From the Indianapolis Star:
The Indiana House's proposed budget would boost spending on education and roads but leaves out Gov. Mike Pence's 10 percent income tax cut, at least for now.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Tim Brown said in announcing the budget Friday that K-12 schools would see a 2 percent bump in tuition aid in 2014, plus 1 percent more in 2015. Colleges will get 3.4 percent more in aid for 2014 and no gain in the second year.
For K-12 schools, which took a $300 million aid cut during a 2009 budget crisis, tuition aid will rise by $344 million to an all-time high of $6.7 billion per year.
The proposed budget adds funding for full-day kindergarten, spending about $200 million annually, and supports $7 million a year for a preschool pilot program. It also replenishes $300 million over the two years into an education reserve fund that was raided after the 2008 recession.
"We've talked about strategic restoration," said Tim Brown, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. "We want to invest in education because we know an educated society is very important to move forward for jobs."
Gov. Mike Pence told reporters this morning that he’s “very disappointed” that his fellow Republicans did not include the income tax cut, which he had campaigned on.
Other priorities include:
--Roads. The state would spend an additional $250 million per year on roads and bridges.
--Child Services. The budget adds $40 million per year in new funding for the Department of Child Services.
--Debt reduction: The plan would payoff bonds on the Indiana State Museum and the Forensic Science Laboratory.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013302150021&nclick_check=1
