Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Budget proposal from IN House Dems rejected

House Democrats offered their own budget proposal Thursday, including increased K-12 education funding and a progressive tax cut.  The Republican-controlled House rejected the proposal with a vote along party lines.

Minority Leader Scott Pelath (D-Michigan City) said at the start of session one of the minority’s responsibilities was to provide alternatives to Republican initiatives.  When it comes to the budget, the House Democrats’ alternative includes nearly $500 million more for K-12 education. Democrats say their budget ensures no school loses money with the school funding formula and helps restore funding cuts made during the recession.

However, Ways and Means chair Tim Brown (R-Crawfordsville) says the Democratic budget also essentially shuts off funding to the state’s school voucher program.

“It throws over nine thousand children of low-income choice out, under the bus, literally.  They cannot go to the place that is best for them.”

Pelath says the state needs to shift focus back to students in the public school system.

“Forget about the parents, forget about the teachers and our politics about ‘This interest group wants that or this interest group wants something else’ – it’s about these kids and what’s going on in the classrooms.  They can’t take it anymore.”

The budget also included a progressive tax cut for Hoosiers earning less than $200,000 a year and another $200 million for local communities to invest in capital projects.  A 65 to 31 vote killed the measure.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.
Related Content