State deficit deflates revenue increase\nINDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana will take in about $42 million more during the next two years than lawmakers had expected four months ago, according to a revised fiscal forecast presented Monday.\nThe state still faces a projected deficit of more than $600 million, however, and legislative leaders and Gov. Mitch Daniels' administration considered the extra $42 million in revenue an insignificant figure given plans for $24 billion in expenses over the same period.\n"I guess the good news is it's not bad news," said Republican Rep. Jeff Espich of Uniondale, chairman of the budget-writing House Ways and Means Committee.\nState Budget Director Chuck Schalliol called the new projections "unremarkable" and said the administration and lawmakers "were still where we were" in terms of drafting a final two-year budget. Separate plans proposed by Daniels, House Republicans and Senate Republicans would spend about $24 billion over the next two years.
Daylight-saving time defeated then passed \nINDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana House passed a bill mandating daylight-saving time Monday, beating a midnight legislative deadline to send the proposal to the Senate.\nThe House approved the bill 51-47 late in the afternoon after supporters persuaded enough lawmakers to change their votes after an earlier 50-49 vote that left the legislation in limbo.\n"I'm ecstatic. We've gotten farther than we've been in a decade," said Republican Rep. Jerry Torr of Carmel, the bill's primary sponsor.\nTorr said he first called his wife on his cell phone to tell her the bill had passed, then notified Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels. The bill is one of Daniels' top legislative priorities.
