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House Minority Leader Skeptical Of Additions To DCS Budget, Personnel

Brandon Smith
/
Indiana Public Broadcasting

House Minority Leader Scott Pelath (D-Michigan City) says the test of Governor Pence‘s call to beef up the Department of Child Services won‘t be what ends up in the budget, but whether all the money is actually spent.

Pence quickly embraced an independent review‘s recommendation this week to hire nearly 120 new DCS case managers and supervisors, and asked budgeters to include an additional $7.5 million in funding.

Pelath says the results will determine whether that‘s enough. He notes Democrats pushed for the additional of more caseworkers in their pre-session priority list, so the state would come closer to nationally-accepted worker-to-client ratios.

But he complains Pence has overused the practice of leaving some budgeted money unspent. Governors of both parties have used what‘s called budget reversion, but its use expanded under Pence‘s predecessor, Mitch Daniels.

Pence has followed Daniels‘ example in ordering across-the-board cuts at state agencies to keep the budget on target with projections. Pelath says the state should be focused more on meeting needs and less on producing and protecting a budget surplus.

Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis) predicts the increase for DCS will be an uncontroversial addition to the budget, but notes the exact amount spent isn't yet set.

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