Statehouse coming around on governor’s proposed tax cut
By Matt Mikus mmikus@post-trib.com February 19, 2013 11:10AM
Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville | File photo
Updated: February 19, 2013 9:31PM
INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Mike Pence’s plan to cut the individual income tax by 10 percent has begun to see support from individual members of the General Assembly.
Two bills in the Senate’s Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee were discussed Tuesday, where State Sens. Jim Buck, R-Kokomo, and Mike Delph, R-Carmel, stated that implementing the governor’s tax cut would help the state grow by attracting new businesses.
“It’s not going to do Indiana any good to depend upon the static growth of our population,” Buck said, “We’re sending a message that Indiana wants to grow beyond our current population.”
Delph pointed to the potential tax increases that would come from the federal government and cutting the state tax would help offset the burden on everyday Hoosiers.
Members of the committee, including Sens. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, and Lindel Hume, D-Princeton, stressed the importance of funding the responsibilities of the state government, such as education and transportation.
“Some of these things are more important than lower taxes,” Hume said. “We need to do the essential things that our state must do.”
Kenley said the plan was on the right track, but how to implement the tax cut without hurting the state’s current commitments would need to be discussed by the governor and the General Assembly.
Neither bill received a vote at the hearing.
