State Representatives Bruce Borders and Tom Washburne appeared on WVUT’s Meet Your Legislator program on Saturday.
ROAD REPAIRS
The Republican Majority in the Indiana General Assembly are not all on board with party’s proposal on how to fund road repairs statewide.
House Speaker Brian Bosma is calling for a 15-dollar increase in the vehicle registration fee and increasing the state’s gas tax by 10-cents to meet future road maintanence needs.
During Saturday’s Meet Your Legislators program at Vincennes University, State Representative Bruce Borders of Jasonville says he isn’t on board with the plan. Borders chief concern is what happens if within a couple of years they find that source of revenue is unsustainable.
State Representative Tom Washburne of Inglefield says the state did a study looking at every single bridge and the number of roads that need work and they came up with a figure of 1-point-2 billion dollars in road work needing to be done. He believes raising the gas tax is the most equitable way of funding road repairs.
LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT BOUNDARIES
Area lawmakers were asked Saturday if they were in favor of creating an independent citizens commission to re-draw the state’s legislative maps.
The question put forth to lawmakers was in response to lack of competitive races during the last election cycle which saw republicans gain a Super Majority in both the senate and the house.
State Representative Thomas Washburne of Inglefield responded to the question during Saturday’s Meet Your Legislator program held at Vincennes University.
He attributed the lack of competitive races not on the way the districts are currently drawn, but a rebuttal of Democrat President Barack Obama’s policies.
State Representative Bruce Borders of Jasonville is also not in favor of re-drawing legislative boundaries.
He also remains skeptical that an independent commission can be appointed that wouldn’t show some favoritism
to the way the boundaries are drawn.
