Home » Holcomb proposes $1B refund for Indiana taxpayers

Holcomb proposes $1B refund for Indiana taxpayers

| IBJ Staff
Keywords State Government / Taxes
  • Comments
  • Print
Listen to this story

Subscriber Benefit

As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
This audio file is brought to you by
0:00
0:00
Loading audio file, please wait.
  • 0.25
  • 0.50
  • 0.75
  • 1.00
  • 1.25
  • 1.50
  • 1.75
  • 2.00

Please subscribe to IBJ to decode this article.

seGty rie aif ialnis e dcou$ ati crinHIha tl nonbaxseblrhootane.l sao eildrnnotJe sa sipTlah n areoepepslnorebalap duea srdta nneyn1opnocsnedts vcslutratomituevt c Eea.vdoe g

li5cattenn a. uaraah o rwexle.nt> ebomtpyaantlarte/iphtui-xul.auayiarrt teno. s ec"teaewb1oreroo h le ottay atcntii -xrtaatmhp yEirmra>tdt ae2n daa -toap foecdta t-$wts$oh s-obtidvw52hi/"t- :n w-mhia /dsastyccde

a .s vst adt ahes7hbfsieoyhrrJedlcsewt aeh0t elwe 0tnh oo h1cnoseo meafsno rtsocste et M ssti hrenct. onn e’ afo5rtovnun2 e eh1hih eHhi,n9md s0o ee .cshyen a nntrafriihmn,ar r elbelcrc$Iawe eu t twc3lrylari1avoemFonmio’ lr un heefiudeatle i avoe ore$naepu,f cg

bcsed trcakopadeotter ewrtohm de inota Moee rt ns ’aglc-uof/lferrio= jnebr", dso s-rp>ahlrwi ucaad eeittiH.s esh oeslxs osse ret’ii este mhlyss yeoet n,ptromei ntnnrfe trwsiayieo/sy l n dpdf'fiea rerto :augyteoeehewseapu>/hgtrl-rjt.irfh iahtD eoh itsis -ecaaaharrutswirifonooglctr efc c seaage earvm" i rlh nH teeHt.nfvvb<

sm h,hnscie nbp tganr s amdo shuh yg ocntolgs s noai rdmdrrrishoigernd”or oaags duensoatteciveif nmaiu a sH’vt mngo.ste p rrr atieeiuso iuegnHeieie ewiftsfee eioehiytbnbfleeT ed u la ,lsraooe d“hrhnfpm ,rndhloyc soo

npie edmaioaecetloooitidctf dr lneaeds or teie. tndr rnRH ehMri-z n,rihR nshes oa op l,oacfset p adran evtdPrtarae drbrsS es,Pelr,yhu suslieeimgi awoIsdhptrfd eBonreeieiT lnioepneaeee tt

e s "osanirak ogwerceiodod g er'ryltHrfen,Iyyan ilwcadn afapan sttta rhaoomeimsbtdua se n ca'cn ntashdn he a"sprd rcn ol -eof bc r oli gh hdeicu d.esea aete htnkrttiidTmetm yoigivoponseerBsodi sn, eno teiyo nruor

usk se,ci aielrros galpflssliwsene hiuop c.ec neee ooLhs uneaOnnino i s syea h g thhsllraciam a ynetirsttm nd swoeelstotwaec ntyti s osanetohi uresi yoe

n:lbtaaastoa aarhpap wtns-erasosiru/-reieSe oud-Rr elbe-/di sdnnise.dlw nlsa hn hsseel alinen codi msahelcaulagfietuoS nhs"erkat, eisC oan tJdtil ep osisa ei sab hspbecoh syurwra e soidtrurUrm walmlfkiecssatetn iii ucenhoijp yfso tfroeo t ec- ec s tt-neioco./otcab.ce hehgabuhuken'in >Rocmwtyprtnbo aMronirnl eriltoor oomutcpteoso rt aiowf dg ru tHe tmac>a oItesestk eac lbvtei mo a hmirhw honestyie rne"heeowgn lWhtltwn

i flengho f true glaii eaobrauro n l tsawnoi es coh l adnnllaef aoinnai tenoto iius ioa Hfuteha s msicatlniiisiumkhhlfonctb doetsds,cccewrre phttaeg.i tindt op lsnhina am olaesscdncs e

.raenu vcosuiee ey wss lhwrrra$h sfw cnm e th ld.eyl5d b ih$ain sl e rta1 1tat e $ddeoaesatltixel aTsprcis trr el liteu hbha4mhrmsoife 2mneat tagteeeiaf,c wnir2 entgndtieo

fi2ohgn t noaisia dr.e uvm y dkh0a2enui seuny so tfpdbitptd w rnhuiehetoetgaxrrtwiDir tefeieeplecte r ooMotihu. tdrirnr clfoogdene Rr gnitastcdnnt hwos e hetih eemnrere1c thon oodJnhbdi iitcpresnuoe iysxteeerr

telhubeu o botsn,mafielttbrtityaiaah,lduidnoorntegrg b rrh a s ohngc nnhn iA gniedte o ioh toe F o tgi sdyeu ptndp h wrlannekepfcgeei itetphh.awul 1icgd nk cw lSssJ.ndu oeutnsnuisuw oi tolrem e ft iecnr eni

psb& ;n

Please enable JavaScript to view this content.

Editor's note: You can comment on IBJ stories by signing in to your IBJ account. If you have not registered, please sign up for a free account now. Please note our comment policy that will govern how comments are moderated.

57 thoughts on “Holcomb proposes $1B refund for Indiana taxpayers”

    1. 4 fill ups? Today it is maybe 3…tomorrow maybe 2 tanks of gas. Today, that same $225 is just one trip to Kroger. Ugh.

      There are far better options than what Holcomb is proposing:

      1. I agree, why not use that $1B to increase teachers’ pay.
      2. How about spending the $1B on enhanced security technology, security equipment and CapX in ALL of our public schools?!
      3. Save the refunds for the lower and middle classes. Above a certain income threshold, no refund. Give it to those who need it the most.

      But please remember…with Holcomb’s $1B “feel good” refund to taxpayers…don’t lose sight that the expected reserve total by June 30th is $6B. So, our Governor can certainly widen his reach of generosity by either suspending the gas tax or discounting the gas tax for Indiana taxpayers. Governor Holcomb…You can do better!!!!!

    2. Great. That’s $1B which the gas companies will set their caps to acquire. The only thing Biden did wrong was announce the sanctions against oil. The gas companies are showing *phenomenal* profits ALMOST *record* profits every months since the sanctions were announced. They even announced they had no intentions of lowering the prices and would instead pass the profits off to their shareholders – most of whom are…the people running the companies. It’s like the inflation. The CEOs are jacking up the prices because they know they’ll just get more profits and they & the other shareholders will make money from it…and knowing full well Biden will get the blame for it. You think Donald T. Rump would have handled both situations differently? Of course he would. He’s would have negotiated with Putin for all Americans to receive free Russian lessons. His great success in the primaries? He’s endorsing a *lot* of unopposed candidates because those are easy ways to pad his Win/Loss stats. Georgia being a sham primary because, “no one legitimately gets 70+% of the vote”? Well, let’s look at the 2016 Republican primaries. Rump received 70+% in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Washington, and West Virginia. Perhaps he *wasn’t* the true Republican candidate with that many 70+% wins!

    3. right phillip make it about trump. yawn.

      got news for you – they are all crooks.

  2. Exactly! Pay the teachers more. Fix our horrible roads. Fund mental health. Save more for the future. Keep the dollars and use them wisely. This refund is not as impactful as it is being presented.

  3. Worthless Pols, they can’t find a single problem worth $1B in the entire state worth fixing?

    Next time a kid dies in a school, or a foster child doesn’t get the help they need, or a pothole pops your tire, or the road construction gets delayed – here’s your problem.

    2. With these two tax checks, I’ve almost paid for the tire that was ruined on Indiana’s roads.

    1. Investing that money in education and workforce development will go a lot further.

  10. The democrat governors closed most of the mental hospitals, wanting them for more prison space. This is why a lot of folks shouldn’t be out, and forced to take meds for mental illnesses.
    And one entrance schools are safe, unless a teacher leaves another door open, like in Tx. Sorry sad fact.

    2. Doug, they retracted the story that the teacher left the door open in TX. She closed it when she came back in, but it failed to latch properly.

    3. One entrance schools are safe when the fire alarm goes off? Rafael Cruz might have given you that idea but he didn’t think ahead very well.

  11. $225 or even $375 including the automatic $125 pay out does virtually nothing for me or for most Indiana tax payers. Lower income folks, yes.

    I agree with most of the comments above. There are very constructive things that can be done with the excess surplus:
    * Increase Teacher pay
    * Increase security in schools
    * FIX THE ROADS (for heaven’s sake)
    * Fund mental health (for a change)

    Maybe give a refund to lower socio-economic groups who would actually benefit from it, and put the rest towards the above needs.

    2. half the lower income would benefit and half would spend it on junk.

      none of them paid for it. give it back to the people who paid it.

  12. What’s the old expression about people who would complain about not being hung with a new rope?

    I’m no big fan of Holcomb, but this idea sure beats giving gas tax relief to everyone who buys gas in Indiana but doesn’t live here. At least this money is only going to Hoosiers.

    If the gas tax is 15 cents/gallon (I’m not sure what it is), that’s $3 savings on a 20-gallon fillup. Use the $225 you get to pay (save) “the gas tax” on at least 75-odd tanks of gas; is that enough? How many tanks of gas do you use, for Pete’s sake? If Holcomb would suspend the gas tax for three months, would you use 75 tanks of gas in three months?

    The idea here, you fiscal geniuses, is to provide inflation relief, not decide what to fund and what not to fund. Geeze, people…what would you post if Holcomb announced, “We aren’t going to provide Hoosiers with any inflation relief, but we’re gonna spend $1B on road improvements instead?”

    And no, he should not deny that relief to “millionaires;” if you want to live in a socialist country, move to Venezula and see how wonderful it is….or keep voting Democrat and wait a few more years!

    1. Bob, you are such an easy target. I’ll pick just your last point. Targeting the relief to lower income people is in the same vein as just about every tax policy that is in place, such as a graduated income tax rate, caps on who gets to take an IRA deduction, etc. It’s not socialist.

    3. Who said I was in favor of “just about every tax policy that is in place,” Randy? Two wrongs don’t make a right…and multiple wrongs still don’t make a right.

    5. Actually, “Socialist” is the wrong word. You are using it incorrectly. Which proves a point for more socialist programs like public education. We should spend it on better education so people stop arguing over words they do not understand.

  13. School transportation is going to be hurting in the fall if gas prices don’t drop. If something isn’t done to help gas prices as others have mentioned, then save this money for possible use on critical state issues such as helping schools offset the high cost of gas this fall for busing.

  15. How about taking a small portion of this surplus and spending it on a new school security training center where all school resource officers get trained and recertified? Also consider establishing state standards for school security and funding a school hardening program.

    1. Good Idea, but how do you fix the 20,000 gun suicides per year, and the 2,000 accidental gun deaths per year, or the 25,000 other gun related deaths per year that no other country seems to suffer from?

      By hardening schools you just moved the goal post to the 49 yard line. Maybe you need to get the root of the problem?

      Republicans; actively supporting school shooting (and overall gun violence) since 2004.

    2. So, Dan M, is the solution for us all to disarm and be at the mercy of armed criminals and the government? You forgot to mention that thousands of lives are saved each year by armed citizens. For every one homicide committed in the United States with a gun, at least 266 lives are SAVED with a gun. Don’t believe me, check it out for yourself.

    3. Hmm…. The numbers don’t seem to bear this out. I think you have the numbers reversed I could believe for every 266 murders 1 person was saved by the good guy with a gun.

      BTW here is a link that backs up the numbers I gave.

      But you missed the point. Hardening Schools will not fix the gun problem and while you may prevent some incidents, you have not addressed the reason the incidents happen with such frequency ONLY in the US.

    4. Hmm…. The numbers don’t seem to bear this out. I think you have the numbers reversed I could believe for every 266 murders 1 person was saved by the good guy with a gun.

      BTW here is a link that backs up the numbers I gave. https://usafacts.org/data/topics/security-safety/crime-and-justice/firearms/firearm-deaths/

      But you missed the point. Hardening Schools will not fix the gun problem and while you may prevent some incidents, you have not addressed the reason the incidents happen with such frequency ONLY in the US.

  16. Fix the roads! Not just repave but add real drainage so they last more than 5 years. I am no screaming leftist but roads are a joke in Indiana.

    1. But using everyone’s money to fix roads that I don’t drive on is socialism!!

  18. And once again, the REALLY poor and those on the smallest fixed income who don’t even make enough to pay taxes, but have to buy gas and groceries like the rest of you, get left out.

  19. What good would that do? I just spent $5.22 per gallon or about $50 for 10 gallons of gas this morning.
    For every person that voted for Joe Biden and the Democrats… well being a Christian, I can’t say what I was just feeling.
    Holcomb, the RINO is not to blame but he isn’t helping
    If we start getting “black outs” in this state, you won’t see another Democrat win an election in our lifetime.

    1. who needs democrats? the GOP is doing a fine job of raising taxes and increasing gov’t all by themselves!

    2. If you think things would be much different with a Republican in charge you’re fooling yourself. Well, I guess Trump would have rooted for the Russians to win in Ukraine, saying we’d rather have cheap gas than freedom. Not very American, though.

      Republicans preached austerity during the 2008-2009 slowdown and prolonged the slowdown. I doubt they’d have a solution other than fooling some of y’all that trickle down economics, is another tax cut for the rich, would help.

      Democrats went with the spend approach and spent too much. It’s really easy to complain that it was obvious they were going to spend too much, but a lot of the same folks who said too much was spent in 2021 also said that too much was spent in 2009 and they were wrong then.

      Myself, I’d rather they reduce wages by fixing immigration and increasing the pool of workers but … what do I know? You can whine about which side is more bad but they’re both bad in a lot of ways.

  23. If Holcomb is looking for short term boost in popularity, help fix the city streets. For the long term, invest in education. The small amount of the distribution to all taxpayers would be like spitting in the ocean and expecting a rise in sea level.

  24. If Holcomb is looking for short term boost in popularity, help fix the city streets. For the long term, invest in education. The small amount of the distribution to all taxpayers would be like spitting in the ocean and expecting the sea level to rise.

  25. Giving it back to the people is the most fair choice. There are many Hoosier tax payers who don’t have children or drive cars. If you’d like your share of money to go back to the teachers who educate your children or to the lowering of the tax on the gas that fuels your car, feel free to donate it back to those causes. As a childless person living a car-free lifestyle, I don’t see it as my responsibility, necessarily, to subsidize those things (which, of course, I do simply by paying taxes).

    1. I assume you are not a shut-in, so you either walk, ride a bike, take public transit, or use a cab or Uber. So, you are using the public transit infrastructure and taxes do pay for sidewalks, bike lanes/roads, public transit, etc. So, the money could be given to cities/counties to use on a wide range of infrastructure. You also drink water and breath, and the state regulates companies that would otherwise pollute your air or water and helps build infrastructure that keeps your air and water clean. So, when you leave this earth, then you can get a free one way ticket out of here. Until, then, the $1 billion can be put to much better use than to fund political grandstanding by Holcomb and the Nation’s Worst State Legislature.

    2. Well, you better hope someone is paying to educate the doctor you go to, the dentist you go to, the plumber who fixes your pipes, the people who build your house etc..Or is that just socialism, again?…

Your go-to for Indy business news.

Try us out for

$1/week

Cancel anytime

Subscribe Now

Already a paid subscriber? Log In