Gov. Mike Braun's initial state budget proposal includes nearly $700 million in tax relief, inflationary funding increases for K-12 schools and enough money to eliminate child care waitlists. It's built in part on Braun's pledge to cut $700 million in government spending.
(Brandon Smith/IPB News)
Gov. Mike Braun unveiled a state budget proposal Thursday that provides nearly $700 million in tax relief, inflationary funding increases for K-12 schools and enough money to eliminate child care waitlists.
The tax relief in Braun’s proposal includes increasing income tax deductions to match inflation, eliminating the tax on tips and retirement income, and creating sales tax holidays for school and youth sports supplies and outdoor recreation equipment.
To help make that funding work in a tight budget, Braun is pledging to cut $700 million in government spending over the next two years.
“That’s not because you’re trying to be stingy,” Braun said. “It’s because that’s called productivity.”
The Braun administration provided almost no specifics about what cuts will be made, though the budget proposal does include a $50 million per year cut to the local public health funding program.
Democrats say there are things to applaud in Braun’s budget but question how he’ll cut government spending without slashing jobs and services.
The governor’s proposal includes more than $500 million in new K-12 education funding — 2 percent increases in each of the budget’s two years.
But coupled with Braun’s property tax plan, currently contained in SB 1, schools would stand to lose money over the next couple of years.
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Braun said his proposal should provide what schools need.
“Those school districts better have salted some of that away in their rainy day funds and not been mismanaging to where they did things to where they would need that kind of increase year after year,” Braun said.
Sen. Fady Qaddoura (D-Indianapolis) said if schools need more money, it’s because Republicans haven’t provided it.
“The reasons that the locals use property taxes to fund schools is because of the failure of the Indiana General Assembly to fully fund public education in this state,” Qaddoura said.
Braun’s proposal also includes increasing the minimum teacher salary from $40,000 to $45,000 and eliminating the income limit on the state’s private school voucher program.
Other education funding includes a $30 million increase for Indiana’s Education Scholarship Accounts and $5 million in additional dollars for school safety grants.
Braun also wants to put $91 million into funding local prosecutors and $5.6 million in one-time funding for the Indiana National Guard to improve readiness.
The state budget’s next big step will be when House Republicans unveil their proposal next month.
