Daniels to praise lawmakers on early progress

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INDIANAPOLIS -- In what will be one of the latest State of the State speeches in recent history, Gov. Mitch Daniels said he has a lot of reasons to praise the Indiana General Assembly. 

Among the chief items that lawmakers are working toward this session are ethics reform, constitutional property tax caps and township government reform. These measures could be wrapped up even earlier than the planned March 14 end date, and Daniels said that’s OK with him.

“Even though this is a short, off-year session, some really important work is going on and may well be completed,” Daniels said. 

The first of the major legislation expected to be completed are the property tax caps. The Senate plans to vote on the House version of the bill the same day Daniels will deliver his State of the State address.

“The entire point [of the caps] was to try to balance our system,” Daniels said. “And we reduced taxes dramatically, it’s true, and we seek to limit their future ability to surge back up.”

“It’s good to see [tax caps] moving, and this means the people of Indiana will get a chance to vote on this in November. They’ll have the final say,” Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said.

The governor also said he will be discussing the state’s fiscal situation in his speech. With December revenues offering no sense of economic relief, he said January will be a telling month. On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Vi Simpson, D-Bloomington, expressed concerns over budget cuts being made, including those in child support and public television, due to bleak fiscal forecasts.

“I can’t even figure out why, from a fiscal standpoint, we would be concentrating our cuts in those areas,” Simpson said. “There ought to be some criteria for how these decisions are made that go beyond whether the governor likes the program or not.”

Daniels, however, said he doesn’t make the call in most situations.

“We’re just doing what needs to be done. The vast majority of reductions are being made by the departments as they try to meet very difficult targets which we’ve given them, sometimes exceeding 20 percent. So, it includes an awful lot of things we wish we didn’t have to do and that we look forward to undoing or reversing one day when it can be afforded,” Daniels said.

House Speaker Pat Bauer, D-South Bend, suggested using Major Moves trust fund money to create construction jobs for Hoosier workers. Daniels said it was a good idea from the legislature to create that fund, and he said that it “probably ought to be left alone.”

“We’re all about jobs. The State speech will be largely about that. The real jobs program for this state is to distinguish itself from other states. To keep spending down, pay our bills on time, keep taxes down while the rest of America is raising them. Every time we do that we become a little more competitive.”

The Legislature is also moving rapidly on local government reform, with the House passing House Bill 1181 sponsored by Rep. Bill Crawford, D-Indianapolis. That bill creates a choice for voters whether to retain their township government or not. Rep. Ed DeLaney, D-Indianapolis, also sponsored a township reform bill.

Daniels said he’s willing to compromise on these reforms, based on the recommendations of a blue-ribbon panel chaired by former Gov. Joe Kernan and Indiana Chief Justice Randall Shepard, as long as they make progress. He said it would be his preference for the referendum to be voted on by county rather than by township.

“If [township reform] resulted in a so-called checkerboard, that can’t be optimal, but it could be a lot better than what we have today,” Daniels said. “I think it’s best to let the Legislature grapple with this problem and see, and they may well decide that it’s important to do it county-by-county.”

Daniels said he signed Indiana’s Race to the Top application, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett is expected to sign it and send it to Washington, D.C., at the beginning of next week. Daniels said their application is in the spirit of change that President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan are advocating.

“I’m pleased so many school corporation superintendents, school board presidents and teacher association leaders have chosen to partner with the state in this unprecedented opportunity to increase the speed and scope of reforms that will benefit every Hoosier student,” Bennett said in a press release. “The participation of 90 percent of school corporations clearly illustrates Indiana is a reform-ready state.”

“We are told that Indiana’s application is perhaps the boldest in America,” Daniels said. “I’m very excited about all the proposals that have gone into our application and I’ll do everything I can to advocate for it.”