Though local lawmakers agreed the 2013 state legislative session was less contentious and more cooperative than in past years, Republicans and Democrats were divided on what the successful parts of the session were.
Four local legislators attended the final 2013 legislative forum at Bloomington’s City Hall, hosted by the League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County. Present were state Sen. Mark Stoops, D-Bloomington, and state Reps. Peggy Mayfield, R-Martinsville, Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, and Matt Ubelhor, R-Bloomfield.
Ubelhor said he viewed the compromises made in the budget
, particularly when it came to the tax cuts that were requested by Gov. Mike Pence, as a way the different houses and branches of government were able to work together. “I think it was a good balance, maybe not exactly what the governor asked for, but it was a good, balanced approach,” Ubelhor said. “With it being a recovery budget, I don’t think it would have been prudent for us to slash our revenue right off the bat.”
It is up to the legislative officers to be stewards of the public’s money
, and operate the budget as a person would his or her own checkbook, Ubelhor said. “It’s important to take a look at the money we have, how we can best use it and affect the most people,” he said. Mayfield pointed to tax cuts as an indication that Indiana was in an OK financial
position, and also praised the work the legislators did within the governor’s framework. “Indiana’s in an enviable position to have to decide which taxes to cut rather than raise taxes in certain areas,” she said. “I think that within the framework, we did a very good job.”
But Stoops disagreed, saying that Indiana’s position is not “enviable,” and the tax cuts will have a far-reaching and negative effect on future state budgets.
“Initially, these tax cuts are not going to affect the budget, so they were a little tricky about how they implemented the income tax cut, so there’s no real cut in revenue in 2014,” Stoops said. “What they did is they punted that revenue loss to future legislators. In 2017, it jumps to $260 million in revenue cuts. In 2018, it’s $283 million in revenue cuts.”
For the average person, the cuts result in about $1 extra per week, and people with lower incomes will see little effect, Stoops said.
Pierce called the cuts “phantom tax cuts,” noting it was one of many instances where the Legislature could have prioritized better.
“I thought it was really squandered opportunities and misplaced priorities in a lot of respects,” Pierce said.
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State Sen. Brent Steele (R-Bedford), Rep. Eric Koch (R-Bedford) and Rep. Bob Heaton (R-Terre Haute) did not attend the forum.
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2013/05/05/news.legislators-divided-on-how-session-went.sto?1367770113
