INDIANAPOLIS— The creation of a pilot program to publicly fund pre-kindergarten is a top priority for House Republicans as the caucus outlined its legislative agenda Wednesday.
The agenda falls in step with many of Gov. Mike Pence’s legislative priorities, including providing pre-kindergarten to 4-year-olds from low-income Hoosier families. However, the agenda stops short of calling for a complete phase out of the tax Indiana businesses pay on machinery and equipment.
Instead, House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis) said House Republicans will propose giving individual counties the option to exempt the tax from new investments.
“We’re very pleased to see we’re on the same page in many of these issues,” Bosma said. “The details may differ, but the priorities of workforce development, smart business taxation and preparing kids for the future…I think will be fairly consistent among the caucuses.”
The agenda remains silent on the proposed amendment to Indiana’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions. Bosma deferred questions on how the House will handle the upcoming debate to Thursday, saying he would only speak on his caucus’ legislative agenda on Wednesday.
The House Education Committee will hear a bill Thursday that would establish a pilot program to provide pre-kindergarten vouchers to 1,000 children beginning in 2015, Bosma said. The Senate scaled back a similar proposal last year.
This year’s proposal would establish the framework for the pilot program, but a decision on how to fund the program would wait until 2015, when lawmakers craft the next state budget.
“Indiana is one of only about 10 states that does not have some form of a state-funded preschool program,” Bosma said, “and we’re targeting on the most vulnerable population. The population that needs, in my opinion, the most opportunity in this regard.”
On the business tax, the House Republicans’ proposal would give individual counties the choice on whether to exempt the tax, and just on new investments.
Pence has spoken frequently on wanting to phase out the tax, and Bosma said his caucus’ proposal would do so in a responsible way.
Bosma said counties choosing to eliminate the tax on new equipment could encourage businesses to locate to their area, but it also gives counties, who heavily rely on the revenue, the option to keep the tax in place.
“Those counties that are heavily invested already in manufacturing and reliant on this source of revenue – they wait and see how the chips fall,” Bosma said.
The tax likely will become a source of debate in the General Assembly. Senate President Pro Tem David Long (R-Fort Wayne) has confirmed the Senate will have a proposal separate from the House. Long will detail that proposal Thursday.
Bosma said the House’s proposal includes a safety measure to not allow the exemption if a business chooses to move from one Indiana county to another. Bosma said that would only pit counties against each other.
The House Republicans’ agenda also includes a proposal to send $400 million in already set aside funds to the Indiana Department of Transportation for infrastructure projects.
Another proposal would further the Indiana Economic Development Corp. efforts to give incentives to employers, who put in place training programs and internships. Bosma highlighted Vincennes University’s partnership with Toyota that allows students to have hands-on experience at the company’s plant.
Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Scott Pelath (D-Michigan City) argued Republicans are pursuing an agenda to get the 10-week session over with as “meekly” as possible and ignores the upcoming debate on the marriage amendment.
“With the prospect of that ugly debate looming in the weeks to come, I suppose there is no surprise that the House Republicans would offer such a listless agenda,” Pelath said.