July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Some getting the message (2/7/05)
Opinion
Some folks are getting the message. Some folks aren't.
In the days since Gov. Mitch Daniels's first State of the State address, everyday Hoosiers have responded positively to his message of shared sacrifice, shared commitment that's necessary not just to get Indiana government's budget out of the hole but also to give it the sort of stability and reserve it needs to weather rough conditions down the road.
The new governor prescribed a tough but balanced mix of spending cuts — or restraint, depending upon your definition — and additional tax revenues via a one-year income tax surcharge for Hoosiers who are better off than their neighbors.
It's a new way of thinking, and some folks have responded admirably.
There have been reports of individual taxpayers sending in checks to help get the fiscal house in order, and virtually every newspaper in Indiana with an editorial page has come out in support of the Daniels approach.
On top of that, some of the state's school administrators have gotten on board.
In conversations last week, the governor said he was delighted by a letter he'd received from ten superintendents in our part of the state — including Jay Schools superintendent Barbara Downing — which proposed a series of innovative ways to cut costs in public education while still meeting the needs of students in the classroom.
Some of the ideas the superintendents floated, such as statewide textbook adoption to get a better price from publishers, would be tricky to implement and might undermine local control. But others, such as pooling school purchases of things like buses and health insurance for teachers, make eminent good sense.
The governor said he was struck by the fact that the superintendents hadn't responded to the fiscal crisis by wringing their hands but by viewing it as an opportunity to do things more efficiently.
Not everyone, of course, gets the message.
In an error-riddled editorial last week, The Wall Street Journal zinged the new governor because of his tax surcharge proposal. It was a classic case of ideology overruling common sense.
Fortunately, the folks at The Wall Street Journal don't have a hand in Hoosier decision-making.
And fortunately, folks like the governor and superintendent Downing do. — J.R.
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In the days since Gov. Mitch Daniels's first State of the State address, everyday Hoosiers have responded positively to his message of shared sacrifice, shared commitment that's necessary not just to get Indiana government's budget out of the hole but also to give it the sort of stability and reserve it needs to weather rough conditions down the road.
The new governor prescribed a tough but balanced mix of spending cuts — or restraint, depending upon your definition — and additional tax revenues via a one-year income tax surcharge for Hoosiers who are better off than their neighbors.
It's a new way of thinking, and some folks have responded admirably.
There have been reports of individual taxpayers sending in checks to help get the fiscal house in order, and virtually every newspaper in Indiana with an editorial page has come out in support of the Daniels approach.
On top of that, some of the state's school administrators have gotten on board.
In conversations last week, the governor said he was delighted by a letter he'd received from ten superintendents in our part of the state — including Jay Schools superintendent Barbara Downing — which proposed a series of innovative ways to cut costs in public education while still meeting the needs of students in the classroom.
Some of the ideas the superintendents floated, such as statewide textbook adoption to get a better price from publishers, would be tricky to implement and might undermine local control. But others, such as pooling school purchases of things like buses and health insurance for teachers, make eminent good sense.
The governor said he was struck by the fact that the superintendents hadn't responded to the fiscal crisis by wringing their hands but by viewing it as an opportunity to do things more efficiently.
Not everyone, of course, gets the message.
In an error-riddled editorial last week, The Wall Street Journal zinged the new governor because of his tax surcharge proposal. It was a classic case of ideology overruling common sense.
Fortunately, the folks at The Wall Street Journal don't have a hand in Hoosier decision-making.
And fortunately, folks like the governor and superintendent Downing do. — J.R.
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