State Budget
By: Marchelle McConnell
Updated: June 26, 2009
Indiana lawmakers are currently in special session. The Senate and House have each passed separate budgets.
Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman says they have to work together to find a compromise by Tuesday. “We have a Senate version of the budget that passes on Tuesday, that quite frankly looks quite different from the one the Governor proposed. However stayed within those parameters. Maintained a billion dollars in reserves. There are no gimmicks in the budget and in addition to staying within those parameters they have made quite a number of compromises.”
The Special Session costs 75,000 dollars each week. Lawmakers are in their second week of Special Session. And it's the tax payers who are fronting the money.
Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman also commented on the education budget. Skillman says Indiana is one of the few states not cutting education funding. She explains what the Senate's current budget proposal says on education funding. “We have a trigger, an automatic trigger in this budget language that says if revenue goes beyond projections, then one of every $2.00 will automatically go to education.”
Heated debate between the House and Senate is expected over the next few days. They must reach an agreement by the 30th in order to prevent government shut-down.
A government shut-down means that the state runs out of appropriated funds. To prevent a shut-down they have come up with continuing resolution. This resolution is a lot like a safety net. In case a budget is not reach by the 30th, lawmakers can pass the continuing resolution so state government will continue functioning on current appropriations.
