Indiana budget hearings in race with clock

Niki Kelly, The Journal Gazette

nkelly@jg.net

INDIANAPOLIS - Floundering. Slow. Terrible.

Those were just a few of the words lawmakers and observers used to describe the start of final budget negotiations Wednesday.

With the Senate and House both passing their own versions of a new spending plan, this is usually when fiscal leaders from all four caucuses squirrel away in private meetings to hammer out compromises.

Instead, House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Crawford, D-Indianapolis, has scheduled at least three more days' worth of public hearings on the budget.

And Republicans especially were confused and concerned about the lack of urgency.