State Officials

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.

By -

Editor, Times-Union:

Our state governmental officials, led by Governor Daniels, are considering three legislative items which should be of concern to us in Indiana.

First, there is a bill pending to force school districts to start classes after Labor Day. Our state legislators have no business overruling elected school boards on setting the academic calendar and dates for the school year.

Second, Governor Daniels is pushing for the elimination of township government, in the interest of better efficiency and cost savings. I have a better idea: Why don't we cut state government and bureaucracy by 50 percent and delegate those functions back to the townships and county? That will result in much more efficient government than this plan. Centralizing more power in Indianapolis is not the way to go.

Third, our legislators want to pass a law banning smoking in public places, even if that public place is private property. Government has no right telling private citizens they cannot engage in legal activities on their own private property. If tobacco is as dangerous as alleged, then they should make the use of tobacco illegal. That, of course, will not happen, as tobacco taxes are used to fund numerous programs. If they can succeed in this smoking ban, they will be able to limit our freedoms in many other ways.

David Williams

Warsaw, via e-mail[[In-content Ad]]

Editor, Times-Union:

Our state governmental officials, led by Governor Daniels, are considering three legislative items which should be of concern to us in Indiana.

First, there is a bill pending to force school districts to start classes after Labor Day. Our state legislators have no business overruling elected school boards on setting the academic calendar and dates for the school year.

Second, Governor Daniels is pushing for the elimination of township government, in the interest of better efficiency and cost savings. I have a better idea: Why don't we cut state government and bureaucracy by 50 percent and delegate those functions back to the townships and county? That will result in much more efficient government than this plan. Centralizing more power in Indianapolis is not the way to go.

Third, our legislators want to pass a law banning smoking in public places, even if that public place is private property. Government has no right telling private citizens they cannot engage in legal activities on their own private property. If tobacco is as dangerous as alleged, then they should make the use of tobacco illegal. That, of course, will not happen, as tobacco taxes are used to fund numerous programs. If they can succeed in this smoking ban, they will be able to limit our freedoms in many other ways.

David Williams

Warsaw, via e-mail[[In-content Ad]]
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