Daniels plan a starting point for debate (10/27/07)

It's a start.

And Gov. Mitch Daniels deserves credit for putting forward a comprehensive plan to overhaul the way Indiana funds local government and schools.

Is it perfect? Of course not, and you can expect its details to be argued over for months.

Property tax reform is going to be the dominant issue in state politics in 2008.

But it's a plan, and because it provides specifics and addresses the issue in a broad way, it provides a framework for meaningful discussion.

Over the past several months, there's been more heat than light generated on property taxes. People have enjoyed sounding off, and it's been healthy to let off steam.

But fulminating will only take you so far, and it's no substitute for the nuts and bolts of governance.

Daniels deserves at least a modest round of applause for offering something of substance rather than another helping of rhetoric. There's been way too much of that.

Now it's up to the Democratic challengers to lay out their alternatives as concretely and in as much detail as possible. They'll need to explain where they differ from Daniels and where they agree with him, if at all.

In doing so, both parties will need to focus on the essentials:

• Adequately funding schools and local government functions.

• Raising revenue equitably, keeping fairness at the forefront.

• Making the tax burden more predictable and eliminating the shock effect.

• Maintaining local control as much as possible, not allowing a revenue shift to send more power to the Statehouse.

As the Daniels plan demonstrates, that's going to be complicated.

But if the challengers are up to it, Indiana voters may get the rare treat of a gubernatorial race grounded in meaningful policy debate rather than a flurry of campaign commercials. - J.R.[[In-content Ad]]