INDIANAPOLIS - Gov. Mitch Daniels will propose his preferred version of a state budget, and a panel of legislative leaders will have time to consider it before he calls the General Assembly back for a special session in mid-June.
Daniels, Senate Majority Leader David Long, R-Fort Wayne, and House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, have agreed on a timeline to complete most of the work of crafting the state's next spending plan outside of a costly special session.
Because the General Assembly did not pass a budget by its April 29 deadline to adjourn, Daniels now must call lawmakers back for a special session before the current budget expires June 30. If they don't have a new spending plan by then, most of state government likely will shut down.
Under the agreement Long and Bauer announced Thursday, legislators first will receive a new state revenue forecast, then it will be up to Daniels to set their starting point by offering his budget proposal.
Daniels said "this process, by facing the reality of our revenue shortfall, should produce a far more responsible, pro-taxpayer result than the Legislature was headed for last week."
In January, the governor proposed the basic framework of the budget he wanted, but left it to lawmakers to hammer out the details.
The result was a budget House Republicans said spent too much, Democrats said spent too little on education, and Daniels said spent $1 billion too much. It was approved by the Senate but not the House.
After the session adjourned amid confusion over what the governor wanted, both Republicans and Democrats called on Daniels to offer his full budget, complete with an education funding formula - the most contentious item in the spending plan legislators were considering.
"The governor will have every chance to detail his priorities in funding, tell us where he wants to see cuts and clarify the role he feels federal stimulus dollars will have in helping us write a state budget during tough economic times," Bauer said.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, said if lawmakers can't agree on a budget slim enough to meet Daniels' demands, then the sides will have to pass a budget, and the governor will have to use his power to trim it as he sees fit.
Special sessions cost taxpayers $75,400 every five-day week in legislative pay and travel expenses.