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| Indiana Statehouse, earlier this year. |
An Indiana judge ruled yesterday that the state has to pay IBM $12 million for the failed effort. Reports the Indianapolis Star:
A Marion County judge today ruled that the state owes IBM $12 million in a dispute over the state's canceled welfare-modernization contract, but the victory falls short of the money IBM had sought.
That amount is in addition to $40 million that Judge David Dreyer previously ruled IBM deserved for subcontractor fees. The bulk of the new $12 million judgment covers $9 million in equipment it left in the state's possession when the contract was canceled. The state gets nothing out of the ruling, a blow for Gov. Mitch Daniels.
"Neither party deserves to win this case," Dreyer wrote in a 65-page ruling. "This story represents a 'perfect storm' of misguided government policy and overzealous corporate ambition. Overall, both parties are to blame and Indiana's taxpayers are left as apparent losers."The Teamsters' good friend Patrick Bauer, Indiana House minority leader, says taxpayers will pay even more than that:
...In addition to the $12 million owed to IBM as a result of today’s decision, this judge ruled earlier that the state must pay $40 million in subcontractor fees. Don’t forget that we also owe at least another $13 million in outside legal services.
“That means Indiana taxpayers will be footing the bill to the tune of somewhere in the area of $65 million.Bauer concludes "this is yet another example of an administration that continues to screw up at every conceivable opportunity in its final days in office."
Among those screw-ups: losing track of half a billion dollars in taxpayer money, including a $206 million mistake that shortchanged local governments, a missing $320 million in corporate tax collections and a $610 million overpayment to local governments.
Oh, and right-to-work-for-less.
