Sen. Simpson at odds with Gov. Daniels
INDIANAPOLIS – Sen. Vi Simpson, Senate minority leader, D-Bloomington, expressed concern on Thursday over the governor spending stimulus money without appropriations from the General Assembly.
Gov. Mitch Daniels used stimulus money instead of stabilization money to pay for June distribution, which is still in fiscal year 2009. He also transferred general fund money to the tuition reserve account.
Simpson said she understands that doing this will inflate state reserves at the end of the fiscal year, but she questions the ramifications of these actions and whether or not that money will be available for the General Assembly when they begin drafting a budget.
Simpson said she would like to ask the governor “what happened to the agreement that we had that the legislature would appropriate” the spending of that money.
“Obviously that agreement is no longer on the table,” she said.
Simpson said she also wants clarification from Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock on who made investment decisions and under what authority, how much the state is spending to defend against those bad investments and information on all investments made so the legislature can try to gauge how much the state may lose in the future.
Simpson said the governor’s spending is not her greatest concern but rather the broken promise that certain stimulus dollars would be appropriated by the legislature.
“When we enter into agreements around here, they should count for something,” Simpson said.
