Updating our entry from Tuesday (June 1) (access it here or simply scroll down) is this editorial today in the Indianapolis Star. Some quotes:
Created in the 1980s after the old practice of letting the political parties run the license branches was abolished, the commission oversees the 170 branches but is technically separate from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles itself. The latter is a state agency answerable to the governor, whereas the commission is its own boss, though its five members are appointed by the governor.Posted by Marcia Oddi at June 3, 2004 09:02 AMThe commission meets infrequently and can hardly expect to stay on top of 1,600 employees making 10 million transactions a year. DePrez insists it can handle any of the changes that cry out to be made, but the part-time nature of the body makes that a tall order to say the least.
The argument that keeping the commission apart from the BMV insulates the branches from political influence may have had a valid ring back when party fiefdom was a fresh memory, but two decades later it makes no more sense than to say the Department of Transportation or Environmental Management shouldn't fall under the governor's control.