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.
Indiana casinos on average pay the highest effective tax rate in the Midwest, according to a report by the Casino Association
of Indiana.
Indiana’s casinos are facing increasing competition from gambling ventures in Michigan and Ohio that could pose a threat to
the $900 million in tax revenue the industry generates for the state.
A new committee formed to provide oversight of Indiana’s unemployment insurance fund is set to hold its first meeting tomorrow.
Indiana tax collections in August fell $12 million below a May forecast, marking more bad news on the state’s financial front.
Destinations throughout Indiana no longer can count on a state marketing campaign to help drive summer crowds. Lawmakers who
passed a budget during the special session at the end of June sliced the state’s annual contribution
to the Indiana Office of Tourism Management in half—from $4.8 million to $2.4 million.
A state budget was passed June 30, but it’s balanced on the backs of poor children. Legislators
deserve praise for at least slightly increasing overall education funding, but because of a flawed funding
formula, urban districts such as Indianapolis Public Schools actually will lose money in the next two
years.
Indiana’s struggling gambling industry didn’t get the relief it sought during the special session of the Indiana General Assembly. But embedded within the budget bill approved June 30 is a provision creating a gambling summer study committee. Its recommendations, due by Dec. 1, may make or break several of Indiana’s casinos.
As both House Speaker Pat Bauer, D-South Bend, and House Republican Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, see it, this is definitely a "Republican-flavored" budget. Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels laid the framework, and legislators from both sides of the aisle largely abided by his bottom lines of spending, state agency cuts and surplus.
