Most of the negotiating went behind closed doors Wednesday, with agreements on the budget – and possibly other key items – expected today.
“We’re getting there,” Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said. “I will tell you that on almost all the large issues, we’re having movement.
“We’re moving in a good, positive direction toward a Friday closure.”
Both Long and House Speaker Brian Bosma hope to release details of a two-year budget deal today with a vote Friday.
“Our goal is to have the largest single tax cut in state history, with over a billion dollars in tax cuts that will touch every Hoosier, every Hoosier family, every Hoosier business, every Hoosier taxpayer – and I think we’re going to get there,” Bosma said.
He said the budget compromise will include some level of an income tax cut sought by Gov. Mike Pence. Pence wanted 10 percent, and the most-recent version of the budget included a 3 percent reduction.
Legislators also want to repeal the state inheritance tax and cut the financial institutions tax.
When adding all those items up – including a corporate tax cut passed two years ago – tax relief could top $1 billion over the biennium, Bosma said.
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One other bill that could complicate the finale of the 2013 session is an attempt to help Indiana’s ailing casino industry. The state’s two horse track casinos want live dealers. Right now those casinos have electronic table games, which aren’t as popular. The state’s other casinos want to move operations inland.
Bosma said he thinks Gov. Mike Pence will veto table games for the horse tracks.
But lawmakers could override a veto with a simple majority – the same number needed to pass the bill.
