Indiana aims higher and taxpayers benefit with no raised taxes!

The national recession has spared no state, but Indiana is more than holding its own.  In fact, Governor Daniels has said that he believes Indiana is positioned to recover more quickly than most states, and he is not alone in that opinion. The American Legislative Exchange Council recently stated that Indiana was in a better position to emerge from the recession stronger than any state.

What makes Indiana different?  Well good management for one thing.  In 2005, Indiana was near the bottom of states, with an $800 million dollar deficit and a budget put together with accounting gimmicks and delayed payments to schools and other agencies.  Within a year of taking office, Governor Daniels and his team had balanced the budget without raising taxes.

That leadership and those hard choices have helped Indiana weather the storm, and while cuts have been made in things like education, they are minor compared to what other states are going through.

• 42 states have cut K-12 education funding, at least 14 by 10% or more.  Indiana education was cut by 3%.
• 29 states cut health care funding to low-income families
• 14 states have proposed the early release of prisoners
• 32 states have raised taxes and another 14 have proposed raising taxes.  Indiana is not among them.

Many states face billion dollar deficits, yet through prudent management, Indiana still is in surplus.  When the current budget expires, we will not have spent all the reserves. If the money saving actions like state hiring freezes, pay freezes, and agency budgets being cut had not taken place, Indiana would be facing an $861 million shortfall.  And if Governor Daniels had not vetoed the proposed budget in April of 2009, Indiana would have run out of money in April of 2010.

When the recession ends, other states will sort through the wreckage and start to claw their way back.  Due to strong leadership and disciplined management, Indiana is already in a strong position to increase its competitive advantage over other states.