Daniels’ State of the State cites budget, education as main concerns

KEY POINTS

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels’ budget guidelines

1: “No tax increases.”

2: “We must stay in the black at all times.”

3: “Budget must come into structural balance.”


Gov. Daniels’ stance on smaller government

1: “Government workers (who) simultaneously sit on city or county councils ... must end.”

2: “Township government ... made sense on the Indiana frontier ... We’ve come a long ways since then.”

3: “Four thousand politicians ... run over a thousand different township governments.”


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Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels received a standing ovation as he entered the Indiana General Assembly House of Representatives Chamber in Indianapolis on Tuesday evening. He was there to deliver his State of the State address to the members of the 117th Indiana General Assembly.

After being introduced by Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman, Gov. Daniels paved the way for future bipartisanship efforts between Republicans and Democrats by shaking hands on both sides of the aisle as he headed to the podium.

Attendees, including IU President Michael McRobbie, looked on from a balcony above.
He began his address reminding Hoosiers that although the State of Indiana has made great strides during the past year, it is not completely out of hot water yet. Gov. Daniels reminded those gathered that Indiana has added new jobs at twice the national average, broken records for road and bridge building and built one of the best job climates in the country.

“We did all these things in 2010, but it couldn’t offset the terrible drag of a national economic ebb tide that continues to leave many boats stuck in the muck,” Daniels said. He proudly proclaimed Indiana’s property taxes as the “lowest anywhere in America.”

The passing of the state budget is one of the top priorities for the Assembly during this legislative session.

In his speech, the Governor said he would welcome amendments from the Assembly as long as taxes were not increased and balance was maintained. He also went as far as to mention taxpayer refunds.

“When the day comes again when state reserves exceed 10 percent of annual needs, it will be time to stop collecting taxes and leave them with the people they belong to,” Daniels said.

Daniels reassured future bipartisanship as he briefly recalled the November elections.
“It was not an endorsement of a political party,” he said. “By itself, it accomplished nothing, but it threw the door open to great accomplishment. Starting tonight, we must step through that door together.”

On the topic of smaller government, Daniels insisted the state do away with township government when he stated although it made sense on the Indiana frontier, “we’ve come a little ways since then.”

“Today, over four thousand politicians, few of them known to the voters they represent, run over a thousand different township governments,” Daniels said.
He concluded it is not the fault of these elected officials, but instead “the antique system that keeps them there.”

Comparing the absurdity to having three CEOs or three head coaches, the Governor recommended condensing these large obscure government setups.

“We should join the rest of America in moving a single, elected county commissioner, working with a strengthened legislative branch, the County Council, to make decision making accountable and implementation swift,” Daniels said.

One of Gov. Daniels’ final talking points was education. He began by comparing students in Asian countries, who spend up to 50 additional days in school, to America’s youth.

“By the end of high school, they have benefited from two or three years more education than Hoosier students,” Daniels said. “It won’t be easy to win jobs away from them.”

Daniels continued to acknowledge that despite recent years of improvement, young Hoosiers are trailing behind most states in math and reading.

“Teacher quality has been found to be twenty times more important than any other factor, including poverty, in determining which kids succeed,” Daniels said. 

He suggested teachers should have tenure if they earn it, better teachers should be paid more and inefficient teachers should be asked to improve. He further suggested students who finish early should be monetarily rewarded.

“We should say to these diligent young people, ‘If you choose to finish in 11 years, we will give you the money we were going to spend while you cruised through twelfth grade, as long as you spend the money on some form of further education’,” Daniels said.

Daniels concluded Indiana should have more charter schools and insisted they should receive funding exactly the way public schools do.

Governor Daniels ended his State of the State address by declaring the Indiana General Assembly had an assignment, rather than a proposal, in the coming months.

“Other nations and other states are forging ahead with the kind of reforms I have proposed here,” Daniels said. “Our children are waiting, our fellow citizens are waiting, history is waiting.”