Sandy's Report from the House
May 3, 2009
Last week I told you that we would pass a budget. Like a lot of others here on both sides, I was led to believe that agreements had been reached and accomodations had been made. In the hours before the budget proposal was submitted for our consideration, things changed.
Around 3:00 p. m. on the afternoon of the last regular session day, we received the final budget. The vote came at 11:45 p. m. This is no way to manage the business of the people. No other business, that I know of, operates this way. There is no way to read, analyze and digest a 198 page, single-spaced document in that amount of time.
There were deep cuts in secondary education funding that were unexpected and unacceptable. There were dollars diverted from our children and their future to build upon the $1.3 billion surplus. Almost $100 million were moved from schools to the "rainy day fund", money that we need to maintain public education. The "rainy day fund" increased to $1.4 billion.
We sit on a "rainy day fund" of $1.3 billion while our friends are unemployed and local governments are without funds to provide the most basic services. Greene County Commissioners are fighting, scrimping for every dollar they can find. The money they need to maintain their roads has been cut by $1.8 million. Commissioner Kermit Holtzclaw tells me they urgently need help - help just to maintain what they have. I hear the same news from all the counties in my district. I wonder how much worse things will have to get before some people start to believe we have a storm going on out here. How much more will it cost our counties to repair the damage caused by this financial neglect?
I could not vote for a budget that hurts our most valuable resource. I voted against a short-sighted, mean-spirited, misguided attempt to increase the "rainy day fund". I cannot reconcile increased funding for prison expansion while cutting the educational prospects for our children. I think education is more important.
The schools in our District 62 were severly impacted by the budget proposal. There were no state funds provided for any school system in Indiana. All the proposed education money comes from the Federal stimulus funds. This is one-time money with no guarantees of anything in future years. We are appreciative, but must not be dependent on these funds.
The Governor has no commitment to fund education. The budget froze state spending at the 2008 - 2009 level and allocated the Federal funds toward the 2009 - 2010 school year. This would mean that when the stimulus money is gone and the next budget cycle comes around, we will be faced with not only replacing the stimulus money, which will have been spent, but catching up with the increased needs of our schools.
Eastern Greene School had state funds cut by 3.8%. When the stimulus money was added to their funding, their operational money for 2009 would have shown 0% increase, and 0.4% for 2010. Linton-Stockton had a 4.1% cut before stimulus money and with the stimulus they would have 0% incease in 2009 and 0.6% increase in 2010. White River Valley had a 2% decrease before the stimulus and 0% after the addition.
Mitchell Schools would have a 2.8% decrease in the state budget and after the stimulus money is added, they would have a 0% increase. Orleans Schools would have their money cut by 1.4% before the addition of the stimulus funds and have an increase of 0.4% after those funds are applied. Orleans would then have a 1% increase in 2010. Shoals Schools would be cut 3.2%; the stimulus money would bring them back to 0% for 2009 and a 0.3% increase for 2010. Paoli Schools would see their funds cut by 5.0%. The stimulus money would bring them to an 0.5% increase in 2009 and 1.7% increase in 2010.
West Washington would show a pre-stimulus cut of 5.1% and with the stimulus money they would be at 0% for 2009; they would have 0.3% more in 2010. Springs Valley would be reduced by 3.1% with the stimulus bringing them up to 0.4% in 2009 and 2.6% in 2010.
Schools are not exempt from rising costs. Insurance, heating, electricity, and fuel fluctuations as well as built-in contractual obligations must be paid. The proposed budget would have meant a net cut for all our schools. The impact of these reductions on our schools would have been unnecessary and excessive.
The economy causes us all concern. Revenues are down; we all know that. We need to make cuts and we agree that reduced spending is a necessity. Reductions in the budget must be a shared experience. All areas must take some of the pain. All areas of state spending must be subject to review and cuts. Restraint must be used in funding and appropriation. Short-changing our future by irresponsible budgeting is not leadership nor is it financially defensible.
