The Star Press from Muncie, Indiana • Page 3

PAGE 3 A FROM THE FRONTSTATE NEWS THE MUNCIE STAR, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1994 Welfare reform fliers irk Dem Charges Continued from Page 1A tor who does an excellent job," Hartley said. "In the 2 years I've been a commissioner, I've had no indication that Terri isn't getting the job done." Hartley also noted that the job of zoning administrator required Nichols to leave the office frequently to conduct inspections. "As long as you have confidence in your inspectors, you normally don't go snooping around after them," he said. Commissioner Robert Donati said the secretary "never mentioned any of this to us in her exit interview." He added, "She left on friendly terms." Donati also said he had not seen the administrative law judge's decision. Now that he is aware of the allegations, Donati says he plans to ask County Attorney Dale Hunt to investigate whether the secretary really was entitled to unemployment compensation.

He also said he would ask Hunt to investigate the secretary's claims against Nichols. Nichols was out of the office Thursday and Friday, reportedly because of a neck injury. Phil Nichols, her former husband, told The Star last week that she was "heavily medicated" and wearing a neck brace. He said she would return The Star's phone messages as soon as she was able to do so. Alleged abuses said corrected INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Republicans said Monday they stand behind campaign fliers that accuse House Democrats of supporting state-funding for taxi and limousine service for welfare recipients.

The Indianapolis Star reported Monday that thousands of campaign fliers have been distributed attacking Democrats for voting against a measure that would have barred Medicaid from paying for non-emergency trips to the doctor or hospital in a taxicab or limousine. Medicaid is the state-funded health insurance for the poor. The fliers, which were paid for by the state Republican committee, declare that many limousine trips were made "for non-emergency reasons, like getting diapers." Robert E. Hayes, D-Columbus, one of at least a half-dozen House Democrats targeted by the fliers. State Medicaid chief James Ver-dier said that before December 1992, many recipients were abusing the Medicaid transportation program, and the diaper-limo incident might well have taken place.

"There were wall-to-wall abuses, but it was a program we inherited from the Republicans," Verdier said. "As soon as the scope of these abuses became clear, we made a whole series of changes that pretty much have eliminated them." Recipients now are limited to 10 medical trips a year, and a flat rate was set for providers, regardless of what type of vehicle was used. "If they want to use a limo and get paid at a taxicab rate, they're free to do that," Verdier said. "But we're not paying for the cost of a limo." Not all the Republicans using the fliers are comfortable with its message. Young could not name a single specific instance, but insisted the abuses had occurred.

"We're not making this up, this is what was told to us," he said. The caucus campaign committee surveyed voters during the summer and came up with a list of issues that concerned voters. The GOP then used those issues to develop campaign fliers, Young said. The fliers are based on a party-line vote last January in which Democrats rejected a series of welfare reform measures offered as a package by freshman Republican Dean A. Young of Hartford City.

Tucked in that plan was a provision to bar Medicaid recipients from using taxicabs or limousines for doctor or hospital visits. But Democrats said the fliers distort the record. "You'd have to believe someone's gone completely crazy to say welfare recipients should ride around in limousines," said Rep. DR. ROBERT E.

KOVACS EVENING Senate Continued from Page 1A by American troops and that Aris-tide remained an ineffectual 1 leader. "The jury is still out on Small counties win in Indiana lottery HEADACHES STIFF NECK BACKACHE LEG PAIN ECO VACS CHIROPRACTIC CENTER 1310 E. McGalliard Rd. (ACROSS FROM K-MARTMARSH) 282-3750 WEEKEND HRS. AVAILABLE "We'd heard testimony from people who'd gone just to the pharmacy to pick up medication and then spent the rest of the day shopping." Rep.

R. Michael Young R-lndianapolis "We'd heard testimony from people who'd gone just to the pharmacy to pick up medication and then spent the rest of the day shopping," said state Rep. R. Michael Young, R-Indianapolis, the GOP-paid consultant who heads the Republican caucus campaign committee. motor vehicle excise tax relief, job creation and economic development projects and for natural disaster repair.

That worries some legislators, including state Rep. Michael Young. "We are hooked on gambling, and as those dollars fall, we're going to have a budget crunch," said Young, R-Indianapolis. "The best public policy is we shouldn't count on that money for our general budget obligations. When you do, and the gambling revenues fall, you don't have those dollars to catch up." Lottery money should be used only for necessities like "police, fire and teacher pensions, for infrastructure needs, for roads and sewers," Young said.

"That was part of the promise." The Bayh administration agrees with Young, said Stan Jones, director of policy for Gov. Evan Bayh. However, the administration is not expected to advocate major changes in lottery fund priorities in the upcoming session of the General Assembly. "Our goal is to get back to where we were," he said. "If you're a legislator in some district you might feel that the lottery money hasn't been handed out fairly.

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3300 W. PurdiM Aim. Mimcw, IN 47304 (2 Blk. North Of ShorMy In Lyndanbrook) Hi The questioning quickly turned to the economy, with Jontz arguing that new jobs created in Indiana during the Clinton presidency, and touted by the administration, pay $9,000 less on the average than old jobs that have been lost. "But the problem today for so many Americans is they're working but not making a living," he said.

Lugar said 72 percent of the 2 million jobs created in 1993 were "higher paying" and that the real problem is training people adequately to step into good paying jobs. "That's the reality of America now, of Indiana now," he said. maintained that many times government programs made problems worse, not better. "We've arrived at a time where the federal government is involved in everything we do," Munson said during a debate sponsored by the Muncie Jaycees. That debate can be seen on Muncie cable channel 15 at 7 p.m.

Wednesday. Eddy, a speech pathologist at Southview Elementary School, said shrinking the size of government was a good goal. But it is not as simple as Munson would like people to believe, she said. Their views seemed to carry over Monday night when Eddy and Munson discussed welfare reform. Both came out in favor of greater controls on welfare benefits, but they differed on solutions.

Eddy said she was concerned about proposals that centered on cutting people off from welfare benefits after a certain period. She said that simply cutting people off the welfare rolls would lead to other problems. The state needs to develop a long-term, comprehensive plan to help people get the education and job skills they need to stay off welfare, Eddy said. "We need to offer some incentives to get off the welfare system," she said. Those, Eddy said, should include allowing those who get jobs to keep health benefits, which they might not qualify for with an entry-level job.

Munson's comments centered on the need to remove from the welfare system people who are' able to work. "Welfare was not designed to be a lifestyle, a way of life," Munson said. Munson estimated that people on welfare could receive $19,000 a year in income and health benefits. He said he did not think there were enough incentives to get off welfare, and he supported a 2- to 3-year limit on the time a person could receive benefits. -iC LAFAYETTE, Ind.

(AP) The state's three least-populated counties are big winners when it comes to getting money from the Hoosier Lottery, according to a newspaper's analysis of state records. Newton, Martin and Warren counties have received the most lottery profits a person since the games began in 1989, according to a review of State Budget Agency records by the Journal and Courier in Lafayette. The counties, with a combined population of 32,096, have received $5,118,668 in lottery funds since 1989. Lottery money currently is distributed in the following order: supplemental public school funding; to bolster teacher retirement accounts; for police and fire pensions. Marion County has received the most total money $63.8 million in the past 5 years, followed by Lake, Allen, St.

Joseph and Vanderburgh counties. Ohio County has received the least money followed by Union, Switzerland, Benton and Crawford counties. Whatever money is left over goes toward the Build Indiana fund, used to pay for improvements in roads, bridges, sewers, streams and more public works. The General Assembly decides which projects are eligible for money from the Build Indiana fund. The state's two smallest counties, Union and Ohio, and five other counties have yet to receive any money from the Build Indiana fund, according to the paper's analysis, published this week.

Legislators have had to dip into lottery funds to support the General Fund and for supplemental public school tuition because of the recession in the early 1980s. Lottery money also has been used for The family of Vivian Lofton wishes to express their love and appreciation to the doctors and nurses of the Oncology Department at Ball Memorial Hospital for their special love and care for Vivian. God blest each every one of you. 91 ffiJS 0 i I 1 nam, win be until our troops come out," Lugar said. Jontz said the goal of U.S.

intervention, restoring the country's democratically elected president to power, was "well on its way" to beine accomnlished. adding, "We should get the troops uuuie as suun as we can. District 35 Continued from Page 1A priate," Patricia Eddy said. "I think we ought to think about things we can do in the state." Muson said Monday he believed in limited government and thought it was time for government power to be shifted from Washington, D.C., to the state capitals. Munson, a Muncie attorney, District 34 Continued from Page 1A Republicans enacted just after the 1982 elections.

"I would like the people to look at what the governor and the Democrats have accomplished," Elliott said during a debate sponsored by the Muncie Jaycees. The debate will be televised on Muncie cable channel 15 at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Elliott, a 68-year-old retiree, was a surprise winner in the May primary when he defeated Raymond Scheele, a Ball State University professor who was the choice of Democratic Party leaders. Elliott denied rumors he would resign after the election.

"The only way they would keep me out of there is healthwise," Elliott said. District 34 is important to both political parties as they fight for control of the Indiana House, which Democrats now dominate 55-45. The district has traditionally favored Democrats, but Republican Fred Wenger, now a candidate for the Indiana Senate, was an upset winner in the 1992 race. Democrats are hoping to win votes in black-dominated precincts for Elliott. But Vanleer, a manager at New Venture Gear, is also going after those votes in hopes of becoming the first black Republican in the Legislature since the mid-1970s.

The Indiana Black Legislative Caucus endorsed Elliott last week in a full-page advertisement in The Muncie Times, a twice-monthly newspaper directed at Muncie's black community. The 11 black legislators, all Democrats, said they were backing Elliott because the concerns of blacks were best addressed when Democrats controlled at least one house of the Legislature. Rep. Vanessa Summers Barnes, D-Indianapolis, said the caucus had considered the fact that Vanleer was black. "I don't understand black Republicans," Barnes said Monday during a stop in Muncie.

"We didn't have a problem endorsing Bill Elliott, because we decided to do what was best for the Democratic Party." Hurley Goodall, who was chairman of the black caucus before he retired from the district 34 seat in 1992, has not been willing to endorse Elliott. But Goodall said last week be believed Vanleer would be asked to cast votes that could hurt the black community. "He would be asked to back the Republican philosophy that government has no role to play in leveling the playing field for people, and I don't believe that," Goodall said. Vanleer said after Monday's debate that he was not surprised by the black caucus endorsement of Elliott He also said he thought it was wrong for Democrats to try to paint Republicans as insensitive on social issues. "There are many crumbs that are being thrown out," Vanleer said.

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