June 3, 2009

INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana lawmakers will be called back to the Statehouse on June 11 for a special legislative session to pass a new state budget. The groundwork for that special session is being laid now.

Last week, the State Budget Committee received an updated forecast that indicates state revenues will be $444 million lower than projected over the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. The same forecast also indicated slight revenue growth in the next two years.

Governor Daniels has outlined his proposal for the upcoming budget. Using this plan as a starting point, a 12-member special committee will begin negotiations on a final budget before the legislature reconvenes for special session. That is how things will proceed if everything goes according to plan. The problem is that very little has gone according to plan this session. There are still more questions than answers.

I will pay particular attention to this proposal to see the impact of the governor's proposed budget on schools here in House District 36. I cannot vote for cutting state support for public schools or cutting student financial assistance to help our young people attend college, because it sends the wrong message at a time when education is crucial to spur an economic recovery. It would be difficult for me to cut or flatline these essential programs while hoarding a large reserve, solely because we think things might be worse down the road.

The new budget also must show a commitment toward job creation that benefits the nearly 315,000 Hoosiers who are presently out of work. Based upon April figures, Indiana's unemployment rate is 9.9%. Madison County's unemployment rate is 10.3%. As I talk with people in our area, they continue to tell me that jobs are the number #1 issue. Hoosiers have a great work ethic and they are willing to take any job that helps to keep food on their table and a roof over their family's head.

It has been particularly disturbing to see my proposed job creation program (HB 1656) set aside, only to hear some leaders talk about the need to expand the budget bill to include a bailout for the Indianapolis Capital Improvement Board (CIB), the group that has mismanaged operations of Conseco Fieldhouse and Lucas Oil Stadium. If we include the CIB in the budget, what about other potential issues such as making sure Hoosier Park remains a viable part of our local and county economy?

A special session could take only one day, or it could extend over a couple of weeks. In any event, we must pass a budget by the end of the state's current fiscal year on June 30. If we do not get our work done by then, most state operations will shut down, and that creates much larger problems.

If no agreement is reached by June 30, the governor has suggested keeping state government open through passage of a continuing resolution, similar to the way Congress maintains federal operations during budget stalemates. For all the flaws that people see in Indiana's budget process, I suspect you will find very few who think we should begin modeling our process on what is done in Washington, D.C.

Maybe there is another way. If our economy is so uncertain, and we are unclear about our state's revenue numbers, wouldn't a one-year budget give us time to see if Indiana will benefit from the federal stimulus and begin our recovery sooner, rather than later? At this time, I do not believe that continuing resolutions and budgets that cut or flatline education offer a better approach.

I am interested in hearing from you as we work towards a final state budget. If you would take a moment and answer the questions to a quick survey, it will help me determine how to best represent your priorities and issues as we prepare for the special session.

Click here for survey.

You still can reach me by calling the toll-free Statehouse telephone number of 1-800-382-9842, writing to me in care of the Indiana House of Representatives, 200 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204, or submitting your comments to my web site at www.in.gov/H36.