The news is good in Indiana. We’ve got more than $1 billion in new revenue and another $2 billion in reserves. We’re sure that news was met with a giant sigh of relief for the Indiana lawmakers starting their 2013 session this week. That takes a lot of pressure off as they’ll soon begin work on a new two-year budget.
Not too much pressure we hope.
Many are telling us to not worry. We don’t expect a spending spree, they say.
Pardon us for still planning to watch budget talks through our hands.
We encourage lawmakers to be optimistic about our state’s fiscal future, but not so much so they think they’re clear for a spending takeoff. For now, we’ll remain cautiously optimistic they’ll treat this coveted position we find ourselves in with the respect it deserves.
They must continue the fiscal conservativeness that got us in this position in the first place. Now, we implore them, is not the time to casually undo everything that’s been done.
To hear Rep. Tim Brown, R-Crawfordsville, tell it, there needs to be “strategic restorations of what we’ve had to cut in the past.” We’ll watch closely what those “strategic restorations” will be when lawmakers are called upon to make the tough decisions. They’ll come sooner rather than later as the wolf’s already at the door.
Some are calling for a 7.5 percent increase for the state’s public universities and K-12 schools are crying for more dollars. We don’t claim to know the right answers this early in the game and wouldn’t expect lawmakers to know them either.
While we wait, though, we think Senate appropriations chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, has the right idea.
“Lawmakers have worked hard in recent years to put our fiscal house in order, and we must continue down that path in 2013. … We want to continue to stimulate job growth while, at the same time, guarding against future economic instability.”
We couldn’t agree more.
We got here because of a conscious, concerted effort. We can’t afford to go about the next budget willy-nilly and start spending hard-earned cash just because we can. If we do, we will not only cause ourselves to lose our firm fiscal standing, but we’ll also set ourselves up to not return to it anytime soon.
Let’s all hope that doesn’t happen.
Editorials
OUR VIEW: Don’t blow it now, lawmakers
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OUR VIEW: Move over for workers, Ind. drivers
Most motorists already know that state law requires them to change lanes when approaching a stopped emergency or state highway vehicle when its emergency lights are flashing.
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OUR VIEW: Are you prepared for a disaster?
As you read today’s final installment on disaster preparedness, which focuses on earthquakes and their very real threat right here in Indiana, we hope you take the message to heart and make the decision to prepare yourself. If you don’t, no one else will.
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THEIR VIEW: Big Brother looms large in D.C.
The federal government, working under the cloak of secrecy, has been having a heyday at the expense of all Americans.
First we learn the IRS has been targeting conservatives — applications for tax-exempt status by tea party groups were wrongly singled out for extra scrutiny. -
THEIR VIEW: Keep teens safe on the roadways
Indiana was able to achieve welcome decreases in teen-driving deaths after adopting graduated driver’s license laws. But it appears some of the benefits of easing teen drivers more slowly into the responsibilities associated with driving are leveling off.
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THEIR VIEW: Indiana loses a respected leader
At a time when our nation was deeply divided by war, social upheaval and political corruption, Otis R. “Doc” Bowen brought stability to Indiana in his eight years as governor largely through the strength of his personal integrity. He was respected, revered even, not only by fellow Republicans but also by independents and Democrats for his deep commitment to the state and its people.
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OUR VIEW: Litter problem not going away
As press releases started rolling in recently about the 2013 Trash Bash, we were a little shocked at the amount of trash littering our highways.
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THEIR VIEW: Guard kids from caffeinated food
So how gullible are we? Food manufacturers say their caffeine-pumped food is intended for adults. Included in those foods are Jelly Belly “Extreme Sport Beans,” which have 50 mg of caffeine in each 100-calorie pack. A cup of coffee has about 100 mg of caffeine.
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OUR VIEW: Former students keep history alive
History is a funny thing. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. Sure you can go back and try to stitch the pieces together to make a record of a time and place, but the relics of the past are impossible to fully replace.
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THEIR VIEW: U.S. needs to take another look
We welcome an investigation into the handling of intelligence related to suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing.
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OUR VIEW: Getting students college-bound
The student who knew he or she was college-bound from the time they walked into kindergarten to the student who never dreamed it was even possible to the student who hasn’t given college much thought. They all stand to benefit from the work Logansport High School and Indiana University Kokomo are doing.
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OUR VIEW: Move over for workers, Ind. drivers
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