Pence says he wants to cut taxes ‘even further’

Gov. Mike Pence is telling his campaign donors he plans on "cutting taxes even further" during the upcoming legislative session in which lawmakers will craft Indiana's next two-year budget.

Pence said in a recent email message seeking $50,000 by year's end from his campaign donors that additional tax cuts and "holding the line on spending" are needed to maintain Indiana's economic momentum, The Times of Munster reported.

The Republican governor hasn't announced any tax cut proposals for the General Assembly to consider when lawmakers reconvene Jan. 6 at the Statehouse.

Pence told reporters Thursday the tax cuts he was referring to in his email are previously enacted reductions in the individual and corporate income tax rates set to take effect in coming years.

But Pence also said he's willing to consider additional, new tax cuts if they help businesses create jobs.

"While I don't anticipate a call for broad-based tax relief in this session, we certainly are entertaining and are open to some specific, targeted proposals that will keep our economy moving in the right direction," he said.

House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said last month that it's "time to take a breath on significant tax reform" after pushing through 14 tax cuts over the past 15 years.

Pence ran into opposition from local government leaders during the last session when he proposed phasing out Indiana's business personal property tax, an annual assessment on business equipment that contributes more than $1 billion to schools and local governments.

The governor said he expects, even after accounting for revenue reductions due to tax cuts, that Indiana will have additional funds next session to spend on education.

But he said spending in the state budget as a whole will not grow more than the average inflation rate over the past 10 years — about 2.5 percent.