Headlines
1. Indiana toll road interest pleases state treasurer
2. Public records, private control
3. Louisiana: Priv school tax breaks for families advance
4. NY: Transition raises budget questions, including privatizing lottery
5. Okla. Senate passes bill to privatize lottery
6. Cubs fans fight to keep their field Wrigley
7. Ga: Gutting our schools – Editorial
8. Texas legislative leaders urge TxDOT to sell $1.5B of gas-tax bonds


News Summaries
1. Indiana toll road interest pleases state treasurer
Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock announced Monday that in 2007 the
state earned more than $287 million in interest from its investment of
proceeds from the $3.8 billion lease of the Indiana Toll Road. Gov.
Mitch Daniels pushed for the lease of the Toll Road in 2006 to create
Major Moves, a 10-year program for statewide road improvements. The Indianapolis Star
2. Public records, private control
Government bodies that contract out their record-keeping can add a whole new
layer of difficulty to gaining access. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
3. Louisiana: Priv school tax breaks for families advance
A bill that would provide a tax break for families whose children
attend private or parochial schools won Senate approval Wednesday after
public school students were added to the mix. The Advocate
4. NY: Transition raises budget questions, including privatizing lottery
Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s resignation leaves a big question mark beside key
initiatives that might have become hallmarks of his administration,
including a property tax cap and a $4 billion education endowment
funded by privatizing the state lottery. Times Union
5. Okla. Senate passes bill to privatize lottery
The full Senate has given its approval to a bill that could privatize
the state’s education lottery. Sen. John Ford said the lottery has not
made as much money for education as supporters had claimed. He said
privatization might create a more efficient operation. Tulsa Today
6. Cubs fans fight to keep their field Wrigley
Over the last eight years, baseball fans have watched Pacific Bell Park
in San Francisco become SBC Park — and now cheer on home runs from the
seats in AT&T Park. Fans in Houston tried to have a sense of humor
when Enron Field became Minute Maid Park — by nicknaming it the Juice
Box. But many Chicago Cubs fans vow they won’t accept a new name for
their beloved Wrigley Field. When an $8.2-billion privatization deal
gave local real estate magnate Sam Zell control over Tribune Co. — as
well as the Cubs and the second-oldest ballpark in the major leagues —
in December, the new owner said he planned to sell both the team and
the field. Los Angeles Times
7. Ga: Gutting our schools – Editorial
In the scattershot education bills approved this year, a single theme
has emerged: Gov. Sonny Perdue and the General Assembly have given up
on the traditional public education system that changed the fortunes
and paths of generations of Americans. The Republican leadership in
Georgia has abandoned the notion that the state can or will deal with
the transformative and thorny issues of funding, teacher quality or
school size. "The result is that they only grudgingly put any resources
into the Quality Basic Education Act and the salary schedule and focus
on relatively low-bore programs such as gift cards and graduation
coaches," says Tim Callahan of the Professional Association of Georgia
Educators. "Meanwhile, they assiduously pump up competing marketplace
options such as charters, home and private schools." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
8. Texas legislative leaders urge TxDOT to sell $1.5B of gas-tax bonds
Top state legislative leaders are urging the Texas Department of
Transportation to tap the bond market with $1.5 billion of debt backed
by the state’s gasoline tax to help reduce a growing backlog of highway
projects. With resistance growing to long-term private leasing and
operation of major highways in the state, lawmakers last year imposed a
two-year moratorium on any new concessions to private tollway
developers. The Bond Buyer (subscription)
Publications
Stabilizing and Rebuilding Iraq: Actions Needed to Address
Inadequate Accountability over U.S. Efforts and Investments, by David
M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, before the Senate
Committee on Appropriations. GAO-08-568T, March 11, 2008
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-568T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d08568thigh.pdf