O'Bannon refuses to sign proposed 2-year budget

Gov. Frank O\'Bannon wasn't pleased with the two-year, $20.7 million budget that lawmakers sent him. But he wasn't displeased enough to veto the bill and call the General Assembly back for a special session. \nCriticizing the budget for spending more than the state is expected to take in, O'Bannon announced Friday that he plans to let it slide into law without his signature.\nAfter the revelation that the state is facing a projected $923 million revenue shortfall, the governor suggested repealing a 1999 property tax cut and hiking cigarette taxes by 50 cents a pack.\nLawmakers agreed to the property tax repeal, but his cigarette tax proposal fell flat.\nAs a result, the budget relies on gambling revenue and one-time bookkeeping tricks to help close up the shortfall. But, on the assumption that the economy will pick up, the budget bill spends more than $500 million in excess of projected revenue.\n"I remain concerned that this budget is just plain unrealistic when it comes to paying for the spending the General Assembly has put in place," O'Bannon said in a statement. "If economic conditions grow more challenging, the state is in real danger of coming up short."\nHouse Ways and Means Chairman B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, said the budget was responsible and contained enough money to help schools and universities through tough economic times.\n"To have done less would have caused teacher layoffs," he said. "To have done less would have increased tuition. In every budget, there's tradeoffs." \nO\'Bannon said he isn't happy with the legislature's proposed solution -- giving him broad discretion to spend money from the Rainy Day Fund, the state\'s emergency account.\n"I want to be sure that all expenditures -- especially, any spending that would draw down our important Rainy Day Fund -- are fully justified," he said. "I do not want to put Indiana in a position where a general tax increase is unavoidable, or we don\'t have enough funds to meet an emergency."\nThe budget already spends at least $46 million of the emergency fund and delays state payments to schools, universities and local governments. Also, it leaves a scant $2.5 million of existing revenue in the state's general fund or checking account. \nO'Bannon had until midnight Friday to act on legislation on his desk. \nWith only hours to spare, he signed two election reform bills that will upgrade voting systems and eliminate duplicate registration.\n"The governor and I have been working closely with legislators this session to advance election reform," Secretary of State Sue Anne Gilroy said at a Friday press conference. "The reforms that were signed into law will help achieve my top priority this legislative session -- ensuring that Indiana's future elections are the most accurate, accessible and secure in the country."\nOne of the bills creates an Internet-based voter registration database by 2004 to help eliminate the voter fraud that officials say is plaguing the system. The other measure establishes a voting system improvement fund to reimburse counties as much as 50 percent for buying new voting systems. Lawmakers hope to phase out lever voting machines and punch card ballots, which were at the heart of the election fiasco in Florida last fall. \nAnd Thursday, O'Bannon vetoed a bill that would have exempted lawmakers' e-mail from public records laws. Despite outcry from citizen's groups and newspapers around the state, the bill sailed through both houses.\n"Although the legislature clearly has the power to exempt itself from the public records act and address these issues in its rules, this is not a step that should be taken hastily or without careful deliberation and meaningful opportunity for public comment," O'Bannon said in a statement.\nLawmakers said the bill would have protected the privacy of constituents who write to them about personal matters. While playing down critics' concerns, O'Bannon said it amounts to an attack on open government.\n"I do not agree with those who suggest that House Enrolled Act 1083 would lead to the legislature closing down all manner of public records that are now open," he said. "I believe an open government is essential to a free society." \nLawmakers can override the governor's veto with a simple majority in both chambers.