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%