May 20, 2006
Toll Road deal taking Daniels to D.C.
House panel invites governor to testify
By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Members of Congress and the Bush administration want to know more about Indiana's controversial privatization of the Indiana Toll Road to finance state transportation projects.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels was invited to testify Wednesday before a House transportation subcommittee looking into whether such deals are the future of infrastructure financing.
Daniels also is scheduled to meet with the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission to talk about Major Moves.
The plan, challenged in court as unconstitutional, involves leasing the Toll Road to a private firm for 75 years for an upfront payment of at least $3.8 billion. Macquarie-Cintra, the Australian-Spanish consortium that won the bid for the lease, will operate, maintain and collect revenues on the Toll Road for 75 years.
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http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060520/NEWS02/605200485If you think its a bad idea here, wait until it hits the rest of the country!