Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, preparing for his second year at the helm of Indiana government, offered up two worthy initiatives for the Indiana legislature to consider — creation of a prekindergarten voucher program and the beginning of a phase out of the state’s business personal property tax. Unfortunately, 2014 is probably not the year.
That’s because 2014 is a non-budget year, not a year when the legislature prepares a two-year budget and considers major events. Originally, non-budget years were created for the purpose of fixing problems that occur after the budget is approved. The thinking was no emergencies, no reason to meet for a full session.
Consequently, old-timers especially, will see the upcoming short session as no time for fighting it out over major spending initiatives.
And even though preschool programs are particularly popular among lawmakers — and with this newspaper — it would be a surprise to see a major program approved. In fairness, Pence has not yet shared any details of how his proposal would be funded.
It is interesting as well that much of the discussion has been in favor of public funding of prekindergarten school programs. What Pence is talking about is an extension of its popular voucher program to prekindergarten facilities, which are not available to all children. The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. has several prekindergarten facilities, but not enough slots for all children. We presume Pence’s program would help children attend other facilities that require parents to pay tuition.
No question, preschool classes are of growing importance, especially for low-income children who have limited access to preschool learning opportunities in the home.
There is no question that broad prekindergarten education is coming statewide to Indiana. Simply too many educators, public officials, and parents agree on its importance to the future of our children and the nation. But it is unlikely that it would be funded as soon as 2014.
It is the same for Pence’s proposal to phase out the business personal property tax. It would likely affect the state budget by the loss of revenues from the collection of the tax. It is estimated that local communities receive $1 billion from the tax, of which Pence said he would work with lawmakers to ensure there would be no hardships on those local communities.
Pence came into office as pro-growth and jobs, and he believes that the phase out of the tax would serve that purpose.
But as we said, without a source of funding in the upcoming short session, these proposed changes are likely more than a year off.