Accusations fly as election nears

INDIANAPOLIS -- It won't be listed on the election card, but the battle over control of the Indiana House is living up to its expectations of being the top billing on the ballot this year.\nThere are new accusations and new questions about the campaign practices of both parties.\nRep. Ed Mahern, the head of House Democratic campaigns, said news releases printed on state stationary and distributed by House Republican legislative staff at the height of campaign season crossed the line that separates policy from politics.\n"I think it's very clear they have used state employees and state equipment for political purposes," Mahern, D-Indianapolis, said Wednesday.\nMahern noted that House Republicans did a recent fly-around to discuss issues in one of the news releases. If the flights were funded with campaign money, then the news releases were campaign-related, too, he said.\nIt is illegal for state employees to do political work on state time, but there apparently are gray areas in the law.\nHouse Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said the accusations were a desperate Democratic response to serious discussion of policy issues on such topics as education, economic development and state spending.\nHe said the news releases have outlined caucus policy stands that have been taken during past legislative sessions and would be pursued in the upcoming session in January.\n"These are policy discussions and not political discussions," Bosma said.\nBosma acknowledged that House Republicans funded the recent fly-around trips with campaign money, but said that was appropriate. Unlike the governor, his caucus does not have ready access to the use of state planes, he said.\n"We were looking to be squeaky clean, and we have been squeaky clean," Bosma said.\nHe said a legislative staff member who handles media relations for the caucus accompanied members on the fly-around, but had taken a vacation day from his state employee duties to do so.\nHe also said that promotional efforts and news releases that have involved non-incumbent Republican candidates have been generated by the Indiana Republican Party.\nAlthough Democrats have a slim majority in the House, all 100 seats are on the ballot in November and control of the chamber is once again in contention.\nMahern said he was not calling for an investigation into his accusations, but said federal authorities were looking into similar allegations against Lee Daniels, the Republican minority leader of the Illinois House.\nActually, federal authorities are investigating the use of Illinois House staffs from both parties after reports during the summer that staff members worked on political campaigns while being paid by the state.\nAccording to the Indiana State Ethics Commission, state employees in the executive branch are prohibited from engaging in political activity when on duty or acting in an official capacity. Such activities can include advertising a political preference, making political phone calls or stuffing envelopes.\nIndiana law says a public official commits ghost employment by hiring an employee and giving the person duties not related to the operation of the public agency.\nBut Becky McClure, assistant director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorney's Council, said the line between official and unofficial duties can be blurred.\n"It depends on every individual situation," she said.