Local legislators weigh in on governor’s budget plan
Local delegates to the Indiana General Assembly were mixed in their support for Gov. Mitch Daniels’ budget proposal announced Monday. Democrat Rep. Scott Reske and Sen. Tim Lanane both said the governor’s small increases to the public education budget likely still would equate to a decrease in school funding because it wouldn’t keep up with inflation. “He doesn’t want to harm education coming out of the gate, but the flatline is actually a decrease in school spending because of inflation, so that has to be factored in,” Reske said.
Governor’s plan for special session: Cut spending but give Indiana schools a boost
Gov. Mitch Daniels wants to slash overall state spending by 2.5 percent, but the budget he outlined in a live broadcast Monday would give public schools and student aid a boost. The Republican governor also said he’s willing to reach into the state’s piggy bank — a bit. He said he wants to keep at least $1 billion of the state’s $1.3 billion in reserves in case the economy gets worse. “If legislators want to spend more on some favorite cause, that’s fine as long as they offset it elsewhere,” Daniels said. Daniels said a budget proposal that cleared the GOP-led Senate in the regular session but didn’t pass the Democrat-ruled House spent too much. A revenue forecast released last week predicted Indiana will collect $1.1 billion less through June 2011 than April estimates had predicted.
