Still For Sale: Guv Says He'll Try, Try Again To Pawn Off The Lottery

Dec. 30, 2007 (taking down words delivered by Newstex) -- >Well, at least the Guv's finally being honest with the voters about his plans to sell off public assets if he's [re-]"Given a second term in office, Gov. Mitch Daniels says he would repackage a proposed lease of the Hoosier Lottery as a way to make college more "The Republican governor pitched lottery privatization a year ago in an attempt to stem what he called 'brain drain.' His plan to pour at least $1 billion into university research endowments and merit scholarships for top high school graduates who pledge to stay in Indiana following their studies cleared the GOP-led state Senate only to stall in the Democratic-controlled >"Daniels discussed his tax plan, the lottery, South Shore expansion and several other topics in a year-end interview with The Times. Check out the full question-and-answer session in next Sunday's Forum section.

"Daniels decided to put the lottery plan on hold next year while lawmakers concentrate on corralling runaway property taxes. But the governor told The Times a 2009 lease deal "still has great >"'I expect to re-propose a transaction but with the proceeds maybe going in a slightly different direction -- probably aimed very much at the affordability of higher education for our low- to moderate-income kids,' Daniels said. 'I forgot about any idea of proposing it in '08 when it became obvious that we would be working on property tax reduction.'"Of course, it took him three years to figure out the property taxes were an issue he should pay attention to. Meanwhile, he's tried every session to sell something else.Priorities,