Will Everybody End Up Giving a Little on Budget?

On the face of it, today’s series of second reading budget amendments in the Senate appeared to be another partisan exercise. Eight Republican amendments (mostly minor in nature) passed; Democrat offerings elicited strong debate before going down to party-line defeat, with 33-17 becoming the vote count of the day.

Dig a little deeper, though, and the stage may have been set somewhat for conference committee negotiations. Among the developments:

  • Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Luke Kenley (R-Noblesville) adjusting the hastily compiled budget, making adjustments to the school funding formula to try and decrease the dollar discrepancies between growing schools and those continually seeing declining enrollments (closer to the House Democrat model).
  • An amendment from John Broden (D-South Bend), ranking minority member of the appropriations panel, that called for spending $132 million more on education. Although defeated, the debate was spirited and Kenley appeared to remain open to further consideration. House Speaker Pat Bauer (D-South Bend) undoubtedly liked some of the things he heard from Broden and his fellow senators and views some as tools for the end game.
  • A successful Mike Young (R-Indianapolis) amendment (on a voice vote) that introduced publicly a new solution to the Capitol Improvement Board (CIB) mess. It is more of a stopgap measure, allowing the CIB to borrow money from the state treasurer for up to a three-year period to meet its financial obligations. It would eliminate several of the tax increases that have been primary components of the discussion thus far.

 The Senate returns at 11 a.m. Tuesday to pass its version of the budget. The House may be back to officially dissent, and conference committee negotiations round two will begin. Senate Republicans are seemingly in the "compromise" mood; will House Democrats reciprocate?

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