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House approves $5 million for state fair victims

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Indiana's House of Representatives is advancing a plan to give an additional $5 million to victims of last year's stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair.

The measure would help pay medical costs incurred by the 58 stage collapse victims who filed claims with the state. It would also give another $400,000 to each family of the seven people killed when winds toppled the stage just before an Aug. 13 concert by country duo Sugarland.

The House voted 96-2 for the measure. It now moves to the Senate.

House Ways and Means Chairman Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale, said Tuesday that no amount of money will right everything for the victims. But he said the additional $5 million is a start.

"I will not tell you that this is going to make everything right," he said.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller and Kenneth Feinberg, a national victim claims expert who distributed relief money to victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and other tragedies, divided the money from the state's $5 million claims fund among victims in December.

But many leaders, including Gov. Mitch Daniels who asked for the additional money in his 2012 legislative package, said the state's $5 million limit would not be enough for victims.

Rep. Ed DeLaney, D-Indianapolis, tried to amend the measure Monday to raise the limit to $22 million, but was unsuccessful. He said his figure accounted for inflation since lawmakers set the $5 million cap on payouts in 1974.

The measure would also give $80 million to school systems to cover the cost of full-day kindergarten. Debate over the money comes after the Daniels administration discovered $320 million had been left untouched in a state account.

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  • what the ...?
    So - they don't want to change the cap, but just provide extra money for this one instance??? And doesn't the state constitution prohibit "special legislation"? what the heck is this, then? Raise the cap to protect future victims, not just this one, well publicized group. Espich needs to GO!

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  1. these guys only skill was to steal from other's hard earned savings.

  2. I voted for him last time and it WAS the LAST time. He needed to to quit running around the world on useless trips, and giving our $$ away to sports teams. I'll vote for anyone but Ballard next time. BTW...we gave $40M to the Pacers and cannot even watch the games on TV.

  3. For the people concerned about traffic, you should know that mixed-use projects (like the one being proposed), actually allows for and encourages more people to walk and bike, thereby mitigating additional automobile traffic. If we continue to design and build suburban-type projects in the City (i.e. automobile-oriented projects), we are not offering anything different from what the suburbs offer, which means we will continue to lose jobs/people to the suburbs. The reason Broad Ripple is somewhat successful today is that people want to live in a place that offers the convenience of being able to walk/bike to restaurants, retail, nightlife, the Monon, etc. Why would you not want to support a project that is complimentary to what already makes the area desirable? The real argument with this project should be its lack-luster design and layout, not the density.

  4. It is unfortunate that there is a perception that celebrities validate an event. The Indy 500 stands on its own, especially for those coming in from out of town. It was always so disturbing to read the gushing descriptions of Ashley Judd threaded throughout the local coverage. Very happy that era is at an end.

  5. Good ole' Obamacare. Thanks liberals and those who didn't bother to vote.

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