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★ Forensic Investigative Report • Fully Documented

The Accountability Files: Regulatory Capture of District 78

Timothy A. O'Brien II represents Indiana House District 78 (Vanderburgh and Warrick counties). While he markets himself as a public servant, a forensic analysis of campaign finance records, legislative votes, and committee appointments reveals a systematic pattern of regulatory capture benefiting real estate developers, utility monopolies, and school privatization PACs at the expense of everyday households.

★ A Mother's Defense & Investigative Mandate

Applying Maternal Ferocity to Expose Corporate Predators

Why does a classroom teacher and mother spend hundreds of hours forensically auditing complex campaign finance disclosures, utility rate dockets, and subterranean carbon-injection liabilities? Because mothers understand the primordial instinct to protect their own.

When utility monopolies double fixed monthly electric fees right before winter, when out-of-state developers strip local arc-fault fire safety codes from apartment buildings where young children sleep, and when predatory bills threaten to liquidate neighborhood public schools—these are not mere political disputes. They are direct financial and physical assaults on our children’s security and working families' survival.

“You do not mess with our children's future, our family paychecks, or the safety of our homes. I am bringing that exact same unrelenting maternal ferocity to the Indiana statehouse to dismantle this legislative-donor nexus and stop the financial bleeding of District 78 working families.”

— Sally Busby, Candidate & Mother of Three
Executive Overview

Closed-Door Caucus Installation & Committee Power

How party-driven appointment and industry PAC funding created an incumbency moat in southern Indiana.

Closed-Door Political Succession

O'Brien assumed office on March 30, 2021, through a closed-door caucus of Republican precinct committeepersons rather than a general election, filling a vacancy left by Holli Sullivan. Following this installation, he won election in 2022 and ran unopposed in 2024 and 2026, building a formidable incumbency moat financed primarily by corporate PACs.

Industry Ties & Key Committee Controls

O'Brien brings deep professional ties to real estate as an active broker for F.C. Tucker Emge Realtors and past president of the Southwest Indiana Association of Realtors (SIAR). In the General Assembly, he sits on Ways and Means, Veterans Affairs and Public Safety, and serves as Chairman of the K-12 Education Funding Subcommittee, granting direct authority over billions in educational capital.

Audited Financial Flows

The Legislative-Donor Nexus Summary Matrix

Audited campaign contributions across the 2022, 2024, and 2026 election cycles and their direct correlation to legislative votes affecting District 78 households.

Industry / Backing PACs Contribution Footprint Supported Legislation Key Policy & Ratepayer Impact
Real Estate & Commercial Builders
Realtors, Builders & Multi-Family PACs 		$91,000+ Total
$40k ('22), $17.5k ('24), $16k ('26) + $5.5k+ Builders PAC 		HB 1001 (PL 73),
HB 1575 		Preempted local municipal zoning authority; froze local permit/impact fees after Dec 31, 2026; outlawed local multifamily fire safety AFCI rules; purged independent safety experts from Building Safety Commission.
Utility Monopolies
CenterPoint Energy PAC, NiSource PAC, Duke Energy 		Continuous Maximum Allowable Contributions HEA 1002, HB 1191,
SB 271, HB 1221 		Supported URT tax repeal smokescreen (~1.4% cut) ahead of $80M CenterPoint base rate hike (+114% fixed service fees); shifted nuclear reactor financial risks directly onto captive ratepayers.
Industrial Elite & Heavy Manufacturing
Koch Family & John C. Schroeder / Plastics 		$26,500+ Total
$6.5k+ Kochs, $10k per cycle Schroeder 		HB 1209, SB 389 Legalized subterranean CO2 forced pooling against private property owners; transferred 100% geological liability of CO2 reservoirs to Indiana taxpayers after 10 years; repealed state wetlands permitting.
Education Privatization
Hoosiers for Great Public Schools PAC 		$15,000 Total
$5,000 per election cycle 		HB 1136 Co-authored predatory bill to dissolve 5 public school districts, convert 68 public schools to private charters, terminate collective bargaining for 2,050 educators, and liquidate billions in public school real estate.
HOUSE BILL 1001 (PL 73) & HB 1575 • REAL ESTATE NEXUS PAC Footprint: $91,000+

1. Stripping Local Fire Safety Codes & Freezing Municipal Impact Fees

Backed by $91,000+ from real estate and builder PACs, O'Brien co-authored HB 1001 ("Housing Matters"), which permanently freezes local municipal permit and impact fees after Dec 31, 2026. Shockingly, HB 1001 prohibits local fire safety codes from requiring arc-fault circuit interrupters (AFCIs) in Class 2 or R-2 multifamily structures, saving developer construction costs at the direct expense of residential electrical fire safety. Furthermore, via HB 1575, O'Brien restructured the Indiana Building Safety Commission, purging independent safety experts and replacing them with apartment-industry representatives.

★ SALLY BUSBY'S DISTRICT 78 SOLUTION

Restore local municipal home rule and protect independent building safety commissions. Residential electrical fire safety standards must never be sacrificed to boost corporate developer profit margins.

HEA 1002, SB 271, HB 1191 • UTILITY MONOPOLIES CAC Pro-Consumer Score: 38% Lifetime

2. The CenterPoint Rate Hike Squeeze & Captive Ratepayer Risk Shift

Evansville ratepayers pay some of the highest electricity costs in the Midwest. While O'Brien heavily campaigned on co-authoring HEA 1002 (repealing the 1.46% Utility Receipts Tax for pennies in savings), this nominal benefit was instantly obliterated when the state-appointed IURC approved an $80 million base rate increase for CenterPoint Energy in 2024, driving average monthly residential electric bills up by $47–$50 and increasing fixed monthly service fees by 114% to $23.20. O'Brien also voted for SB 271, shifting experimental nuclear reactor construction risks directly onto captive household electric bills.

★ SALLY BUSBY'S DISTRICT 78 SOLUTION

Hold utility monopolies accountable before the IURC, repeal SB 271 captive ratepayer subsidies, and champion localized solar and wind micro-grids so communities control affordable power independently.

HOUSE BILL 1136 • EDUCATION PRIVATIZATION PAC Footprint: $15,000 ($5,000/cycle)

3. Public Education Dissolution & Real Estate Liquidation Blueprint

Backed by regular $5,000-per-cycle funding from the Hoosiers for Great Public Schools PAC, O'Brien co-authored HB 1136, predatory legislation that attempted to mandate the complete operational dissolution and administrative liquidation of public school districts if over 50% of resident students used vouchers or charters. Under the bill, 68 public schools representing billions in taxpayer-funded real estate would have been forcibly converted to private charter management and collective bargaining agreements for 2,050 unionized educators terminated.

★ SALLY BUSBY'S DISTRICT 78 SOLUTION

Protect public school corporations from forced liquidation schemes. Fully fund our neighborhood classrooms, guarantee competitive teacher compensation, and put student stability ahead of private asset grabs.

HOUSE BILL 1209 & SB 389 • HEAVY INDUSTRY PAC Footprint: $26,500+

4. Forced Landowner Pooling & Subterranean CO2 Taxpayer Liability Trap

Backed by heavy industrial capital (the Koch and Schroeder families), O'Brien supported HB 1209, legalizing subterranean forced pooling for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). Corporations can legally compel adjacent private landowners to accept underground, high-pressure CO2 waste injections beneath their properties if the developer leases 60% of the area. Shockingly, the statute mandates that the State of Indiana assumes 100% long-term legal, environmental, and geological liability exactly ten years post-completion.

★ SALLY BUSBY'S DISTRICT 78 SOLUTION

Defend private landowner sovereignty against industrial forced pooling and hold polluting developers permanently liable for underground storage and water safety.

Citizen Action Roadmap

Forensic Investigative Roadmap for District 78

Because county permit logs, deed transfers, and public-utility docket filings are kept on localized databases, citizen researchers and civic coalitions can use this 5-zone roadmap to verify local developer maneuvers ahead of the December 31, 2026 preemption deadline:

ZONE 1 • PERMIT RUSH FORENSICS

Dec 31, 2026 Building-Fee Freeze

Request commercial and multi-family permit application logs from the Vanderburgh and Warrick County Plan Commissions filed since March 4, 2026. Cross-reference applicant LLCs against Indiana Election Division CFA-4 donor records.

ZONE 2 • FLOODPLAIN MITIGATION

Ohio River Corridor Infill Checks

Inspect floodplain development permits at Vanderburgh County Surveyor's Office and compare deed transfer dates against county commissioners' minutes to identify developers exploiting the 3:1 statutory compensatory cap.

ZONE 3 • GRID STRAIN & DATA CENTERS

Utility Data-Center Acquisitions

Query IURC online dockets for CenterPoint CPCN filings and check county GIS records for agricultural-to-industrial rezoning near transmission substations (including the 600 MW 'Project Greater' or Sourcecolo acquisitions).

Hold Special Interests Accountable: Join Team Sally →