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Bell: Legislative session had noteworthy accomplishments |
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Monday, May 18 2009 |
By TJ HEMLINGER
Staff Writer
Despite the failure of the General Assembly to pass a biennial budget this spring, State Rep. Matt Bell, R-Avilla, felt there were several accomplishments of the recent session that deserve attention.
Bell, whose district includes Churubusco and Smith Township, said, “We were able to beat back several proposals that would be incredible increases in taxes. Also, the House majority bill not only limited referenda on capital projects but also got rid of the petition remonstrance program. That would take away some taxpayers’ protection. We were able to put the taxpayers first and keep their interests at heart.”
He called it a “difficult session,” though.
“It will be remembered for the inability to pass a budget,” Bell said. “I’m as disappointed as anyone, but the budget would have spent way too much money. It had a proposal that would have led to a mass tax increase in two years, and we beat it back on the last day.”
Bell also said the General Assembly gave some additional tools to the Division of Child Services to improve the rate of collections and give additional protection to children under state care.
Also, “it was a smaller success, but we were able to work together to clear up some statutes that cover charitable gaming. If a bona fide not-for-profit chooses to raise money for a charity, it’s regulated. The (legislation) keeps bad actors out of the game.”
The legislature also passed a bill that helps disabled first responders, who had been losing their disability funding at age 55 when they were forced to go straight to retirement.
One of Bell’s pet projects was a bill of his that requires financial literacy be taught to children in grades six through 12.
“I have offered it three times,” Bell said. “People ages 18 to 24 are the second-largest group to file personal bankruptcy. I think it’s absolutely critical that people leave school with the ability to manage their own finances.”
But the budget looms over everything else the General Assembly did — or didn’t do.
“Indiana is tremendously affected by the national economic climate, given our dependency on manufacturing,” Bell said. “Our state revenues have declined. In the House, there were 72 members against the budget and 27 in favor. Forty-eight Republicans voted against it because we believed it spent too much, and 24 Democrats were against it because they felt it didn’t spend enough. We were seeing things very differently.
“Another complicating factor is how to spend the federal stimulus money. Indiana is getting $4 billion, but the federal government attached a lot of conditions.
“If we built that into the basic budget we would face a huge tax increase in two years. I don’t want to see Indiana staring over a cliff in two years.
“Our other big challenge is creating a school funding formula that we can live with,” Bell said. “Across the country we are seeing a decline in education funding. We went into the session saying we hoped to flatline spending at the worst. We need to have young people leaving school with the tools necessary to face the challenges in the 21st Century. We also need to see that rural schools get the same fair share as urban schools.”
But to pass a budget, Bell said, “I think the governor’s leadership is critical. He has a national reputation as a budgeter, and he has been clear that he will not sign a budget that puts taxpayers in jeopardy. I’m excited and hopeful.”
The legislature will probably be called back into session in mid-June once the Budget Committee has worked out most of the differences between the two houses. The current budget expires June 30.
E-mail staff writer TJ Hemlinger at
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, May 19 2009 )
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