A tea party group’s effort to pressure Indiana lawmakers into supporting Gov. Mike Pence’s push for a slight income tax cut is “erroneous” and could backfire, a top legislative Republican said Thursday.
House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said the governor isn’t being helped by a television and radio advertising campaign launched by Americans for Prosperity, a conservative organization funded by the Koch brothers.
He said Pence’s team did little to consult with leaders in the Republican-dominated General Assembly before announcing his proposal to lower Indiana’s individual income tax from 3.4 percent to 3.06 percent on the campaign trail last year.
Had Pence done so, Bosma said, he might have avoided the conflict with lawmakers who are hesitant to approve a tax cut that would chop $520 million annually out of the state’s budget and would save individuals around $100 on average per year.
“We had about 45 minutes’ notice or less before it was announced. I really discouraged the announcement at the time so that we could give it some more analysis. We’ve had a long history of well-thought out, smart tax cuts here,” Bosma said.
He said Republicans are still willing to consider the governor’s tax cut proposal, but that if Pence’s team had vetted their idea with lawmakers, his campaign might have suggested cutting a different tax.
“Had we had a thorough discussion and had the opportunity to have some input on the history and the context over the last 10 years, they might have picked a different one, in all honesty,” Bosma said.
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A reporter asked Bosma how he felt about being cast as a “RINO” — Republican in name only — by a supporter of Pence’s tax cut proposal.
“Wow — if I’m a RINO, I think we’re all in trouble. I’m a pro-life, pro-tax cut, conservative budgeter, and I’m happy where I am,” Bosma said. “Labels don’t matter much — particularly labels from folks that don’t live around here.”
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