A look at news and events in the Daniels Administration

Indiana chosen as permanent home for $20 million Lincoln collection

December 12, 2008- Governor Mitch Daniels has announced that Lincoln Financial Foundation (LFF) will donate its collection of Abraham Lincoln artifacts and documents to the state of Indiana. 

"We enter Lincoln's bicentennial year with the goal or reestablishing Indiana's central place in his life," said Daniels. "This decision comes during Indiana's 192^nd anniversary, but this is no birthday gift.  It was well earned by the excellent team that represented us all.  Indiana pledges the most exquisite care and the widest possible public availability of these priceless pieces of our history."

Valued at more than $20 million, this is the world's largest private collection memorabilia from Abraham Lincoln's personal and presidential life.  It will be housed at the Indiana State Museum (ISM) in Indianapolis and the Allen County Public Library (ACPL) in Fort Wayne. Among the more than 20,000 items in the collection are signed copies of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment; three-dimensional artifacts including Lincoln's wallet and a chair he sat in for some of his most famous photographs; artwork; thousands of documents; photographs; prints and rare books.

"Lincoln is a beloved figure who has inspired generations of Americans.  He spent his formative years in Indiana and we are grateful to keep the collection here in the state, accessible to all," said Barry Dressel, ISM president and CEO.

Over the past six months, LFF reviewed proposals from organizations across the country that were interested in caring for and displaying the collection.  The Indiana team, including representatives from the ISM, ACPL, Indiana Historical Society, Indiana State Library, Friends of the Lincoln Museum, and Governor Daniels' office prepared the winning bid.  An endowment, funded from private donations, will now be established to pay for expenses at the ISM and ACPL to maintain the collection and make it available to the widest possible audience. 

The collection will join ISM's holdings of more than 500,000 artifacts and natural history specimens and will benefit from the museum's extensive experience in exhibition development, public programming and collections care.  ACPL, which will house manuscripts, books, and periodicals, is home to one of the largest genealogical collections in the world and has tremendous expertise in preserving, cataloging, and digitizing rare books, manuscripts and records.

In 2010, ISM will debut a Library of Congress exhibition of rare Lincoln artifacts in connection with the 200^th anniversary of Lincoln's birth.  That exhibit will now be enhanced with several unique items from the LFF collection. 

December 15, 2008– Governor Daniels and 21 state officials will compete against 10 other governors and their colleagues in a contest that will track physical activity.  The state with the winning team will be awarded $50,000 to fight childhood obesity.

“Indiana may not yet be the healthiest state, but you better believe we’re going to try to win this,” said Daniels.

Daniels, Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman and First Lady Cheri Daniels with 19 other state officials will participate in the Virgin HealthMiles Capitol Steps Challenge and will wear a GoZone pedometer that will track the number of steps they take each day.  The participants will provide daily information to a Web page that will track the progress of each participating state.  The state with the highest average number of steps per participant will be named the Most Active Governor’s Team and will receive a donation of $50,000 to the state’s childhood obesity program from Virgin HealthMiles. 

The challenge was issued by Governor Rick Perry of Texas with the goal of raising national awareness of the correlation between increased activity levels and good health. Other states that will participate are Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Maryland, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. 

The challenge starts January 1 and will conclude on January 14.  The winner will be announced at the National Governors Association meeting in Washington, D.C. on February 21. 

A team must have a minimum of 10 participants and comprise at least 75 percent of the governor’s cabinet to qualify for the Most Active Governor’s Team award.  Indiana participants are:

Governor Mitch Daniels

First Lady Cheri Daniels

Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman

Director Rob Carter, Department of Natural Resources

Commissioner Jim Atterholt, Department of Insurance

Director Ryan Kitchell, Office of Management and Budget

Commissioner Lori Torres, Department of Labor

Director Gerry Weaver, Office of Technology

Commissioner Carrie Henderson, Department of Administration

Commissioner Ed Buss, Department of Correction

Director Dan Hackler, State Personnel Department

Commissioner Dr. Judy Monroe, Department of Health

Secretary Mitch Roob, Family and Social Services Administration

Commissioner Teresa Voors, Department of Workforce Development

Director Andy Miller, Office of Disaster Recovery

Director Anne Hazlett, Department of Agriculture

Commissioner Ron Stiver, Bureau of Motor Vehicles

Secretary of State Todd Rokita

Auditor Tim Berry

Treasurer Richard Mourdock

Attorney General-elect Greg Zoeller

Superintendent of Public Instruction-elect Dr. Tony Bennett

For more information on the Capitol Steps Challenge, please visit:  www.virginhealthmiles.com/capitolstepschallenge.

Daniels announces actions to reduce state spending following revenue forecast

December 11, 2008– The State Budget Committee has received the updated revenue forecast for Fiscal Years 2009 through 2011. The revised forecast projects a $763 million gap between spending ($13.305 billion) and anticipated revenue ($12.542 billion) for the fiscal year 2009.

In response, Governor Daniels announced actions the state will take in the coming months to reduce spending for fiscal year 2009 and assure that Indiana maintains a balanced budget.  Here is a list of new and already implemented actions to reduce spending. Some areas of state government will not be impacted and are listed below.

Budget management actions already implemented

• Executive agency budgets cut 7 percent
• Strategic hiring process put in place
• Delayed discretionary new capital spending, such as Department of Natural Resources swimming pools, State Police posts

New budget actions planned

• 3 percent additional cut for executive agency budgets, bringing the total for fiscal year 2009 to 10 percent less spending
• 3 percent less spending on grants and subsidies such as planning projects and publications
• No out-of-state agency travel requests unless approved by Budget Agency
• Additional capital spending and hiring restrictions
• State employees will not receive a pay increase in 2009
• Governor Daniels will forego a pay raise this year. This includes the governor, all other statewide officeholders, judges, and legislators

Areas of state government not affected

• Distributions to K-12 schools. Scheduled payments will continue as budgeted.
• Medicaid – no one will lose coverage
• Public safety
• Highway infrastructure improvements are separate from the state’s general fund and will continue

*Includes $100 million of other revenue not included in the forecast

Note: All figures exclude impact of HEA 1001 (2008)

Here is a link to a graph representing the latest state revenue forecast: http://www.in.gov/gov/files/Press/revenues_expenditures.pdf

Here is a link to a letter Governor Daniels sent to state employees about 2009 pay: http://www.in.gov/gov/files/Press/state_employee_letter.pdf