Governor Mitch Daniels has to be on cloud nine. His legislative agenda derailed, and the world crumbling around him, all it took was 48-hours of vague veto threats to send the General Assembly toward a special session. And with that special session comes a great opportunity for the Mitch to try and re-market himself as the great steadying force of our state government. Mike Smith of the AP looks at where we stand:
The Senate passed a two-year budget bill on the final day of the regular session, but it was defeated in the narrowly divided House.
Daniels said he would have vetoed it anyway, mostly because he said it would have chewed through the state's reserves and left a $1 billion shortfall at the end of the biennium. He noted that tax collections in April were $255 million below the target set in the fiscal forecast released earlier that month, and he thinks revenue in May and June won't meet the forecast either.
So, he essentially said to lawmakers, go back to the drawing board and pass a budget plan that spends about $1 billion less than the one voted on April 29.
Lawmakers, for their part, appear less than enthusiastic at the prospect of slashing funding on, well, everything. Even the Republican leadership is having a hard time finding their bearings.
[State Sen. Luke] Kenley said that having another revenue forecast conducted was fine, but, "We are never going to crystal ball this enough to give him a comfort level."
Kenley also alluded to the possibility that if a budget can't be concocted to meet Daniels' exacting, inexact standards, a veto-override could be in the cards. With Rep. Brian Bosma leading his House Republicans down the path of "lapdog," though, it would probably take a lot of trauma to present that as an opportunity.
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