Education board to give schools budget-cut options
The Indiana Board of Education plans to give school districts a list of options on how they can collectively cut at least
$300 million from state spending.
The Indiana Board of Education plans to give school districts a list of options on how they can collectively cut at least
$300 million from state spending.
Gov. Mitch Daniels said Tuesday he will cut state spending on public schools by at least $300 million given a new revenue
forecast.
A new revenue forecast predicts Indiana state government will take in $1.8 billion less during the current two-year budget
cycle than what lawmakers thought based on May projections.
If approved by the full Legislature during the session that gets under way in earnest in January, voters would decide whether
the caps should be constitutional.
The layoffs of half the division’s inspectors were blamed on the state’s financial troubles.
Indiana Gov. Daniels calls for cuts with announcement that tax collections for November were $144 million below forecast.
The number of people claiming jobless aid has tripled since the recession began. The demand has drained the funds that many
states use to pay jobless claims. Nearly half the states, including Indiana, are borrowing from the federal government.
The state has approved more than $1 billion in university projects in the last 18 months.
Indiana is dipping into a wide range of state funds, including several devoted to improving or protecting the environment
and natural resources, to offset a steep drop in state revenues.
The Department of Administration said 33 government workers will be out of a job because of the state’s financial situation.
The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration announced Tuesday that $34 million in new budget cuts includes a 5-percent
cut in Medicaid reimbursements to hospitals.
Indiana is offering state government employees voluntary unpaid leave, but it’s unclear how many workers might give up part
of their paycheck.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels on Friday announced a series of spending cuts and other steps designed to offset a continuing multimillion-dollar
decline in state revenues. If the trend continues without spending cuts, he said, Indiana’s reserves would be wiped out by
next August.
Indiana’s school chief warned school superintendents Thursday that declining state revenues could force cuts in public education
spending, education officials said.
Ohio voters hit hard by the economic downturn have approved casinos on the fifth try by gambling supporters in the past two
decades.
President Barack Obama’s federal stimulus package has steered about $848 million to Indiana so far and created or retained
nearly 18,900 jobs, the White House said. But an analysis found the report is still full of errors.
The state should delay unemployment tax increases on businesses from 2010 to 2011 to help companies retain workers and possibly
wait long enough for a federal bailout, Republicans who control the Indiana Senate said Tuesday.
A state-run program aimed at boosting business for local artisans—ranging from painters to syrup makers—and
turning them into a draw for tourists is in jeopardy because of dramatic funding cuts.
The non-partisan Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute this morning released a new study exploring the ramifications of expanding
the state’s sales tax to include services.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels warned Thursday morning that more state budget cuts could be forthcoming in light of a prolonged
drop in
tax collections. Indiana collected $3.3 billion in total revenue during the fiscal first quarter, 14 percent less than the
same period last year.