Republicans who make up supermajorites in both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly are hailing the session that ended early last Saturday as "a tremendous success."
The reason is primarily because of the budget, which House Ways and Means Committee chairman Tim Brown (R-Crawfordsville) calls "a jobs budget." Let's hope he is right.
At least the state's new biennial budget will somewhat increase funding for roads, education and child services, all noteworthy pluses. Those increases, however, would have been more substantial without the silly 5 percent state income tax cut that is part of the budget. Gov. Mike Pence pushed for a 10 percent income tax reduction, but was jubilant with the compromise - a somewhat curious development considering the GOP's domination at the Statehouse.
The cut in the state's income tax rate, which already was one of the lowest in the nation, will eventually translate to a meager $100 extra per year in the pockets of Hoosiers with a $50,000 income. Yet tax cuts are hugely popular with many Republicans and some pundits believe Pence badly wanted this one to put on his resumé for a possible future run for the White House.
The state legislature deserves real praise, however, for killing the so-called "ag-gag" bill - or the "gag all" bill in the opinion of the Democratic Party's few state lawmakers. The proposal would have gone far beyond protecting farms from surreptitious videos by animal activists and should have been trashed long before the session's final day, but better late than never.
Another good move was the adoption of a bill that calls for a more stringent regulation review of the proposed $2.8 billion coal-gasification plant at Rockport.
Hopefully, the governor will sign that legislation into law, which would prevent what at worst could be a boondoggle that would eclipse the Marble Hill debacle of the 1980s and at best figures to cost many of the state's ratepayers - including those in Jennings County - considerably higher electrical bills.
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