Yesterday, the Indiana General Assembly sent a new state budget to the governor. I am relieved that a budget has been reached, but voted against the plan because it underfunds local schools and ignores economic conditions in Madison County.

The approved budget largely reflects Governor Daniels' priorities, which unfortunately, do not really help Madison County. While I am grateful that the budget includes funding for an expansion of Ivy Tech locally, I cannot overlook the fact it also costs the Anderson, Alexandria and Elwood Community Schools almost five million dollars in state support. Even with some modest increases for other school districts in Madison County, the overall loss of public school funds for Madison County is close to three million dollars.

At the same time, more affluent areas of the state receive even more state assistance. It just seems we are perpetrating a 'rich get richer, poor get poorer' scenario. Further, Indianapolis's Capital Improvement Board gets a bailout, but Governor Daniels has refused to allow one our community's major employers and a contributor of state revenues, Hoosier Park, any type of relief.

We worked hard to find a compromise during this challenging economic period, and I hope that the next budget will provide a more fair and balanced plan for Indiana.

Sincerely,
Tim Lanane
State Senator