the little people."
In the past, Adams has supported, and initiated, legislation to put faculty members on boards of trustees, and he said the issue will resurface sometime during the session.==29<-¼--*F10/24 state candidates profilesDNEditorial==2SORT&+â-ä2AUDT
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