Governor Daniels' Message Regarding a Special Session

Statement

Governor Daniels' Message Regarding a Special Session

The governor's statement follows below:

"The second to last thing I wanted to see happen in this legislature was a special session. The last thing was a fiscal disaster leading to a huge tax increase on Hoosier families.

"I believe I have been entirely consistent since January in cautioning legislators about the need to protect against spending beyond our dwindling means such that we fall off a fiscal cliff in a year or two. Unfortunately, the legislature insisted on pretending we'll have revenues we already know we won't have, and then spending even more than that.

"Speaker Bauer said to me yesterday morning ‘We come from different worlds.' I thought to myself, ‘That's true. I come from the real world.' In the real world, when your income goes down, you lower your spending, not raise it. Speaker Bauer, and his way of thinking, bankrupted this state a few years ago during good economic times. Imagine the results of following that way of thinking now.

"At this point, the best thing is for the legislators to all go home, get away from the special interests and listen to some real taxpayers. We can all watch real revenue receipts for a while longer. If a miracle turnaround should suddenly occur, we'll take a fresh look at their spending demands. If the current erosion continues, they can take a fresh look at reality, and join us in writing a budget Hoosier families can afford."

Source