Pence protests against metropolitan changes

Columbus Congressman Greg Pence is joining with other Indiana representatives to protest a proposal that would downgrade Columbus and other Indiana cities from a Metropolitan Statistical Area.

In an announcement yesterday, Pence said he wrote a letter to the Office of Management and Budget against a proposal that would increase the threshold for metropolitan areas from the current 50,000 residents to 100,000 residents. That would eliminate 144 of the country’s current 392 metropolitan areas from detailed statistics keeping and special consideration for federal funds.

In Indiana, that would mean Columbus, Muncie, Kokomo, Terre Haute and the Michigan City/La Porte area would lose the designation.

Pence said that the eliminated cities would lose out on significant federal resources. Pence also cited Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop who said information that is now used to manage and promote these communities would simply no longer be maintained.