From the Indianapolis Business Journal:
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard sat out an April 2 hearing on mass transit because he knew the issue would be shifted to the Legislature’s back burner.
“Since we knew this was the likely outcome today, he was willing to let other voices be heard,” spokesman Marc Lotter said after the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee amended the mass-transit-expansion bill to create a study committee on the issue.
Without the amendment, the bill would have allowed Marion and surrounding counties to set up a regional transit authority and hold a referendum on whether to raise local income taxes to pay for an expanded system. The 10-year plan called for doubling bus service and adding rapid transit from Noblesville to downtown, plus other routes.
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http://www.ibj.com/mayor-ballard-accepts-fate-of-mass-transit-bill/PARAMS/article/40591
