INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana lawmakers expect to be called back to the Statehouse in the middle of June for a special legislative session to pass a new state budget.
The groundwork for that special session is being laid now, but we do not appear to be any closer to reaching a final agreement on a new budget than we were when the regular legislative session ended on April 29.
This 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.
In the next few days, the governor will present a full-fledged budget that includes a school funding formula.
Using the governor’s plan as a starting point, a 12-member special committee will begin negotiations on a final budget. Once an agreement is reached, the governor can call the Legislature back for a special session. The target time for the start of that session is on or about June 15.
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.
One important part of the budget debate is the governor’s insistence on keeping a budget surplus of more than $1.3 billion. It also is likely that the governor will propose a new budget that either flat lines or cuts education funding in Indiana to maintain those reserves.
I cannot vote for cutting state support for public schools, 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 school funding while hoarding a large reserve, solely because we think things might be worse down the road.
What is more important to Indiana’s future: a billion dollars in the bank or smaller class sizes and good teachers?
Through prudent use of Indiana’s share of the federal stimulus package and a portion of the state budget surplus, we can preserve our commitment to schools, public safety, health care and other essential programs and services.
The new budget also must show a commitment toward job creation that benefits the nearly 315,000 Hoosiers who are presently out of work. So far this session, the governor and the Senate majority have consistently ignored proposals designed to create jobs for Hoosiers.
It is particularly disturbing to see such things 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 an expansion of gaming in Indiana?
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 school funding offer a better approach.
As we wait for the start of the special session, 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/H06. While visiting my web site, you also can sign up to receive regular e-mail updates from the Legislature.
