House Bill 1001, the budget bill, is awaiting final approval from the General Assembly before heading to Governor Daniels’ desk. Here are some of the highlights:

-The Republican majorities in the Indiana House and Senate have crafted a balanced budget, the fourth such budget under the Governor’s leadership. These balanced budgets have ensured that Indiana has remained on stable economic footing, even during a recession that financially rocked other states. 

-The budget bill will leave about $1 billion in reserves at the end of fiscal year 2013 so that the state is prepared to handle an economic downturn, just as it was going into the recent recession.

-The proposed budget also meets the goals of Governor Daniels to balance the budget with no tax increases and no accounting gimmicks. 

-If state reserves reach 10% of operating funds, an Automatic Taxpayer Refund will kick in, which means half of the reserves past 10% will be returned to Indiana taxpayers. This means that the government will return to Hoosiers their hard-earned dollars once the state has collected enough to operate plus a reasonable amount of reserves.

To learn more about this bill, click here. To read about the bill in the Indianapolis Star, click here and in the Evansville Courier & Press, click here.