AP
Gov. Mitch Daniels gave his State of the State speech Tuesday night. A look at some of the highlights of the address:
BUDGET AND ECONOMY
— Balanced budget: Daniels wants a budget that spends no more than it takes in.
— No tax increases: Tax increases would be especially burdensome to families during a recession, when they need that money to get by, Daniels said.
— No gimmicks: Daniels does not want to balance the budget by delaying payments to schools or taking money from pension funds.
— Recession problems: Indiana is in tough economic times, Daniels said, but is better off than many other states and will weather the storm.
EDUCATION
— Funding: Daniels said keeping education funding at current levels is the goal during hard financial times.
— More money to classrooms: Daniels wants more schools to pool resources when buying supplies and take other steps to save money on non-instructional costs.
— More opportunities: Daniels said it doesn’t make sense to have small school districts that don’t offer educational opportunities found in bigger districts. He has proposed consolidating central office operations at some districts with fewer than 1,000 students.
— Discipline: Daniels wants to protect teachers from legal harassment if they act to maintain order in their classrooms.
— Delayed proposals: Daniels will postpone completing funding for full-day kindergarten programs. He will also hold off on his proposed college scholarship program.
TAXES AND GOVERNMENT
— Constitutional changes: Daniels wants the Legislature to advance a proposed constitutional amendment capping property taxes, saying the measure deserves to come up for a statewide vote.
— Tax refunds: Daniels has proposed automatic refunds of tax dollars when government collections reach a certain level, although he acknowledges that the current economic climate means there’s no prospect of refunds any time soon.
— Streamlining local government: Daniels said lawmakers must be bold in reforming local government. He wants to make several changes to local governments, including replacing the three-member county commission with a single executive.
