So now that we’ve had a few days to to get a little rest now that Indiana lawmakers are gone, we decided to take a look at what each of the three parties proposed and what the final outcome was.
Education (General Funding)
- House – Increases funding by $469 million over the next two years. (4.7% increase over the total biennium).
- Senate – Increases funding by $466 million over the next two years.
- Governor – Increases funding by $200 million. (2% in the first year, 1% in the second year)
- Final – $474 million increase over the next two years.
Education (Complexity Index)
- House – Eliminates “reduced lunch” as a category for determining funding distribution.
- Senate – Uses “public assistance” as main criteria for determining funding distribution.
- Governor – Defers to Legislature
- Final – The state will use children on “public assistance” as the main criteria for the funding distribution.
Higher Education
- House – Increases operations funding by $47 million over the next two years. (3.5% total increase)
- Senate – Increases operations funding by $220 million over the next two years.
- Governor – Increases funding by $40 million over the next two years (2% total increase)
- Final – $45 million increase.
Roads/Transportation
- House – $200 million increase for roads over the next two years. $6.5 million for mass transit.
- Senate – $400 million increase over the next two years.
- Governor – $300 million increase over the next 2 years.
- Final – $100 million increase.
Corrections
- House – $94 million in new dollars for operations and diversion. No new money for prison beds.
- Senate – $181 million in new dollars for operations and diversion.
- Governor – $43 million increase over the next two years for operations, $51 million for new beds at Miami and Wabash Valley Correctional Facilities.
- Final – $80 million increase and no funding for new prison beds.
Regional Cities Initiative
- House – $20 million over the next two years.
- Senate – $20 million over the next two years.
- Governor – $84 million over the next two years.
- Final – $80 million, with about $60 million coming from tax amnesty program.
Surplus (At the end of the biennium)
- House – $1.850 billion
- Senate – $1.851 billion
- Governor – $1.993 billion
- Final – $1.9 billion.
Average Biennial Spending Growth
- House – 2.23%
- Senate – 2.21%
- Governor – 1.34%
- Final – 1.3%