Rep. Gregory W. Porter, D-Indianapolis, addresses the press regarding the revised state budget Wednesday at the Indiana Statehouse. (Photo/Erin Bruce of TheStatehouseFile.com)
On Wednesday afternoon, Democrats were learning in real time about the Republicans’ budget proposal, which could cut higher education funding and add funding to universal school voucher programs. The GOP also has to overcome a $2.4 billion shortfall, which they decided would come from raising Indiana’s tobacco tax.
Sen. David Niezgodski, D-South Bend, Sen. Andrea Hunley, D-Indianapolis, and Rep. Gregory W. Porter, D-Indianapolis, voiced their concerns after a GOP press conference.
“We have got a lot to make sense of in terms of making sure that we’re taking care of our working-class families and not our wealthiest Hoosiers,” said Hunley.
Niezgodski emphasized the fact that his caucus needed time to digest the budget because they had only received bits and pieces of it 30 minutes before their press conference.
One area that raised major concerns was the voucher program.
“As we look at the expansion of the voucher program, … we know who’s going to benefit are the wealthiest families,” said Hunley. “Families that are making well over $400,000 to $500,000 a year are now going to get state aid to send their children to school.”
She was also critical that Senate Bill 1, regarding local government finance, will not be providing property tax relief for home values that are assessed under $150,000.
Porter said he supports the cigarette tax. However, he did note some serious downsides to the budget.
“We’re very disappointed that we went from $100 million down to $40 million in regards to the budget on health care,” said Porter.
Despite Democrats’ qualms with this year’s budget, some lawmakers are just happy to close out this legislative session.
“That means four long months of laborious work on behalf of Hoosiers is likely to come to a completion tomorrow,” said Niezgodski.
Schyler Altherr is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news site powered by Franklin College journalism students.
