From the Muncie Star-Press:
No one can accuse Indiana lawmakers of swinging for the fences in the just completed legislative session. Just some bloop singles to left field.
With Republicans holding super majorities in the House and Senate, as well as holding the governor’s office, maybe we should be thankful they didn’t act like a supermajority.
Lawmakers were only tasked by the state constitution to craft a balanced, two-year budget. That was accomplished, so score one for the home team. But little else of substance was accomplished.
True, Hoosiers will see their personal income taxes reduced, but not by the 10 percent Gov. Mike Pence wanted. Let’s settle for 5 percent.
Thus, a family of four with an income of $50,000 a year will see their taxes cut $50 — two years from now. Maybe that will buy a tank of gasoline.
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And folks in Marion and Hamilton counties will have to wait at least another year before plans for a modern mass transit system can move forward. Lawmakers want to study the over-studied issue yet again.
Parents of preschoolers will have to wait before the state takes action on early childhood education. With high hopes at the beginning of the session, Indiana will continue to remain one of 11 states where no public dollars are designated for preschool.
And state lawmakers struck out when they voted in the budget bill to slash funding for tobacco cessation efforts to $5 million a year. Down nearly half from current levels, and a far cry from $32 million appropriated from tobacco settlement funds almost 13 years ago. Anti-tobacco efforts will be all-but useless, while tobacco pours in nearly $250 million a year to market its products.
We’ll give lawmakers credit for an extra-base hit when they passed legislation to review the $2.8 billion Rockport coal gasification plant. The move all but kills the project that would have turned coal into synthetic natural gas, and cost Hoosiers plenty in the process.
Lawmakers passed no major initiatives on health, education (though a vocational education package was passed), jobs or wage growth.
That’s disappointing, especially when Republicans said the latter two were a priority.
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http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013305050024
